To get marketing help without a lot of the complexity you get from a small business marketing course, I often get asked by people with existing small businesses, “When it comes to marketing for my business, where do I begin?” Here’s a simple process that will help.
-1- TARGET MARKET — Always start with your target customer and work backwards from there. So…
a. The best marketing help gets you to first, list EVERY type of customer for your product, service or small business. Be as specific as possible. Don’t just say “realtors,” say “commercial realtors,:” “residential realtors,” ‘retail specialists,” etc. List ALL that apply.
b. Identify low-hanging fruit from that list–people where you have the greatest chance to win them with the greatest profit and/or volume. This list should NOT have people who are not ready or convinced they have the problem or issue your product solves.
Instead, select target customers for your product or small business who recognize they have this need, but have not yet decided how to solve it. Then…
c. The best marketing help I can give you right here, something that most people do not consider, is… Select ONE group to target from that list of low hanging fruit and focus ALL your marketing efforts just on them.
-2- DEFINE YOUR MESSAGE— What do you want to say that will have them buying from you? Here’s a simple formula that will help:
IT / US / NOW, meaning…
a. What is “IT” we are offering (description and positioning / image), and why should they be interested in it compared to the alternatives (our USP or Unique Selling Proposition)?
b. Why should they be comfortable buying from “US”? Are there reasons they are uncomfortable buying from our small business, and how could we overcome that?
c. Why should they buy “NOW” rather than delaying? Is there some reason to buy now, perhaps a discount with a deadline.
-3- MEDIA & METHODS — Now that you’ve decided who you want to target as a customer for your product or small business and what to say to them, the next marketing help you’ll want to address is, how do you get your message to these target customers.
In our 5-Minute Marketing program we cover all this and give you plenty of marketing help, including a great list of media and methods, both conventional and guerrilla methods and media.
But whatever you use, based on your budget and its effectiveness, let the right people know about your product and message, and the sale is almost in the bag.
There’s one last piece…
-4- REASON TO BUY NOW — Lastly, if people are interested in getting your product or service, there’s still no guarantee they’ll buy it right away.
As a species, we are natural procrastinators. So if you find someone who likes your product or service and is willing and comfortable to buy from your small business, unless you give them a solid reason to act now, many or most will generally put off buying until later… or never.
Here’s where sales promotion tools could really help increase the marketing results for your product or small business. Giving qualified buyers a solid reason to act now, maybe with a discount or some bonus, and definitely with a deadline, could dramatically increase your results unlike just about anything else.
Sales promotion is an essential part of your marketing program–because it gets more people to buy now rather than later… or never.
So, when you want marketing help for your product or business, and are asking, WHERE DO I BEGIN, these four relatively simple steps will take you from start to finish in building a great income from your product or business. Of course, my 5-Minute Marketing Program makes it easier to go through each of these steps. And if you click on the link now, there’s an incredible discount I’m offering.
But however you do it, following this 4-step formula will drastically simplify your marketing process of bringing the customers and income you want.