Time flies by so fast… and of course, your time is valuable…
Oh… if there were only more hours in a day…
Anyway – here’s a super-duper quick article about getting better results from your marketing.
I’ve broken down most marketing tasks into 5 basic steps.
5 steps to better marketing:
- Know exactly who your target market is – define your ideal customer. The more you can define them, the easier it is to figure out the best way to connect with them
- Write a sales message that gets their attention and shows them why they should use your product or service. You gotta get down to their level and use persuasive arguments.
- Include proof using testimonials and/or studies. People like to buy from companies that have great track records.
- Make them an irresistible offer, one they just can’t refuse. Add so much value, it would be virtually impossible to pass up.
- Include an obvious call to action that tells them what to do next. Keep it simple and clear.
Use them, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the increased response you’ll get.
I’d love to hear your comments below…
If you want help with your marketing strategy, writing effective sales copy, have any comments, or have a marketing project you’d like help with, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140
If you need help with website design, writing SEO optimized web copy, email marketing, or other online marketing strategies, I can help!
To your marketing success!
Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter
Join my discussion by leaving a comment below…
5 ways to get more clients from your home page
Merrill,
As always I enjoy your take on how to get a customer’s attention. I need to make it a habit to ask customers to write a testimonial for us either in writing, on Linked In, or online. I forget to do this. Thank you for the reminder.
Carol
Thanks Carol…
Testimonials as proof go a long way in making a potential customer feeling more comfortable buying from you.
And in your case, you could even create a binder for customers to browse that includes pages of happy customer letters, and put each of them in one of those little plastic sleeves.
So… go get ’em! Kick that procrastination dude right in the butt!
Merrill, what makes an offer irresistible as opposed to so-so? Is there some kind of rule of thumb or way to know if it’s enticing enough, or if you’re giving away too much?
Great question Beth.
There’s really no rule of thumb, bu my advice is this…
Make your offer so good and add so much value that it would be virtually impossible for your reader to pass it. In other words, make it tough to resist.
If you do that, your offer will be better than 99% of them.
That being said… you still need to know your target market well enough to know what is “good” and what is “valuable” to them.
As far as giving away too much… there is a balance. It depends on the price of your service, and what you should (or are willing) to invest to gain a new customer. Obviously, you don’t want to give away the farm, but I find that many business owners don’t know what they should invest to get new customers.
Find ways to add value that don’t necessarily cost a lot, or that you can get at a discount. For example, one client offers a $50 gift certificate as an incentive or bonus to sign up for their service. So the added value is $50 – but they’ve arranged to buy the certificates for $25, or half priced.
Hope that helps,
Merrill