by Angela Taffs | Nov 17, 2016 | Sales and Marketing
How to know if your marketing message is really getting through
Sometimes we get so caught up in our business that we think everyone else knows exactly what we do, and then out of the woodwork, reality smacks us in the face.
I have had this happen to me just recently!
It has come to light over recent weeks that some members of my Facebook group still don’t know about my Small Business Kit. I have members of my Small Business Kit who aren’t aware that in addition to the member’s club I also do one to one private coaching.
And there was me thinking that everyone knew everything about me and the range of services I offered. (slowly taking head out of sand!)
I am so good at telling everyone else to market like a madwoman and making sure all their contacts know exactly what they do, that I have let this slip for my own business. Doh!!
A challenge for you
To make sure this hasn’t happened to you, and to check if people really know what you do, I am going to give you a little challenge.
Post in your Facebook group, send out a newsletter to your subscribers, send an email to your contacts and ask them one simple question – ‘What services do you think I offer?’
Now, you may want to explain to them what you are doing so they don’t think you have gone slightly mad. Explain exactly what I have said here. Write something on the lines of:
“Would you help me out?
It’s vitally important to all business owners to know that their marketing is working and the right message is reaching those who would benefit from what they do.
As one of my valued subscribers/fans/clients etc. (delete as appropriate) would you take a moment of your precious time to hit reply and let me know which services you are aware of that I offer?”
Alternatively, you could send out a survey listing all the services that you provide and ask respondents to put a tick against all those that they are aware you provide. Take a look at my own survey here (see what I did there?).
The benefit of this is twofold. Firstly, you get valuable feedback whether you’re marketing the parts you want to reach. And secondly, you raise awareness of your services to those that may not yet be aware. A win-win situation.
Not to miss an opportunity
Not to miss this opportunity, if you didn’t click the link above, would you be so kind as to take a moment of your precious time to respond to my own survey and let me know what you are aware of that I do? There is a special thank you waiting for.
COMPLETE SURVEY
I look forward to hearing from you.
by Angela Taffs | May 10, 2016 | Sales and Marketing
Are you struggling to attract enough quality prospects to your business?
Follow my top tips to start to get those ideal clients queuing up to find out more about you.
Create a plan – don’t just work ad hoc
Fail to plan, plan to fail. I use that adage a lot as it is so true. If you just stick your finger in the wind and hope something will work if you throw enough out there, you are likely to waste an awful lot of time and effort. Have a structured plan of exactly what you want to achieve over a specified time period. You can then prepare the right number of messages to the right audience in the right marketing channels that will significantly increase your chance of success.
How many prospects do you want?
If you want to gain 5 new clients this month and you know you gain one client out of every 5 calls you make, then you need to speak to 20 warm prospects. And then if you know that you get 1 warm prospect out of every 5 prospects you engage with, you will need to find 100 new prospects this month.
Now you have a clear number to aim for and plan to achieve rather than just aimlessly trying to get as many as you can.
Where do they hang out?
Where do your prospects hang out or go to find a solution to the problem you can solve for them? Is it online or offline, or a mix of both. Wherever it is, you need to find out and be there with your message.
If it is social media, are you sure which channels you should be on? Rather than just blindly follow the crowd with the major players such as Facebook and Twitter, do some research on others such as Snapchat and Periscope and see if your prospects are hanging out there and asking questions. This could be a better use of your time than trying to break through the ‘noise’ of over saturated options.
Create messages that talk directly to your prospects
You need to be talking in the same language that your prospects use. By this, I mean using the same keywords and phrases that they use as if they see these in your marketing message, they are more likely to resonate with the words and take notice. Start to join in groups and forums and take note of how questions are asked and what words and phrases are used. Use questions as a starting point for your marketing message by creating a message that helps answer it or gives tips as to how to solve the problem posed.
Be consistent and persistent
There is no point putting your message out there a couple of time and then giving up because you didn’t get a response. It takes time, particularly online. You need to be persistent and consistent to raise your visibility. Just because your post something in a Facebook group or on your page and you know it is there does not mean that many others will see it. There are hundreds of thousands of other messages out there and if you prospect isn’t reading at the right time, your message may easily get missed as it will have dropped down the news feed.
If you are networking face to face people will take time to get to know you and find out what you are about. You can’t expect to go to one meeting and sign up new prospects immediately. They will want to see that you are there for the long run and not about to disappear after just one session.
Get prospects to engage in conversations
Once you have the attention of your prospect, get them to engage with you in a conversation so that you start to build a relationship and trust. Ask questions to get to know them better and find out how you can help them, whether online or offline. Ask them to complete a survey, again to find out more about them and to help identify a solution for them. Offer some free advice to build trust and awareness of what you can do for them. This way you keep them engaged and interested in talking to you so you can build a future relationship.
Stick with it
Following on from being persistent and consistent, allow your marketing to take time. You may be surprised just how many people are quietly watching you and taking an interest. When the time is right, if your message and offering is right, they will get in contact with you or engage in a conversation. But if you give up too easily, they will soon find someone else to take your place.
