MarketingMoment

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The ongoing turbulence in the credit, consumer and property markets continues to throw a lot of entrepreneurs, start-ups and marketers off their game. And if you’re one of them, I bet you’ll be surprised by what I’m about to say: Market more and panic less.

Whaddya mean you don’t have time for marketing?!! You DO run a business - and want to keep it that way - don’t you? Then marketing is simply not negotiable. It is a MUST if you wish to survive in business. No matter how insignificant it seems, by doing some marketing every day I am able to keep in front of my current and potential clients. 
 And the ’smarter’ I market my products and services, the better my hold on my own market share.

You need to do the same. After all, economic downturns (which, by the way, always end in an upturn) bring an entirely new meaning to the term ’survival of the fittest’. But I’m here to tell you that YOU DO indeed have the power to create business . . . IF your focus is in the right place – and that means using SMARTER marketing to get more sales, regardless of what the economy is doing, or how much of a time-debt you have.

It boils down to this: if you don’t, can’t or won’t market your products or services, then your business will fail. And that goes for ANY business in ANY economy. However, if you continue to market – perhaps more aggressively but certainly more smartly than ever before – then your business will have a better chance of survival than most.

Further reading:Business Survival Tools: Don’t Get Left Behind

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“People like to buy products and services from people and companies they like . . . Customers want you to create some kind of relationship with them,” says marketing veteran and consultant Don Debelak in his book Marketing Magic (published by Adams Media Corporation).

He goes on to list 14 reasons why people might buy from you as opposed to your competitors:

1. “Your product solves a problem that no other product solves as well.
2. “The customer perceives your product or service to possess one feature or benefit lacking in other’s products or services, and that feature is relatively important to him or her.
3. “Some people feel your product or service works best.
4. “Some people feel more comfortable using your product than others’ products.
5. “Some people feel that your product has higher quality.
6. “Some people feel that your product is the lowest-priced or the highest-value product.
7. “Some people will buy from you because they like you or like the way you do business.
8. “Your return policies, guarantess, and support are important to some people.
9. “Your product or service carries a prestige image that some customers appreciate.
10. “Your business offers a wider choice to customers.
11. “Your business location is more convenient to some customers.
12. “Some people will continue to buy from you from habit.
13. “Some people will buy from you because you always have the newest or most innovative products.
14. “Your offer a product that makes people feel goot about themselves or others, makes them look good in others’ eyes, or offers a way of showing love or appreciation.”

Perhaps you recognise some of them with your own product or service. Is there one that you can develop to use as your USP (unique selling proposition)? If you already have an USP you are happy with, maybe you can use the above to help fine-tune it so it really works in your favour.

As well as knowing why people are buying your product or service, it pays to know why they aren’t.

Debelak offers the following list:

1. “Business buyers may fear [they are] making a mistake in buying from you.
2. “Some suspects may not have developed sufficient trust in you or your product.
3. “Some suspect may perceive that your products or services are of questionable quality.
4. “Your products or services do not address an important problem of theirs.
5. “Some suspects won’t think they need your product at all.
6. “Many prospects are likely to have satisfactory relationships with one or more of your competitors.”

So you can see finding out why people won’t buy from you is just as important, if not more important, than knowing why your customers do buy from you. When you understand both sides of the coin, you can effectively set up a comfortable environment — through your promotional materials, your in-store layout, your website,  and so on — in which people are likely to buy.

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People do business with people (or ‘brands’) they like and trust, and social media provides the bridge between companies and consumers. But what are the other compelling reasons for using social media? Here are the top 10:

1. It allows you to reach your target market by simply engaging in the right conversations with the right people. This can be much more effective (and a heck of a lot cheaper) than advertising.

2. You can create and build relationships with people who might not otherwise know about your products or services.

3. At least half of Facebook and Twitter users admit to being more likely to do business with a brand that uses social media than one that doesn’t.

4. You can drive high-quality traffic to your homepage/blog/other online sites via call-to-actions, and SEO (the Google search engine loves Twitter updates.

5. It allows you to learn more about, and tap into the wisdom of, your market — which ultimately leads to better positioning and therefore sales.

6. You can listen AND respond to what’s being said about your business (and your competition).

7. Social media allows people to gain a better insight into the company persona - it makes you ‘real’ to consumers.

8. It’s a tool that your ‘fans’ can use to spread positive word of mouth about you.

9. Offering help and advice related to your area of expertise/your products in a spontaneous fashion gives you authority.

10. Because your customers and competitors are using it.

Originally published in the newsletter, Communiqué for Success!

Copyright, T L Dooley. All Rights Reserved.

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There really is no more effective sales clincher than the words of existing clients or customers. As well as boosting your sales, good, believable testimonials can bolster your credibility — an important factor in an increasingly cynical world.

Nine times out of ten, customer testimonials, or even positive feedback on Social Media sites such as Twitter, will outsell any fact, any other ‘proof’ factor or, indeed, hype.  It works on the idea that not only are you a business to be trusted, but also if everyone else is doing something (buying your products, enlisting your services…),  then others are going to want to do it as well.

If you are going to use other people’s praises for your marketing/promotion purposes, make you get permission first.

Another thing you may want to consider is to get testimonials in formats other than the written word. For example, people call a given telephone number and their feedback is recorded to be used as an audio clip. You can even video your clients when you meet up with them (with their permission, of course!) or ask them to video themselves and send you a copy. The idea here is to have testimonials that are as authentic as can be.

At the end of the day, testimonials form some of the most low-cost, high-impact ways to gain new business. So use them!

Copyright, T L Dooley. All Rights Reserved.

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Despite the official end to the recession, the UK’s economy is still wavering and the immediate future looks anything BUT bright. So it’s little wonder if you’re feeling like most people in business; looking over your shoulder, wondering if you’re next in line to lose your job. If you own a business, then it’s likely you’re worried about the latest ’sales slump’. One thing is for sure; you can’t afford to be complacent right now. You absolutely MUST continue to market … perhaps more aggressively than ever before. (See my blog post, Business Survival Tools: Don’t Get Left Behind: http://TwitPWR.com/au6/)

The lead article in MediaMinister’s latest newsletter, Communiqué for Success, shows you how you can promote yourself in new, creative and low-cost (or F.R.E.E.) ways to bring customers through the door in ANY economy.

To read the full article and gain *hidden links* to recent CfS newsletter editions, you’ll have to become a subscriber. (That’s a good thing, by the way, or so CfS readers tell me!) As well as being FREE, you’ll receive a business-building report and audio CD that can dramatically improve sales simply for signing up and trying it out.

Subscribe here.

(You can unsubscribe at any time, and I NEVER abuse my subscriber’s email address. Your details are safe with me.)

Recent CfS newsletter issues cover:

Subscribe here.

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If you read copy written by someone other than a copywriter, chances are it will scream Features! Features! Features! OK, features are a very good thing indeed and, yes, readers do need to know about them. But not all of them. And NOT right up front.

Instead, you need to do what every good copywriter 
MUST do in order to educate or make the sale: turn features into benefits, and put those benefits at the beginning of your copy.

These benefits must be tied into your readers’ desires, needs and wants. So, when you solve your readers’ problems, they’ll go looking for the features — meaning they WILL bother to read the rest of your marketing message.

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I received the following question recently, which sums up a lot of the queries I receive from both clients and prospects alike:

”I’m having trouble attracting people to my website, more specifically opt-in members for my list. Can you help?“

I’d like to share a recent post I wrote in response, but will add another tip in the wake of the social-media craze…

>>>

Answer: There are a myriad ways of achieving your goals. Here are a some to get you going:

1.  Make sure your website is targeted for your ideal customer, using language and ‘triggers’ that will appeal accordingly.
2. Optimise your web pages, especially your home page, using SEO (search engine optimisation) techniques to drive more search engines to your site, and help your visibility among the search results.
3. Start a blog, and link back to your website. Search engines love fresh content, and writing regular blog posts is an excellent way of keeping them happy.
4. Make sure your newsletter sign-up box appears not only on your web pages, but also your blog.
5. Make it worthwhile subscribing to your ezine –– just because it’s free is no longer a valid reason.
6. Write articles and submit them to online article directories. Make sure your ‘author bio’ or resource box features a live hyperlink to your newsletter, and offer a gift to subscribe.
7. Use Google Adwords to get qualified traffic. Make sure the landing page is suitably targeted.

Hopefully, this little lot should be enough to get you started and keep you busy for a while! Good luck, and let us know how you get on…

<<<

Another relatively quick and easy way to grow your database is to make full use of social media. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn seem to be the top three social networks. But if you don’t know where to start or are unsure whether social media is ‘right’ for your business, then you need to read one of the most popular feature articles ever seen in my newsletter, Communiqué for Success. You’ll need to sign up first. (You can unsubscribe at any time, and I NEVER abuse my subscriber’s email address. Your details are safe with me.)

Subscribe here: http://twitpwr.com/44Q/

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One of the most common complaints I hear from solopreneurs (self-employed professionals) is that they don’t have time to market their business, to which I relpy, “Then you need to make time!”

Of course, the easiest and most obvious solution would be to hire outside help. A marketing professional can help you on an ad-hoc or a permanent basis, and so ease the pressure of ‘finding’ time to carry out this important business function.

However, when budgets don’t allow for outsourcing, then your  primary concern should ALWAYS be to make sure you never stop marketing . . .  whether you’re a service provider with too much work, or a retailer experiencing a boom in orders.

It doesn’t matter how good (or bad) business is, you absolutely MUST make time to promote and market your products and services.

The worst position to be in is when you don’t have any clients, or projects or sales because you didn’t make time for marketing or, worse, didn’t think marketing was necessary. It IS. And no one is too busy to not market.

Look, regardless of where we are in our lives or business, we always make time to schedule doctor appointments and the like. Perhaps you have a system on your computer that helps you keep track of these and other details. All I’m saying is that in order to run a successful business you need to add marketing activities.

Don’t know where to start?

Start right now – TODAY!

Block out a few hours, minutes even (at least 20, though) in your daily schedule to complete one or more marketing tasks. And while you’re at it, why not put together a marketing plan – a mini one will do? Come spring time, you’ll be far ahead of where you thought you’d be.<

Remember, success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out. A daily marketing system is your roadmap to success. So make time for it!

***Need to be accountable to someone, or need help with your marketing goals? My mentoring programme can help you start off – and keep – on the right track.

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The Best Service is No Service: How to Liberate Your Customers from Customer Service, Keep Them Happy, and Control Costs, by Bill Price and David Jaffe has been described as “probably the single best ‘how to’ book on earning customer trust” — and we all know what I think about that topic. Essentially, if you are in business and want to stay in business, ahead of the competition, then good customer service is crucial.

The authors begin by citing a gap between unparalleled innovation and customer service among companies. The latter has been left behind, they say. Which is not just a pity, but also almost a sin in today’s ‘the customer is king’ landscape. Not least because, as everyone should know by now, people won’t buy from you if they don’t trust you or have confidence in you. Both are dependent on providing a good customer experience.

Together, Price and Jaffe take you through theory, tips, checklists and case studies (including what NOT to do as well as what to do right) on how to empower your customers and serve them well.

Why The Best Service is No Service? Because the message is that businesses will be most successful if they only provide customer service that is essential to doing business. Too much is, say the authors, not a wise tactic and neither is too little. Just ensure that people find it as easy as possible to buy from you. In other words, don’t give them any excuses NOT to buy from you.

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I recently advised one of my marketing clients to offer his prospective customers a free white paper. This is because although he has a great product, it is fairly complex and its use (extremely widespread, as it happens) seems at first fairly limited.

The argument for the white paper was that it would a) provide helpful information about the product and its many uses, b) show how it can overcome a problem shared by my client’s prospects, and c) serve as a ‘bait piece’.

At first he objected. Quite vehemently, it has to be said. The reason? “People have had enough of ‘free’. Besides, they already have too much to read. So they won’t even look at my white paper.”

I can understand where he was coming from. A study by the Columbia Business School concluded that, even in an age of information overload, educational marketing still work. And very well, too.

The study, which focused on politics, found that getting a lot of information out to the public, especially in the arly stages of a campaign when many voters are ambivalent, is an effective campaign strategy.

Quantity is more important than quality, the study found, because ambivalent individuals are open to persuasion from a variety of sources, and accept messages regardless of the source’s perceived reliability.

This can easily be applied to the business arena. Which my client now happily appreciates.

Source: Columbia Ideas at Work

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