| |
| |
|
Marketing Resource Center |
|
|
|
Four Super-Deadly Marketing Sins - And How To Fix Them
It seems nowadays every marketing guru and their brother-in-law has a "deadly sins and how to fix them" book, ebook or at least an article! But apparently nobody is reading this stuff! How do I know? Because nine out of every ten businesses continue making the same marketing goof-ups. The most amazing part is - they are convinced their marketing is great and their phone will be ringing off the hook any moment now! Time for a reality check! Are you guilty of these four marketing sins? Find out how to fix it! Deadly Marketing Sin #1 You want to be one in a million not one of the million. In the marketing jargon it's called a Unique Selling Proposition (USP). I call it a HUB - Hot Undeniable Benefit of doing business with you. Your HUB sets you apart from the crowd. It tells your customers why you are special. And it answers the question your customers are asking themselves, which is: "Why should I do business with you versus anyone else?" So how do you go about discovering your HUB? Do you know what makes you different from others offering similar product or service? The more competitive your industry the more important it is to emphasize even the smallest differences. Do you cater to a specific group of people? Are you better than others in addressing a specific issue? Do you guarantee your work? How about the one thing no one can duplicate - what makes you - you? If you can't find anything unique right now, look for unresolved problems in your industry and become an expert in providing a solution to them. Here is good example. You've heard of a small parcel delivery company called FEDEX, right? Do you know their USP? It's: "When you absolutely, positively need it overnight. Guaranteed." Funny thing is they are no longer the only company doing it - but they offered it first. Discover your HUB, articulate it in all your marketing messages and watch your results soar. Deadly Marketing Sin #2 Small business owners are a very special breed - we walk, talk, breathe, eat and sleep thinking about our business. Listen, just because you think about your business all the time doesn't mean your customers do the same! Fact is, I can count on one hand the businesses I became exposed to in the last twelve months that didn't fail to educate their customers on how they solve their problems and meet their needs and wants. Your customers don't really buy products and services. They buy SOLUTIONS to their problems. Use articles, presentations and case studies to educate them about WHAT you do, HOW it works and WHY it's the only logical solution to their problems. And don't just do it once. Frankly, if you don't have a way to consistently and automatically keep in touch with prospects, customers, centers of influence and strategic partners - you are missing the boat! Deadly Marketing Sin #3 Do you know which of your marketing efforts result in new business? Do you ever calculate the time, money and effort it takes to get a new customer from each promotional strategy you use? Why? Because if it is working - you want to do use it more often! And if it isn't - you need to stop wasting your money! Case in point; most professionals believe that networking is the best way to get new business. And it can be - but not always and not for everyone. Find out for yourself. Add up the amount of time you spent networking last month. Put a dollar value on it based on your fees. Add the actual price you paid to attend those events. Then divide this total amount by the number of new customers your networking produced. Are you happy with your results? Or is it a shock to see what it actually costs to get new clients by networking? It doesn't matter if it's networking, advertising, referral or joint venture strategies - if you don't know your ROME (Return On Marketing Efforts) I guarantee you are wasting money doing things that don't work! Every marketing strategy can be tracked and measured. So figure out what works best for you! Deadly Marketing Sin #4 You've heard about the back-end-sales, haven't you? Are you doing it? It's astonishing how many small business owners do not develop strong relationships with their customers and have no plan for generating repeat business. You see, one of your biggest costs of doing business is marketing and getting new customers into your funnel. And once you've done a great job for them, and then you nurture the relationship you've developed, it's so easy to ask for more business. But you have to develop different levels of products and services to offer to them. Listen to your clients and develop new offerings to respond to their needs. Create assessments to uncover hidden opportunities for additional projects. If you can't or don't want to offer those new solutions - partner up with someone who does. McDonald's made a fortune on "supersizing" their fries - time for you to start thinking about supersizing your business with each client. Bottom line is this: when I hear businesses talk about bad economy, clients not having money and overall complaining about how tough it is to make a sale I can always pinpoint their poor performance to at least one of those marketing sins. Frankly, there is no such a thing as a shortage of business - there is a shortage of knowledge how to get that business. (c) 2004 Adam M. Urbanski ABOUT THE AUTHOR The Author, Adam Urbanski, a Marketing Mentor, helps Service Professionals and Small Business Owners attract more clients. For more free tutorial articles, hot how-to tips and a FREE 32-page marketing guide go to http://www.themarketingmentors.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Design Does Matter The idea that good design can improve how people perceive your business has long been a part of a designer's sales tools.They try to convince you that by improving your image, maybe creating a new logo or changing the way you communicate with your customers you can somehow improve sales and improve your bottom line. Motivating Your Target There's just no time to waste in a cyber day; competition for your target's attention has always been stiff, but now it's just killer. There's less time and more to do, more to see, more to read--ad infinitum. Neuromarketing: Smart Marketing Or Jedi Mind Control Trick? In the international bestseller "Blink," Malcolm Gladwell explains why our decisions to choose brands, select a mate, sue our doctor or make choices that decide Presidential elections, aren't as simple as they seem.Why we often let unconscious biases affect our opinions about people who are taller or have a different skin colour. AIDA From A Different View - I Call It the 5 Ws My childhood was my foundation for how I write and how I think. I caught on at an early age that writing is an art and it has a very distinct way of reaching out to people depending on how you apply it. Referrals - How to Get Them Referrals are an extension of Networking. If people like youand like the sound of your product or service, thenthere's a good chance they'll tell other people aboutyou. Testing Your Way To Prosperity I have always enjoyed talking to a Realtor friend of mine about his Father-in-laws business. His business is Gold Mining and he has been involved in it full time for nearly his whole life. Big Ticket Marketing in 28 Minutes I read an article recently about how many mainstream retail companies are using the standard 28 minute infomercial to moreeffectively target customers and sell their products.Now, I have to confess, I have never used an infomercial to market a Big Ticket product. 6 Things I Know About Postcards That You Don't In my plethora of experience tucked away between these ears, I have managed to cull out for you what I consider the "best of the best" - in other words, I took the most proven details about postcards that were significant to you starting a postcard campaign and really winning at it. So here goes the most incisive higlights about postcards. 21 Ways To Expand Your Subscriber List Expanding your subscriber list, whether it be for your ezine, newsletter -- printed or electronic -- takes persistence, and commitment. Not to mention time and letting go of the frustruation of it all. The Advantage to Buying Promotional Products Online Buying your promotional products and corporate apparel online provides five major advantages: a greater selection, better pricing, convenience, customer service, and faster ordering time.Manufacturers often display their entire line of products on the internet, providing you with a greater selection of products. Marketing Strategy - Whats Your System? Where Do Most of Your Clients Come From?Is it from your marketing and sales system?When I meet people for the first time and they understand that I'm a marketing consultant, I'm frequently asked, "Where do most of your clients come from?" Many times I believe the question is asked innocently enough. But, quite often I feel like the person asking wants to know if I have a magic answer that might work for them. How Prince Connects With His Target Market! While Internet legend (and young pup) Frank Kern would have you believe that I'm so old I should be confined to a wheelchair, I'm still on the good side of 100! And I can stil enjoy a good concert from time to time. My daughter - Rachel, my wife and I had the good fortune to score some last-minute tickets to the recent Prince concert here in Atlanta. Marketing is More Than a Token Process "Necessity is the mother of invention!" The first time I heard this was nearly twenty years ago when I was introduced to Tony Robbins' material. I was listening to, and applying, information from his thirty day series. Marketing Effectively to More Than One Audience What's a small business owner to do if they have more than one audience to market to? Perhaps they need to attract clients but they also need to recruit business partners or vendors. Do they need two marketing plans or can they use one plan that tries to address both aspects?This is a great question that applies to many different types of businesses who find they need to market to more than one group of people. Basic Marketing Dope Sometimes the simplest data is the best. Marketing is not complex if you know the basics - that's true with anything by the way. Why Pay for Online Press Release Distribution? We've all heard that "free advice is worth what you pay forit.. 5 Tips on Establishing Yourself As An Expert In Your Community Wondering how to get new patients into your practice? Wondering how to distinguish yourself as unique from the other practitioners in your community? Here are 5 surefire ways to get visibility in your area.5 Tips on Establishing Yourself As An Expert In Your Community1. The X Factor So you've invested more time than you ever believed possible on your website and in optimizing the pages for the search engines. Having sacrificed weekends and holidays, you've ensured that your site ranks in the Top 10. Direct Mail Formats: How to Choose the Right One for Your Next Mailing Which pulls the best response, a postcard, a self-mailer or a letter? The answer, you'll be irritated to know, is clear. It depends. Why Doubling Your Fees Can Increase Business: How Pricing Affects Buyers Decision Making Process Want to know the simple way to get all the business you could ever handle? Charge almost nothing.That's the approach employed by busy fools anyway.
|
| home | site map | Advertising Articles |
| © 2006 |
