Your marketing could be pulling in clients and profits like a magnet.
Think about how many people could benefit from your products and services.
Even if only a fraction of them bought from you, you'd be amazingly successful.
It doesn't matter if the economy is headed up or down, there are plenty
of people looking to spend money to solve their problems and meet their
needs. People are happy to spend money on things they want, whether it's
a five thousand dollar painting, five-dollar cup of coffee, a golf lesson,
a new computer or a new web site.
With all these prospects searching for products and services to buy, how
can you attract more of them and increase your profits?
Makes sense that the best way to get people to spend money is to give
them what they want. But, and here's the amazing thing, most small businesses
don't market to what their prospects want. Too much small business marketing
is about the business owner and what he or she wants, not what the client
wants.
Typically, ads or web site pages begin with;
The name of the business
A picture of the product, the owner, or the company's headquarters
A list of product names
A company history
Company hours and contact information
Many small business owners use this format because they see everyone
else doing it. While it may be the most common approach, it's usually
the least effective.
When a prospect views an ad or a website that doesn't speak to their needs,
they ignore it. Even if the prospect wants the product or service you're
selling, chances are they won't respond. They've got too many choices
of similar ads from competitors and will end up just choosing the last
one they looked at. To stand out from your competition, get a response
to your marketing and increase your s.ales and profits, you need to take
a different approach.
To get attention and grow your business, you need to focus your marketing
on what your prospects want, then once you've got their attention you
can work on building a mutually profitable relationship.
Give Your Prospects a Reason to Buy Your prospects are out there searching
for your products and services but they're doing so as fast as they can
surf the net, flip the pages of a magazine, sort their mail or scan the yellow pages.
Give them a reason to stop and read your ad, s.ales letter or web site.
"Welcome" or a company name or simply naming your product won't
grab their attention.
Tell your prospects how you are going to help them. Tell them how they'll
benefit from your products or services. You want this information to jump
out at prospects when they see your materials.
You may be thinking, "How can this work, when every large corporation
in the U.S. features its brand name in their ads? Every magazine I read
is full of these brand-focused ads."
Focusing on a brand or company name is important for multinationals like
Coke or Nike, but keep in mind that these companies spend hundreds of
millions of dollars each year building brand awareness and maintaining
their brand image in every media and every market. Without a hefty advertising
budget, this approach won't work for you.
Give your prospects a reason to stop what they are doing and read your
ad or your web page. Give them a reason to read the first paragraph, then
the second, and lead them to contact you and buy from you.
REI sells outdoor sports gear and apparel in stores and online. Their
Christmas catalogue is a great example of giving prospects a reason to
buy. They identified a problem that plagues their customers at Christmas
time; figuring out which gifts to give friends and family.
REI speaks to that need on the front cover of the catalog with a great
photo of a woman and a man climbing a snow covered mountain and a single
line of text; "We'll help you find great gifts for everyone on your
list."
Inside, below each product photo, they've listed the product benefit;
"Keep him toasty even in winter's worst"; or "Built for
deep snow and bitter cold"; or "Keep kids happy on hikes with
their own hydration". Below that is the description of the product.
Finally, below that, you'll find the name and price of the product.
Getting your prospects' interest and their business is simply about helping
them get what they want. The first step is to give them the information
they want. Your next step is relationship-building, helping your prospects
get to know your business and to trust you.
Are you as successful as you want to be at helping your prospects get
what they want? Do you know how to get their attention? Do you know how
to get prospects to trust you? Then, do you know how to get them to take
action and contact you? What are the crucial steps to getting a client
to commit to spending money with you?
When you discover the answers to these questions you'll attract clients
like a magnet and grow your business faster and with less work than you
ever imagined.
Charlie Cook, helps, small business owners and marketing professionals
attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up to receive the Free
Small Business Marketing Ideas eBook, '7 Steps to get more clients and
grow your business' at: http://www.marketingforsuccess.com
