If You Are Struggling To Attract Customers To Your Business Then You May Be Making This Simple Mistake!
Marketing your business and getting a constant flow of leads and customers is the life blood of your business. No leads or customers means no cash flow and a struggling business. Now I don’t want to sound a doom and gloom merchant but that is the cold hard facts so there is no point sugar coating it.
So, what I want to do is ask you what are your marketing strategies for your business? Where are you concentrating your efforts and are you monitoring your results. These questions are all crucial to the success of your business.
The marketing space for businesses has drastically change over the last 20 – 30 years. In the “good old days”, as many people still refer to, marketing methods were in essence straight forward. Television, radio, media such as print were the go-to options for many businesses to maximise their exposure to the general public.
Other methods such as flyers, billboards, direct mail, otherwise know as mail shots, were also used. Then we come onto cold calling either by knocking on people’s doors or calling people on the phone.
Back in the day these methods did work to some extent, they must have done otherwise all businesses using them would have gone out of business. When you look at television 30 – 40 years ago there were a limited number of channels that you could watch. Each channel commanded millions of people watching it at the same time, so the audience was vast to say the least.
There were less newspapers in circulation so the same principle applies and the same can be said for radio. Cold calling did work and although it was tough businesses did get new clients.
The trouble with these methods is that are now antiquated, out of date and not as effective as they may have been. So, let me ask you again, what are your marketing strategies? If you are using the methods that I have highlighted, then this may be why your business is struggling to grow. Why well let me explain.
If You Try And Sell To Everyone, You Sell To No One!
This is the saying in marketing world we live in now. So, read this out loud. If you try and sell to everyone, you sell to no one! Repeat this over and over again a few times so it get’s lodged in your mind.
The outdated methods I earlier referred to typifies everything this statement has to say. So, what do I mean by that? The principle of this tactic is that your marketing net is being cast to the whole world in essence in the hope that people will notice your advertisement. Let’s look at newspapers for a moment.
Popular tabloid newspapers may have millions of people buying their publication everyday so you may think it is a great place to advertise your products and service. Whereas in reality there is only a minute fraction of those people who may be interested in what you have to offer and they may miss your ad all together.
There is a thing called “Ad Blindness” and this means that people become immune to general ads that are trying to pitch and sell. It may have worked years ago but not anymore.
Then if we look at direct mail. It is still common practice for companies to send out thousands upon thousands of leaflets, flyers and brochures to people who have not requested the information. Back in the 1980’s and 1990’s this became referred to as “Junk Mail” and got a lot of bad press but it still happens. Why?
Advertising and marketing incurs financial outlay and these two methods are some of the most expensive forms that you can apply. Businesses still do them just because they think individuals and consumers will see their products and services but with both these examples the material ends up in the rubbish bin!
If you don’t believe me then just look at your own habits when it comes to reading a newspaper or receiving unsolicited mail through your letterbox! What do you do? As A side note you can also bring into the equation what you receive in your email inbox. Many businesses spam email lists which only results in people deleting the email which I am sure you have done in the past.
Cold calling is in my opinion one of the lowest forms of marketing products and services. We have all had the calls out of the blue by some one speaking from a script and usually with no knowledge of what they are trying to push. I hang up and I am sure that I am not the only one. The experience is bad and leaves you with no intention of ever doing business with that company. Yet many businesses still do this and the other methods I have mentioned.
Now if your marketing is based on these principles than I apologise if I have upset you, but I don’t apologise in bringing it to your attention. Why? Because at the end of the day this will help you and your business grow and become more successful.
So, What Is The Answer?
Well it is quite simple in principle. Instead of trying to cast that vast net over everyone in the world what you need to do is only advertise and market your products and services to the people who are interested in what you have to offer and the message that you want to pass on.
What you need to do is to target your ideal customer who matches perfectly your products and services. As an example, lets look at the Golf niche. Golfers are extremely passionate about their sport and generally have a fair amount of disposable income which they are willing to spend to improve their game.
If you had a golf related business where do you think a good place to advertise would be? Just a tip a national newspaper or general television station would not be the place.
If you think that sport related publications and media channels would be the place, then you are starting to think on the right lines but you are still off the mark. Although golf is a sport there would only be a small percentage of that audience who are interested in golf.
What you should be doing is targeting golf related publications to promote your products and services. If your budget allows then The Golf Channel on television would be the place and not Fox Sports or Sky Sports. I hope that you get the point.
Your marketing must relate to your products and services so what are your marketing strategies and do they relate? There is only one type of person who is going to buy from you and that is people who want, need and desire your products. The trick is to identify those people. How do you do that? Well make sure you come back tomorrow where I will let you into some secrets on how to identify your ideal customer and create an avatar for them.
If you have found this post interesting and of value, then please leave your comments below. Until tomorrow.
I wish you every success.
Pete Harris
Digital Marketer & Information Publisher