Is Your Marketing Process In Line With The Needs Of Your Prospects?
There’s no denying the fact that when we create a new product or service, we can’t wait to let the world know about it. This is where marketing comes in, and it has always been the catalyst to attaining success in our businesses.
We market for various reasons, but the 2 core reasons are…
- To create awareness for our brand (not necessarily to sell anything)
- To sell our products and services
A lot has changed, and forward thinking business owners are figuring out new and better ways to market to their target audience. Sadly, most businesses are still marketing like it’s 1999 (there’s nothing particular about that year; it’s just to indicate how backwards some marketing processes are, despite the amount of dynamic marketing systems we now have today).
Any business looking to thrive today must understand that there’s been a shift in decision making, with regards to what the marketplace wants. The decision now lies with the consumers (ever wonder why certain products don’t sell?).
One might project the fact that his/her business has been around for X amount of years, or achieved X amount of successes, and based on that he/she is better positioned to crush it within their niche.
Well, if that’s still your train of thought, then here’s a wake up call… your business will take a nose dive into oblivion, until you realize how important it is to start applying an‘innovative’ approach to your marketing process TODAY!
Think Yahoo and Google… think Microsoft and Apple… think Myspace and Facebook… what do they all have in common? The first companies felt they “owned” the market, until the second companies came along. It’s not how long you’ve been around, but how well you can sustain your business by staying relevant to your target audience.
The truth is, today’s consumer is bombarded with so many options, and making a decision is often a tough one (you can relate to that right?).
One might argue that people would respond to how experienced a business is (based on the number of years in operation) or how many awards they have won, but all of that counts for nothing today, because the consumer only cares about what he/she can get; so the “what’s in it for me” question will always arise.
If your strategy is to use terms such as “…been around for 30 years”, or “…the best in the business”, or “…won an award for xyz”, then I’d suggest you look closely at what your competition is saying, and you might be surprised to find out that they are saying the exact same thing.
- So, what differentiates you from them?
- What can you do for the prospect that no one else is doing?
- How can you communicate to their core needs?
- Are you using email marketing very well?
- How do you approach prospects on social media?
That is what you should be thinking about when creating your marketing process.
Nothing is permanent today, thanks to technology, and the marketing process you felt was the “icing on the cake” a few months ago, can become obsolete in a matter on minutes. The rate at which change occurs is mind blowing, and keeping up is a tough process in and of itself.
How can you stay on track and achieve your set goals?
The best approach would be to look closely within your business, and see what you are already doing, and then root out what’s no longer needed or effective, based on the changes around your industry.
To get this going, you can ask yourself these questions (work with your team if you have any):
- What core problem is my product and/or service solving?
- How has that been working out through the months/years?
- What are the best ways to generate quality leads?
- How can I target the right people who truly need what I’m offering?
- What tools do I need to integrate in order to scale my marketing process?
- What reasons would prospects have not to buy from me?
- How can I invalidate these objections?
- Why should prospects buy from me instead of my competition?
- Is my product and/or service unique or is it the same as every other?
- Who’s my competition and what are they doing?
- How do I “reactivate” my current client base?
- Should I still be sending the same email to everyone in my list?
- Is automation still as effective as it was when I started using it?
There are lot more, but these are just for you to “chew on” and process certain possibilities in your mind, in order for you to come out with a better marketing process.
When working with clients, I often ask a lot of questions in order to have a better understanding of who they are, what they have done, where they are, and where they want to be.
Oftentimes, this opens up a lot of loopholes and also creates a sense of direction for the business owner. As a consultant, it is what I do to relieve my clients of the stress of doing it themselves.
A good number of business owners know they need to make changes in their marketing process, but the problem is finding the time to do it or knowing what exactly to change and integrate.
If you are in that situation today, then I’d like to help you out!
Based on what I’ve shared with you on this post, do you think your business would need to change its marketing process in order to achieve better results?
If your answer is YES, then click on this link to learn more about how I can help you out.
Your turn… let me know what you think of this post on the comment section below.
To your success!
