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3 Simple Marketing Strategies
3 SIMPLE MARKETING STRATEGIES Copyright 2002 Bob Leduc These 3 simple marketing strategies work for any business. You can implement them quickly and produce immediate results. They won't cost you much money. And the sales growth they generate...
Affiliate Marketing With The New Adwords Rules
Are you an affiliate marketer who is concerned about the recent Adwords changes that have threatened to pull the rug from under you? Here is a short note about life of an affiliate marketer under the new Adwords regime.
Before the new rules were...
How to Get a 100% Return on Your Marketing Investment Guaranteed!
One of the most effective ways to market your products/services is to create strategic alliances. Strategic alliances are partnerships with companies who sell to a client base similar to yours but they sell different products/services. The idea is...
Make Yourself Important. The "Rush Limbaugh" Marketing Approach
If you tune to the Rush Limbaugh radio show every day, these words may be deeply stuck in your mind: "I am the best most-listened-to talk show in America!" It is annoying to many listeners, especially those who are new to his show. There is...
“Marketing Therapy: Stop Sabotaging your Marketing”
As a CEO or business owner, have you ever felt like your mind was going in circles when trying to decide what you should do next to grow your business? Have you agonized over how to get more business, express your value, minimize your risks, and...
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How to Keep your Marketing Strategy and Sales on Course
When a company announces that they’ve lost a billion dollars in the first three months of the year, as General Motors did two months ago, it is a good indication that they are way, way off course. While Ford and Daimler/Chrysler weren't in the hole for a billion dollars, their profits were down by 50% or more for the quarter. Their cars just aren't selling.
Why are these companies having such a hard time selling their products and what does it have to do with your marketing?
According to Wharton management professor John Paul MacDuffie, these companies, "don’t tend to be good learning organizations which is something Toyota and Honda are superb at." And in the New York Times, "General Motors and Ford have swerved off course for a far more basic reason: not enough people like their cars."
All three companies have lost sight of the most important aspect of their business and their marketing; what their prospective customers want and need. Focused on shareholder profits, they've lost their vision of what their prospects are looking for.
There are two ways of thinking about making more money. You can ask yourself,
A. How can I maximize my profits?
Or you can ask yourself, B. How can I give my customers what they want and need and maximize my profits?
Are you putting profits before prospects?
Whether you're running a one-person firm or a hundred-person company, your compass should point to what prospects want and need. This is the direction to long-term success; your customers have the information you need to develop your products and services and map out your marketing strategy.
Help your clients get what they want and need, and they'll buy your products or services again and again and tell all their friends to do the same.
Do you know what your prospects want and need?
Here's how to keep your business and your marketing pointed to profits:
1. Constantly Collect Information You don't need to hire a marketing research firm and spend tens of thousands of dollars to learn what your prospects want. Yes, third party research can provide one more way of listening to what people want, but you can use many low- and no-cost ways of collecting information.
Use every prospect and client contact to find out more about what they want and need. Every time a prospect or client talks to you on the phone or visits your web site, use the opportunity to prompt them to tell you more about their needs. Get people to respond to your postcard, letter or your web site copy by offering them a free
report in return for their input.
2. Ask Questions Ask prospects and clients what they need and want. Ask clients how they used your product or service and what would make it even more useful.
3. Watch What Clients Do With Your Products and Services One of the challenges of product development is getting prospects to identify a product they haven’t seen. Steve Maynard, a Vice President of Marketing at Wiremold in Connecticut understood this dilemma and had a simple solution. He regularly sent his employees out to watch how customers used his company's products.
By watching customers install their wire and cable management products, they could identify any problems that occurred and come up with new or improved products.
These insights into your customers’ needs and problems can also drive your marketing.
4. Listen to the Questions Prospects and Clients Ask Every day prospects and clients call me with lots of questions about how to improve their marketing. I get questions about cold calling, email marketing, closing s.ales, getting the boss to spend money on marketing, solving office politics etc. Each question is an indication of a need. When I evaluate which products to develop, which services to keep and which to add, I use this list of my own prospects’ needs to help set the course of my business.
My primary service is teaching people how to market their products and services, but I have had so many requests for help with copywriting that uses the successful approach I espouse that I am now offering copywriting as an added service.
5. Think About How You Want to Be Seen By Your Customers Do you want your customers to think of you solely as a profit-driven service provider? Or do you want your clients to think of you as a professional who they know and trust to help them solve their problems? The path you choose will determine how you approach your product development, delivery and marketing.
Want to ensure repeat orders and the continued growth of your business? Keep your business compass pointed to prospects' needs and wants and you'll stay on a course toward long term success and greater profits. -
About the Author
2005 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved. - The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals, small business owners and marketing professionals attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up to receive the Free Marketing Strategy eBook, '7 Steps to get more clients and grow your business' at http://www.marketingforsuccess.com
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KnowThis: For Marketing, Market Research, Internet Marketing ... |
KnowThis.com offers a wealth of information, forums, and resources for professionals, academics and students in traditional and internet marketing, ... |
www.knowthis.com |
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Marketing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
Marketers depend on marketing research, both formal and informal, ... The next big thing is a concept in marketing that refers to a product or idea that ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
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Marketing - Marketing Strategy - Marketing Plan - Marketing ... |
Learn about marketing careers, the stages of developing a marketing plan, how to begin marketing research, create a marketing strategy, and how to market ... |
marketing.about.com |
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Marketing.org - Home of the Business Marketing Association |
Serves the professional, educational and career development needs of business-to-business marketers. |
www.marketing.org |
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Welcome - American Marketing Association - www.marketingpower.com |
Dedicated to serving the educational and professional needs of marketing executives. |
www.marketingpower.com |
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Advertising, Marketing, Media and PR News - Brand Republic |
Find the latest Advertising, Marketing, Media and PR news from Brand Republic, the online resource for up to the minute advertising and marketing news and ... |
www.brandrepublic.com |
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Marketing Magazine - Marketing News - Brand Republic |
Marketing Magazine - Marketing News - Brand Republic. |
www.brandrepublic.com |
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Marketing (Canada) |
Offers a Canadian source of news and articles on marketing, advertising and media. |
www.marketingmag.ca |
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BidVertiser - Pay Per Click Advertising On Sites Of Your Choice. |
Pay per click advertising - online advertising directly on sites of your choice, internet marketing solution for online advertisers. |
www.bidvertiser.com |
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Online Behavioral Contextual Advertising and Marketing. |
Promote your business with today's most effective online advertising technology, contextual advertising at a cost effective metric of CPC, PPC, CPM or CPV. |
www.clicksor.com |
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Sales Jobs / Marketing Jobs / Advertising Jobs - MarketingJobs.com |
Employment site for marketing and sales professionals. |
www.marketingjobs.com |
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The Chartered Institute of Marketing |
The Chartered Institute of Marketing is the world's largest international marketing professional body and helps with career support and information ... |
www.cim.co.uk |
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Marketing: See what people are saying right now on Technorati |
See all blog posts tagged with marketing on Technorati. |
www.technorati.com |
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Marketing Profs - Marketing Concepts and Strategies: Expert ... |
Marketing knowhow from professionals. Newsletter, articles and how-to's. |
www.marketingprofs.com |
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Guerrilla Marketing Online - The Official Site |
Guerrilla Marketing Online is anonline magazine for small business, entrepreneurs, sales people and marketers of all kinds. |
www.gmarketing.com |
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Business Marketing - Small Business Marketing |
Business marketing - Read everything your need to know about small business marketing. |
www.entrepreneur.com |
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All About Marketing |
Adapted from Field Guide to Nonprofit Program Design, Marketing and Evaluation ... Inbound Marketing Includes Market Research to Find Out: ... |
www.managementhelp.org |
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Pages tagged with "marketing" on del.icio.us |
USA Network Announces a NASHVILLE STAR Marketing Partnership With ... - Yahoo! ... Direct Marketing Association: Telephone, Mail & Internet Marketing ... |
del.icio.us |
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ClickZ Internet Marketing Solutions for Marketers |
Includes columns with commentary and analysis on a wide variety of internet marketing subjects ranging from B2B marketing to search engine marketing. |
www.clickz.com |
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Direct Marketing Association: Telephone, Mail & Internet Marketing |
Trade association for users and suppliers in the direct, database and interactive marketing fields, offering seminars and resources, and lobbying for ... |
www.the-dma.org |
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