Business Tips: 7 Steps to Profitable Marketing

Posted by stevezog on December 20, 2010 under Business advice, Business Coaching, Business Help, Grow Your Business, Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment

Pssst….want to know a secret? Better yet, 7 secrets?

We’re about to let you in on 7 business tips that business coaches tell their clients when they ask questions about marketing. Marketing is something that’s vital to business, and most clients want to know how they can improve their marketing strategies.

These tips are exactly what a business coach would tell you in a business coaching session…so if you’re interested in learning more, perhaps you should consider contacting ActionCOACH.

Step #1.               Marketing’s an Investment not an Expense …

Whenever you place an advertisement, send out a sales letter, or do any piece of marketing you have to make sure your investment pays off.  From this day forth you’ll never sell to another new customer again.  You’ll BUY new customers, and your marketing budget is how much you’re paying for them …

Before you run any marketing campaign, do a break even analysis and work out how many sales you need to make a profit …

Step #2.               Test and Measure Everything …

Test which ads are working, test which headlines work better and you’ll quickly become a marketing genius.  In fact, instead of writing just one ad, write 7 or 8 and place every one, find out which one works the best, and keep on running it.

Measuring your results is simple … Just ask each and every customer the question, “Can I just ask, how did you find out about us?”  And, keep a tally.  At the end of the day you’ll know exactly how many sales you got from each marketing approach.

Step #3.               Target … Offer … Copy …

The 3 most important aspects of every marketing campaign … Scoring just 1/10 in an importance rating is the copy, or words you use.  It’s still in the top 3 but what you write won’t have much effect unless you get your offer right.  It scores 5/10.  Simply put, you’ll find it hard selling people something they just don’t want.

Scoring a massive 10/10 is your target market … If your marketing isn’t working, the first thing you need to examine is who you’re trying to sell to.  Where is your ad placed, who have you sent your direct mail to and so on …

Step #4.               You’ve got to Increase Your Conversion Rate …

Most business people believe they’re selling to about 6 or 7 out of every 10 leads they get … The truth is that when most people test and measure we find it’s more like 2 or 3 out of 10.  That’s only 20 or 30%.  If you could just sell to another 1 in 10 you’ve added another 30 of 40% to your turnover …

Step #5.               Guarantee your Sales and find your Uniqueness …

If you don’t promote a written guarantee your customers are at risk when they buy from you.  Remove their risk, and increase your sales by promoting your guarantee.

Also be sure to position yourself uniquely in the market place.  If you do everything the same way everybody else does, you’ll have to compete on price.  And, that’s like being a wood duck in hunting season …

Step #6.               You have to get your customer back …

The reason why most people’s marketing doesn’t make money is that they don’t ask their past customers back.  You have to keep a database of past customers, and you have to communicate with them at least every 90 days …  Ask them to buy another time and a percentage will.  These people are your best target market …

Step #7.               Write better headlines for your marketing pieces …

Your headline is 80% of the success of your ad.  Put the word YOU in it, focus on your customers, and most importantly, use something other than your company name …