3 Step Strategy for Marketing
Oftentimes marketing and selling are confused because “Sales Person” seems less prestigious than a “Marketing Manager”. Both are essential for a successful business.
Selling is talking about “Your Thing.”
Marketing is talking to your customer.
There are 3 steps to successfully market:
- Target
- Attract
- Cultivate
Target people who:
- Are searching for “Your Thing”, whatever product or service you provide.
- Have a history of buying “Your Thing”.
- Have a problem that “Your Thing” can solve.
These are the 3 areas where you will see the most success in your marketing campaigns; these people are either already invested, or can become invested in your services easily. These are people who want what you offer, target them!
Attract
Who is your ideal audience? No, it’s not the “whole world” even if your end business goal is to be a world leader in your area. A toy store will target parents and children. An attorney’s office will target newly-weds, homeowners, personal injuries (car accidents, work incidents, etc.), and business owners.
DON’T Do these:
- Spam your product
- Target the entire world as your potential audience
Most business owners think they can run sales campaigns all the time, and then become distressed when no one pays any attention to them. Think about it, do you pay attention to the ads that pop up on your Facebook timelines? Or do you breeze by them with contempt? There’s only so many times you can see a blaring red BIG SALE before you are mentally exhausted.
Would you rather have an engaged audience of 50,000 or market to the entire globe of 7 billion people?
7 billion is more than a huge number, you would think there would be plenty of potential customers there, but if you aren’t targeting the audience interested in your services and products you are wasting time. There is such a thing as too large a net.
Cultivate
Converse with your potential clients! You want a relationship, not a one-time browser. Most retail stores focus on customer service because it’s not the one sale that is important. It’s how often the customer returns to purchase further items and the recommendations you’ll gain from the impression your business makes.
Cultivation is done face-to-face, but also online. Every follow-up email you send after purchase, each newsletter, and e-vite counts as well. This is the sum of your client’s experience with your business. Each exposure, no matter how small counts.
So, know who your customers are, what do they do, what their needs are, and how you will address those needs.
You also want to address whether this is someone you want as a client. Do they meet your credentials, do they represent your target clientele (of course there are always outliers). If they do not, you must decide whether they are worth cultivation or not.
Wrapping Up
Another way to put this is, marketing is everything you do to prepare for sales. Selling is the closing sales that make you money.
Here are some marketing activities:
- Networking and building relationships
- Advertising and public relations
- Direct mail and e-newsletters
- Special promotional events
- Merchandising and merchandise selection
- Holding sales, offering preferred customer bonuses
- Getting articles published (blogging)
- Market research, customer surveys
- Branding, creating your sales message & materials
- Building and maintaining your web site, blog, social media presence
- Market planning and strategizing
These are selling activities:
- Doing proposals or estimates
- Presenting, answering questions, making suggestions, addressing concerns
- Negotiating
- And most important, asking for the sale. Then completing the sales agreement.
So, are you marketing? Or are you selling?
You should be successful in marketing to sell your products. Remember 80% of your effort is marketing, 20% of your effort is selling. Contact Novae Design Group for a consultation or if you have any questions!
