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Why the best marketing tactics may have failed you up until now….

Ever wonder why some marketing tactics work for some businesses but not others? Maybe you heard about a business that paints their company website’s URL on the top of their delivery trucks and increased online sales by 25% in a single quarter.   However, when you try the same tactic, your sales remain flat.  

The reason most marketing tactics fail is that they are not part of a comprehensive marketing strategy. A comprehensive marketing strategy helps you to choose which tactics will work for your business and keep the sales coming in like clockwork no matter what the economy.

Defining Marketing Strategy

To help clients get a handle on marketing strategy, I use the following illustration.

Imagine you are standing in the middle of a field with your rifle in your hand. Without a marketing strategy, you'll be shooting at every leaf that the wind picks up.  Your marketing strategy will help you to decide whether you should be shooting at rabbits or deer. Not only will your marketing strategy help you to define your target, it will help you hit that target when you raise your rifle to your shoulder and take aim.

If you have never shot a rifle before, you need to know that the sight on a rifle will determine whether you hit your target. If the sight is merely a millimeter out of alignment, even though you have properly lined up the sight with the target, you will end up shooting above, below or to either side of the target. Even if your shooting mechanics are flawless, a rifle with a sight that is out of alignment will prevent you from hitting your target.

When your marketing strategy meets the rifle with the properly aligned sight, you will find your shooting accuracy will improve dramatically.

Developing powerful marketing strategies

STEP ONE - Research, research research

This is where you find out what you do not know. The more you know, the better your marketing strategy will be.

Leave no stone unturned as you define:

• Your customers
  Age, income, education, marital statues, religious preferences, comfort level with technology, where they live, where they work, what they drive.
  
  You just cannot know enough about your customers.
    
• Your competitors
  Who are they? Are they only in your industry? What is their USP (Unique Selling Proposition)? Why do their customers choose them?
    
  You may be surprised to discover your competition is not another business after all. Consider the car wash chain that discovered their biggest competitor was their own customer! Instead of looking to annihilate the other car wash facilities, this chain began focusing their marketing efforts on educating their customers on the benefits to bringing their car to them instead of washing their cars at home. Sales increased significantly once this chain realized where to point their marketing strategy.
   
  Another often overlooked "competitor" is the ever present "Do nothing".  Doing nothing is always an option.  Frequently, it's the service professional's strongest competitor.  Never underestimate the power of doing nothing.

STEP TWO - Determine the problems your customer has and the solutions you offer.

Everyone has problems. Marketing is merely the act of bringing your solutions before the people who need it most and are ready, willing and able to pay for it.

Once you know everything about your customer, you already know the solutions he or she is seeking.


STEP THREE - Determine the emotional triggers that will ignite your sales.

The act of buying is a complex and emotional decision. The reason your customer is making a purchase is not always readily apparent. While you may be selling candles, your customers may be buying:

Emergency lighting
Aroma therapy
Ambiance

Find out why your customers are buying and you will be on your way to marketing success.

STEP FOUR - Creating a strategy that results in Breakthrough Performance

Now it is time to take the information gathered in the first three steps to create a precise marketing strategy for your business or product.

Need a powerful marketing strategy that will get the results you really want?  Then you need to develop a comprehensive and tightly targeted marketing strategy.  If you need help on creating a step by step comprehensive marketing strategy, then pick up a copy of Beyond the Niche.

Developing a marketing strategy is just the first step in creating a marketing messages that works as hard as you do (and maybe harder) at creating more business for your business. Beyond the Niche will walk you step by step through creating a tightly targeted web presence with compelling content which creates more business for your business.  

Click here to read the first chapter of Beyond the Niche.