In an earlier article, I challenged you to pick three marketing activities to engage in and be ready to implement them in the next 30 days. Here are four things to consider as you move forward with your marketing strategy.
Who Will You Target?
The biggest mistake you can make is to market at anyone with a pulse. Most businesses would love to clone their five or ten best customers, but few make the effort to try. Does targeted marketing work? We’ve only done it to a small degree but we’ve seen some dramatic results.
What Will You Say?
What will you say when you have a decision-maker’s attention? Whether that’s over the phone, at a networking meeting, or on your web site, you need to plan in advance what you’re going to say. If you don’t have something very compelling to tell them, you will lose them. Without the right message, even the person who has a need for your product or service will tell you ‘no.’
How Often Will You Contact Them?
This is where most people struggle … how often should I call? How many emails until it becomes spam? Too often and you feel like a stalker. Too seldom and your chances of reaching the prospect or getting his attention decline dramatically. Unless you figure out how to consistently touch your prospects enough times to capture their attention, you will become lost in the clutter.
What’s My Value Proposition?
Jill Konrath defines a Killer Value Proposition as: “a clear statement of the tangible results a customer gets from using your products or services.” The best source for this information is from the mouths of your customers themselves. Once you know why they buy from you, you can weave that into all of your sales and marketing messages.
Sounds important. So why did I save this step for last? Because you need to start marketing as best you can, as soon as you can—with or without a “killer” value proposition. I’m a great believer in moving when you’re 80 percent ready and figuring out the remaining 20 percent as you go along. Once your marketing machine is in motion, you can fine-tune it along the way
I’ll be covering each of these steps in more detail over the next few weeks. Until then, happy marketing!
John TabitaFormer owner and partner of web firm Jenesis Technologies, John is currently Director of Digital Strategy at Haines Local Search, a company providing local search marketing solutions to SMBs, including print and Internet Yellow Pages, web design, and local SEO. When not working or spending time with his family, John offers great sales and marketing advice on his blog, Small Business Marketing Sucks. When not working or spending time with his family, John offers great sales and marketing advice on his blog, Small Business Marketing Sucks.
