 | Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing author: Drayton Bird asin: 0749447605 |
One of the things people often comment on about my first book Start Your Business Week by Week, is that every chapter ends with a thought for the week - and every week it says the same thing, Who will be your first customer.
Some people comment because they get it - the most important thing to consider when starting a business is who will buy what you're going to offer. It's easy to get distracted by dealing with suppliers, organising office space, or other 'admin' things - so you always need to bring your mind back to the main thing.
But other people comment because they think it's a mistake, or because they think it's silly and too simple.
But the most important things often do seem ever so simple. But that doesn't mean people do them, so they do need reminding.
That's being made clear to me today because I'm at a seminar on Direct Marketing being given by expert Drayton Bird.
A lot of the stuff seems obvious when he says it, but then I realised that so many people don't do it, and often I don't do it either... so here are some of the key learning points:
1. The focus of all your sales and marketing should be to sell more stuff to more people for more money. If any of your sales and marketing isn't fulfilling these, change it.
2. Constantly test new ideas, new copy, new design styles against your existing marketing materials. Do it in controlled tests (by using an offer code for responses to each ad or newsletter for example) so you can see which generates better responses. Then switch to the most successful, then think of other changes and test those. Your marketing can always be improved.
3. Simple marketing materials often work best. Designers love to throw glossy graphics in all over the place, but actually people respond better to simplicity. Drayton says this suggests honesty and openness rather than flashiness.
4. Use simple language that anyone can understand, this may mean being relatively informal, but that's fine. Have a conversation with them, not a 1950's style news broadcast that's so formal they can't connect with you. Speak how your customers speak.
5. A bit of charm goes a long way.
6. Relate to your audience, so that they can relate to you. What is there in your letter, or marketing materials that they can really relate to? What is there that is about them and their situation?
7. Once you've written what you are going to send, edit it, re-edit it, re-edit it, show someone else, re-edit it.
8. Does your communication explain why you are better for the customer than anyone else? If the customer wants to buy what you're offering their next question will be why they should buy from you - make sure you answer that by showing how you are better, faster, nicer, cheaper or whatever.
9. Paint word pictures, create desire.
10. You must absolutely believe in what you are saying, and you must convince the prospect. It's also very powerful to use testimonials from other customers to help them believe in your claims.
11. Create reasons to act - explain what the next action is, and when it needs to be done by. Create a time deadline using a special offer or limited availability.
12. Use incentives in your marketing, it will lift responses by 15-20%.
13. Follow up on your marketing! Don't just send it and wait, people are busy.
14. Most marketing is prepared by people in their 20's and is therefore aimed at people in their 20's. The problem is they don't have the money. Older people have more money.
15. Be polite. Write to say thank-you for orders etc.
16. Long sales letters work better than short snappy ones. If you get them to read the thing you might as well provide every useful bit of information - testimonials, data, details of benefits and so on. Long copy always outperforms short copy. The reader can always skim read it if they want.
17. Appeal to emotions and worries that your customer has.
18. Keep it simple, don't try to be too clever. Award winning arty, clever, advertising campaigns get much worse results than much simpler campaigns that would never impress the advertising industry.
19. Build a database of your customers and prospects, gather and use knowledge about them.
All common sense stuff, but I bet you don't do them. I've put a link to Drayton's book below.
I wish you every success in selling more stuff to more people for more money.
Click Here to subscribe in your feedreader.
Wed, 03/19/2008 - 03:23
Thanks for the reminder...there are so many "pop marketing" ideas that come about every day and it's easy to get caught up in it. At the end of the day, though the techniques and tools have changed in marketing, the goals need to remain largely the same and measuring return on investment becomes ever more critical.
Cheers,
Ryan
Fri, 05/30/2008 - 15:04
Hi Steve,
Absolutely right - particularly the bits about being honest and passionate about your product. In my experience people respond far more readily to an honest and straightforward explanation than to a lot of guff and hot air.
BTW I've just lent my copy of "Start your business week by week" to one of my colleagues who's been briefed to write a business plan for a new venture, because I found it really useful when I wrote my own business plan last year.
M
Post new comment