What are you selling?
To Whom? With What Message? Through What Media?
Market
“The Customer is KING”. No matter what size your prospect is, it is really important to do your research. The more information you have about your market, your prospect’s business, the better prepared you will be and you will demonstrate an interest in their business. Also look for the best type of customers for your business – don’t sell to everyone. Your customer list is vital for success.
” What makes your offering different? “
- Profile your customers be they existing or lapsed. It is likely that 80% of your income will come from 20% of your customers. Find out who these are and get a database that matches this.
- Your customer list is really important to get right – they are your lifeblood so it is important to nurture and develop this list.
- Ensure you know your own product/service extremely well – especially the advantages and benefits that will be relevant to your prospect.
- What is your USP (Unique Sales Proposition)? Ascertain as far as you can the main or unique perceived benefit that your product or service would give to your prospect – what makes your offering different?
- Why it is that your existing customers buy from you?
Understand what other competitors are able to and likely to offer; and which ones are being considered if any.
Message
Once you understand who you are talking to – and once you have segmented and profiled the database, which could be several different groups – you need to think about what messages will be most relevant.
You need to think how each particular segment will react to your offer. The objective is to get them to buy your new product or service – NEW being the operative word. If something is not new or different; why should anyone want to buy it – providing of course you have ascertained that it is relevant to them.
Any message needs to switch on the emotions in a person. It needs to appeal to their desires and get them to do something.
A.I.D.A – Attention Interest Desire Action
So when targeting one of your selected segments, rather than have a headline which says:
“This “product/service” will give you the edge you have been looking for”
Say instead for example:
“7 important reasons why your competitors will be sorry that you bought “this product/service”.
You can test your message with small campaigns that leverage the internet with different headlines. You can then monitor and measure results using a system so your communication can be working day and night.
It’s time to Break the Mould and be seen to be different. People like to buy the unusual not the ordinary.
Media
All very well to have your market and your message – but how are you going to get it out there?
Traditionally companies blanket the media options using, to name but a few, newspapers, radio, email, leaflets and direct mail and where they can afford it, TV. Not a bad thing to do but the targeting can be too broad.
You need to talk to only a sample of those watching and reading this media so a lot of your budget is being wasted on people who either don’t want your offering or clearly don’t need it. So you need to break down a) where your market is; the Geographics b) who your market is; the Demographics and c) the Psycographics; what your market is interested in – and then choose the media to fit the message more tightly.