Now if you haven’t started planning for new marketing initiatives in 2012, you still have some time left. But that time is quickly slipping away. Discover the ONE thing that will actually make a difference in your business next year.
The marketing that has gotten you this far, is NOT the marketing that will propel you forward and take you to the next level.
While most businesses have had their head in the sand the past 3 years, there is a group that has stepped up and marketed the hell out of their businesses. Those businesses are the ones that seem to defy the economy, they are the ones that have actually grown and been profitable.
Now this seems to defy logic, because if business were a direct reflection of the economy, then all businesses would be down. Know this, the same wind blows on us all, the economic wind, the political wind…the difference is the set of your sail. The difference in where you arrive in one year, three years, five years, is NOT the blowing of the wind, but the set of your sail.
As business owners you need to learn to set a better sail, you cannot count on what has worked in the past. You have to try new means of getting in front of your prospects, try harder, try longer, try new things, your customers have changed. Have you?
Here is a simple 5 Step Process to take you from Search to Success
- Identify
Who is your target audience? Instead of following what your competition is doing or listening to your teenager about social media, redefine your target by looking at your current clients. By looking at your current client you can see the type of business or customer that has stayed with you. Next would be to decide if that is who you want as your customer, if yes, then congrats, you can move on to step 2. If you found that you want different clients or customers, it’s time to define what you want, until you do that, do NOT move on. - Target
Now that you know who you are trying to get as clients and customers, you can start to research where they might be. No sense in starting Facebook campaign if your target isn’t there. Yes, the internet guy just said that you don’t have to be in Facebook. Look at how you have been getting the right customers, where were they, trade shows, referrals, partners, online, LinkedIn, cold calls?Just about everything you can do online originated from something we do offline. Websites were just brochures, social networking came from face-to-face networking, email from snail mail, Twitter from a news wire service, webinars from actual sales presentations, nothing new, just new mediums. - Capture
Now days marketing is all about your list and your relationship with that list, how are you capturing people attention, then their information so you can market to them over time? You can offer a free report, estimate, consultation, something in exchange for their Name, Email address or Mobile Number. Instead of trying to deliver your sales message all in one shot, try delivering it over time.Study after study show that prospect need to be touched, or see your message close to 9 times before they make a decision to go with you. Create more points to help you convert. - Convert
This is the most important part of the process, if you cannot convert, you will be out of business. Taking a prospect to a customer is the most import part of the process. Be sure to remove all of your prospect objections, position yourself as the solution to their problem, provide them with a clear vision of what it will be like using your product or services. Influence their decision by providing social proof, proof that others are using your products or services and loving it. Finally tell people what you want them to do. Ask the sale. - Retain
Once you have a customer the best way to grow your business is to keep that customer. Period. Now the best way to keep customers and keep them happy is by providing the results they want. As you build new customers you should retain your existing customers because the best source for new customers is actually your existing customer base.
