Getting Your Message To The Right People

Over the years I’ve seen all sorts of marketing in many different formats, distributed through as many different channels selling different products and services to a whole bunch of different people.

My experience of worthwhile marketing is the kind of stuff that gets a great response because it’s like having your best sales person sent in the mail or hooking them up to the internet on a permanent basis, or having them give seminars or presentations that excite your customers every time without ever actually being there.

Carefully thought out messages that connect directly with your audience in a way that inspires loyalty or action is marketing success.

What I see all too often is emphasis placed on pure branding or imagery that makes the company look good but does not necessarily create a connection with its customers.

I think we all agree that people like to buy from people or from companies that understand them so we need to concentrate on the core principals before we start dressing it up, because nobody likes mutton dressed as lamb, especially vegetarians.

So, our jobs is to help those buyers find that “something” they desperately want or need and to give it to them and that means truly understand your market at a deep enough level where you can become like them.

Just understanding your customer and their needs is only the first bridge you will have to cross. Once over, you will need to connect with them in a language that encompasses their culture and style, clearly delivering benefits with effective calls to action.

Marketing is more than just your message, it’s about how its delivered and the impact it creates. It’s about doing things on your own terms, not on the terms of your competitors.

There are many low cost methods that you can capitalise on and exploit while mixing in selectivity and surprise to create an explosive package that many larger companies strive and fail to achieve every day.
Marketing is not about a single media, it’s about finding and using as many profitable channels as possible to generate as much business that you can handle that fulfils your customers desires and keeps them wanting more.

For example your web site should allow you to connect with your audience and give them the information they need to decide if you or your businesses can help them. It is a marketing tool by itself, and a very powerful and flexible one.

It’s a chance to demonstrate to people why they should choose you over anybody else and share with them your magnificent mission so that they can decided if it’s the same mission your are both working on.
Using tools like this and other techniques you can generate awareness about problems that you can solve for your audience or even meet immediate needs they may have.

Remember though, when building sales tools that can touch your audiences from a distance without you actually being their will require you to deal with preconceptions, assumptions, concerns and questions that they will seek answers too.  And if you can address them effectively by getting into the mind of your customer it will ultimately make it easier and faster for them to make a decision about you.

One way of doing this could be to support your claims with proof or evidence of what others say about you or what you have actually achieved which is always far more powerful than what you can ever say about yourself.

Marketing should be more than just raising awareness and getting new business, it’s about maximising your customer value and retention. Finding ways to create short term sales surges and fuelling word of mouth and adopting new marketing ways of reaching your audiences effectively.

To get the most from your marketing you will need a marketing strategy or plan which will keep you focused on these core ideas and allow you to tap into hidden opportunities inside and outside your business while you continue to advance your marketing efforts and ensure that your message reaches your audience, gets you noticed and the wheels of business turning.