Getting clear on just a few things will make your search for marketing answers go faster and turn out better.
What’s Wrong?
Think about ALL the pieces of your marketing when you ask this question because it’s easy to miss the real problem. “Website leads need to grow, we need more traffic!” Sounds reasonable and may be true. But is traffic the problem or is it conversion? “Our ad that always worked just bombed, let’s try a different publication.” Sounds reasonable and may be true. But is the publication the problem or is it your message?
Who or What is Your REAL Competition?
The knee-jerk question consultants like me ask is “Who is your competition?” Forget about who you’re competing with and ask yourself:
Are you competing against your prospects doing nothing, staying with the status quo? This suggests a very different message than why you’re better than the next guy.
Are you competing against yourself — inconsistent implementation, a muddled message?
Why Do You Sell What You Sell?
Why does your two-day seminar need to be a two-day seminar? Why sell so many things. . .or so few. . .or charge what you charge? So often I find big, sweeping product decisions were made 10 or 15 years ago and were based on what the opportunities were then. And rightly so. Okay then, what exactly do now and 15 years ago have in common? Ah, sorry, they have nothing in common, except the reasoning behind why you sell what you sell. And that can hurt sales.
What are You Willing to Do About it?
Some owners just want advice. Others want to rent a marketing department. Think about the type of solution you need and are comfortable with. You can buy a book. You can hire a consultant. You can do nothing.
Think about it.
How Do You Define Your Target Customer?
It’s easy to believe the type of customers you have now are the only people who buy what you sell. When a more accurate definition might be: the type of people you have been able to attract. There are more (probably many more!) just like your current customer your marketing simply hasn’t touched yet. And many more buying what you sell who are completely different than your current customer. Who don’t know you exist.
Take what resonates with you and put it in the back of your mind and be surprised with the answers that come.
