Marketing Information

Top Five Tips For Designing Marketing Strategies That Get Results


"But this won't work" said Steve. "I've tried it in the past and had no response." Does this sound familiar? My newer clients often resist implementing certain strategies based on past experiences. However, I usually find out that it wasn't the strategy itself - but how it was implemented that caused the dismal results.

So whether you are designing a simple flier or developing a plan for a strategic partnership you can increase your chances for success by following these five tips.

1. Develop Your Marketing For Your Potential Clients - Not Yourself.

What looks good to you may not necessarily be appealing to your audience. It's OK to ask your friends and associates for feedback - but their comments are only relevant if they are members of your target market. Also - just because everyone else advertises in a certain way is not a proof that it works.

2. Provide Answers To These Three Critical Marketing Questions:

QUESTION 1: What's this about? Check that your materials immediately and clearly communicate what you offer, who it's for and what's the next step you are asking them to take.

QUESTION 2: What's in it for me? Don't make your audience guess about what's in it for them by leaving this information out or hiding it in the small print at the bottom. Use clear language free of industry jargon. Describe your offering not from the perspective of what you do but in terms of what the clients will receive and how they will be better off as a result of it.

QUESTION 3: Why should I listen to you? How will you establish credibility with your audience? Include your photo and prominently display your contact info. Present case studies, statistics, endorsements, testimonies from satisfied clients. If people don't believe you they will not respond to your offer.

3. Always follow the proven A.I.D.A. format.

ATTENTION Use a powerful headline that grabs attention. Don't try to be cute, don't expect that your prospects will take the time look for a deeper meaning in your clever slogans - they won't. So be as direct and to the point as you possibly can. If you can boil the essence of the benefits you are offering to just one short sentence what would it be? That's you headline!

INTEREST Now that you have their attention you must quickly build your prospects interest. Use subtitles, questions and short stories to illustrate and communicate how well you understand their needs. This is a good place to allow your audience to connect with the pain their problems are causing them.

DESIRE Technical descriptions and numbers provide information but don't incite action. Your marketing must arouse in your prospects the emotion of desire. Show your audience how a solution is available and achievable to them through doing business with you. Offer powerful performance promise and eliminate the risk of giving you a "try" by a strong guarantee.

ACTION Without this part your marketing is like a salesman who gives a great presentation but forgets to ask for the order. Give your prospects a compelling reason to take action. Make your offer so incredibly irresistible they simply cannot refuse!

4. Follow up, Follow Up, Follow Up?

Over 80% of all sales are made after the prospect has heard from you at least seven times. Yet a typical business person gives up after just one or two follow up contacts.

Plan your follow-up steps in advance. Use a combination of mail, email, telephone and personal visits as your follow-up strategy. At each opportunity provide your potential clients with value - this way they will forgive you the intrusion.

5. Develop a System

Most entrepreneurs and professionals waste their time and money on one-shot, fragmented promotional tactics. They practice "hit and miss" marketing system; they try a strategy and abandon it before it has a chance to produce any results.

Instead of developing new marketing strategies look for ways to improve the ones your are currently using. When you find a promotional strategy that works for you build a system around it so that you can consistently implement it over and over again.

Following these tips will make all the difference in the world between struggling to get clients and becoming wildly successfully in marketing your services. They are worth investing your best efforts and getting the support you need to implement them effectively.

(c) 2004 Adam M. Urbanski

The Author, Adam Urbanski, a Marketing Mentor, helps Service Professionals and Small Business Owners attract more clients. For more free tutorial articles, hot how-to tips and a FREE 32-page marketing guide go to http://www.themarketingmentors.com


MORE RESOURCES:

KENIC embarks on aggressive .ke marketing campaign
NetworkWorld.com, MA - 3 hours ago
KENIC has formed a joint marketing team comprised of registrars and other technical experts that are interested in the growth of .ke, said Vincent Ngundi, ...


Marketing fee at Niagara-on-the-Lake
Bizjournals.com, NC - 7 hours ago
Niagara-on-the-Lake is considering a marketing fee for the 11 hotels located in the picturesque Southern Ontario town. Officials say the effort is designed ...


Times Online

Souvenir Sales as Obama Campaign Marketing Tactic?
FOXNews - 14 hours ago
by Cristina Corbin Those looking to purchase souvenirs from the Democratic National Convention in Denver Thursday night may have needed to offer up more ...
Video: Obama Accepts Nomination Before Crowd of 84,000 AssociatedPress
all 1,239 news articles


2006 Annual Report on 3G Business Marketing Strategy of Leading ...
MarketWatch - 7 hours ago
... has announced the addition of the "2006 Annual Report on 3G Business Marketing Strategy of Leading Overseas Vendors" report to their offering. ...


Times Online

Politics mirroring business strategic internet marketing
Business Feet, UK - 5 hours ago
Internet marketing strategies that have been used in business for some time are now being played out in the political arena, as the American presidential ...
John McCain beats Barack Obama - at Internet search marketing TECH.BLORGE.com
Obama set to woo nation with historic speech CTV.ca
Issue of technology in presidential campaign debated MiamiHerald.com
all 3,139 news articles


ABC News

Search Marketing & The US Presidental Race: Case Study: Sarah Palin
Search Engine Land, CT - 1 hour ago
After reading yesterday how savvy both US presidential campaigns seem to think they are about search marketing, I decided I'm going to take a closer look at ...
Video: McCain Introduces VP Choice CBS
Who is Sarah Palin? Here's a good profile San Diego Union Tribune
Palin's Promise Forbes
Wall Street Journal Blogs - Iowa Independent
all 3,418 news articles


Visitors bureau launches marketing programs
Bizjournals.com, NC - Aug 28, 2008
The Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau has unveiled new domestic and international marketing plans to drive visitation this fall and through ...


Palo Alto Software, iContact Provide E-mail Marketing
TMCnet - 7 hours ago
As per the agreement, iContact’s e-mail marketing best practices will be available to Palo Alto Software’s small- and medium-sized business customers. ...
Palo Alto partners with iContact to provide email marketing services Computer Business Review
all 3 news articles


FreightCar America, Inc. Names New Head of Marketing and Sales
Business Wire (press release), CA - 6 hours ago
Mr. Baun first joined FreightCar America in 1994 and has held roles of increasing responsibility in operations, marketing and sales. From 2003 to 2005, ...


Zunch Provides Marketing for Expense Management Company Cirtify.com
Newswire Today (press release), UK - 11 hours ago
Leading search engine marketing company Zunch, has recently been selected to provide extensive Internet marketing for Cirtify.com, a cutting-edge expense ...

Marketing - Google News

home | site map
© 2006