There is a big difference between marketing and sales. The act of selling generates revenue when a product is sold. Marketing, on the other hand, is the act of attracting attention, branding a product or person, and creating a buzz that will eventually result in sales.
Peter Drucker once said, “The point of marketing is to make selling superfluous.” In layman’s terms, this means that if you do a great job of positioning your business in your ads and build a strong reputation, you won’t have to do a lot of convincing and selling once prospects come in the door (or to your website). They will already be convinced that you are the right company for them.
Below are 5 marketing strategies to use to make selling superfluous and to grow your business.
1. Improve Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Having a strong unique selling proposition (USP) is a critical element of your marketing plan. Your USP separates your product or service from your competitors. It makes your product or service a “unique, must have” item.
In fact, the USP of Domino’s Pizza: “Fresh hot pizza delivered to your door in thirty minutes or less, guaranteed,” has widely been credited as the reason for the company’s success in a highly competitive and fairly commoditized business.
Ideally you can come up with a great USP for your company like Domino’s did. But at the very least, you must be able to clearly articulate reasons why customers should buy from you instead of competitors.
2. Use Multiple Marketing Channels
Once you have the right USP, you want as many of your target customers to hear it as possible. That’s why you need to market yourself through multiple channels. The key is this: the more channels you use, the more prospective customers will hear about you. Importantly, some of your target customers prefer one channel (e.g., print newspapers) while others may prefer a different channel (e.g., radio ads).
While one marketing channel may be the most profitable for you, the more marketing channels you can make work for you, the more you will be able to dominate your market.
So, which of the following marketing channels can you start using?
- Direct Mail
- Email and Print Newsletter Marketing
- Event Marketing
- Networking
- Partnerships
- Press Releases/PR
- Print Ads
- Radio Ads
- Search Engine Optimization and Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Telemarketing
- TV Ads
3. Understand Your KPIs
KPIs” or Key Performance Indicators are the metrics that judge your business’ performance based on the success you would like to succeed.
Knowing your KPIs and constantly working to improve them is critical to your marketing. For example,
- How many leads do you generate per dollar of advertising (per channel)?
- What % of your leads turn into buyers?
- What is your average revenue per sale (and have you improved this through upselling, cross-selling, etc.)?
- How often do your customers buy from you?
The more you understand and improve your KPIs the more your revenues and profits will grow. In fact, creating and managing your KPIs is one of the pillars of an 8-figure business.
4. Make Buying From You Easy
We’ve all been to businesses that don’t accept credit cards. Or they only accept certain kinds of credit cards. As a result of this, they lose out on some customers. So make sure you offer multiple purchase options, from credit cards to possibly payment plans.
Likewise, you can make buying from you easier by having your products and services distributed elsewhere. For example, if you offer a physical product, you can also sell it on Amazon.com or eBay among other website. These are essentially buyer search engines; people are searching them for things to buy – what a perfect place for your product to show up. Or, if you offer a service, you can develop joint venture partners who sell it to their customers.
5. Provide the Right Information to Prospective Customers
Remember how good marketing will make selling superfluous? Customers need certain information in order to make a decision.
Specifically, be sure to provide information educating your customers on how your product or service can 1) solve problems and/or help them avoid pain, 2) improve their lives and/or increase their pleasure, and 3) save customers time, as that’s a growing need for customers today.
Convey this key information in graphics, free PowerPoint presentation slides, articles, videos, case studies, interviews and/or any other way that your prospective customers prefer to consume information.
By following these 5 marketing strategies, you can dramatically grow your sales and profits, and not have to resort to high pressure selling.
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