Marketing Planning. Quick… grab your marketing plan.
Okay… for those of you who have nothing to grab, I am going to tell you something you may not want to hear. Your behavior is dumb. You’re not dumb, but not having a marketing plan is.
I communicate with a bunch of small business owners every week. You know the number one question that gets asked about, in one form or another, it’s about how do I sell my stuff.
Lot’s of businesses ask about and are interested in social media to develop new relationships and leads. Some are looking at email as a tactic. Lot’s like the SEO or search engine marketing route. A few talk about direct mail. Yet, when you ask-
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Who is your target market
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How do you reach them
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And what message they have developed for that buyer
It gets quiet. So very quiet. And in that very silence, unlike the silence between notes in music which is in fact what makes it beautiful, this silence is horrible. It means you are wasting away whatever vision you had for your business.
You can’t implement any advertising, promotion or sales campaign without understanding those three areas, and have any success, unless your service/product is irresistible. Building a irresistible product is the best way to sell a lot, because, if its really irresistible, you don’t need much of a plan… the market will find you.
So.. ask yourself, Is my service/product irresistible? No it’s not. Can it be? Maybe but unlikely if you want to make money.
So having recognized that 80% of small business owners don’t have a marketing plan, and the reason for that was generally they didn’t understand it’s value, or they didn’t know how to do it, or they didn’t have the money to get it done. we developed a very good program for
business owners that is sold through Bayes Square LLC and some ActionCOACH franchises. We take the info you have on your current good customers… the type you want more of, and we research up to 70 different possible commonalities in the group.
The Premise is easy enough, your next customers will look like your current customers.
( Play along at home if you Like)
List everything you can think of that businesses might have in common. Start with at least 10 areas… things like time in business, Industry type, locations, associations….
Now list your 10 or 20 best clients. Now check mark the commonalities and the percentage as a total. If 75% of your good customers are part of a certain association, and you are prospecting less than 75% of the time in areas besides that association, well, your behavior is dumb.
The Marketing Crystal Ball service looks at up to 70 different commonalities than does the research to understand why prospects buy from you, and how to reach them….
TA DA!
You have a targeted List
You know the message
You know how to reach them
Frankly, for less than 2K you would be an idiot not to have one done.
Ask yourself… if I had a targeted list, and a compelling message, and knew how to reach that list, how many additional customers would I sell this year? Now how much more revenue would you have from the new customers?
Now it that amount is anywhere above 20K you need to make a decision. Am I an idiot, or not?Our last client sold 24K in new revenue in the first month after it was finished. You might too, but only if you call me, or DIY. Either way, a marketing plan is the first thing you must do every year.
One last thought. It’s important. I know 2K can be a lot of money for very small businesses. So… We can do the mini version for you which will tell you your best prospects highest commonalities and a 30 minute call to give you thoughts on how to reach them for $549.00. This includes all the research we do for a standard client, except, we don’t call them or do an email survey. I will be glad to tell you how to execute that part of the marketing plan.
You just send us the info you have on 20 customers. We will do the rest. This is good through April. Do it now. Click the button on the left to call me, or just call 303 500 3053 ext 1.
Great Points. As a Home energy audit company, we really need a better target… thanks for the tips!
Great info Mike. Many people call us about getting social media programs started and few actually have a real understanding of their target market, message and over all plan. My motto? Plan the work, work the plan:)
Thats what makes your company so good! Thanks Lisa.