General Business Files

Whether you are a small business or a large corporation you need a good marketing strategy. There are dozens of ways to market your business the question is which ways are the most effective for your product or service? You can outline your marketing strategy with this popular saying, “Who, what, where, when, and how?”

First you need to know your product, is it something that people will feel they really need, what purpose does it serve? Who is your target audience? Two major components of your target audience are what age group and which gender will be most interested in your product. Depending on what product or services you are trying to market you also may be able to target specific groups such as certain professionals or interest groups “hobbies”.

What is it about your product that is better then any of your competitors? Is it of better quality, does it have a longer warranty, does it cost less then the competition? You need to know what it is about your product that is better then the other ones around. These are things you will want to tell your target audience about your product. An example might be if you are trying to market a fruit drink. You would want your audience to know that it is made with more or all-real fruit. That they are more vitamin benefits to your drink. That it has a fruitier more refreshing taste. These are things that are going to motivate potential customers to try it.

I’m sure you have heard the first three rules of business and that is, location, location, location! Product placement is an important aspect of marketing. Make your product accessible to your target audience. If you are a small business you want to place it somewhere that gets high traffic. Depending on what you are trying to sell you want to be where you customers will be. Locate yourself near a shopping plaza, hotels, restaurants or a main street that many people use to commute to and from work. This is the “where” marketing question you should ask.

When should you advertise your product? If you are using the media such as television or radio ads, this is a question to ask. When does your target audience generally watch television. If you are targeting men a good time to place your ad is during sports programming. Is it something children will want, then air it during cartoon programming. If you are using radio advertisement and you are targeting any adult. Try during rush hours, times when people are going to and from their jobs. Marketing your product at the right time is highly important.

No matter where you are marketing your product your audience needs to know how to get it. Do they have to go to a location to buy it? Can they order online or over the phone? How easy is it to pay for? Is it an expensive product, but very beneficial? Can it be paid for in installments? These are also marketing questions you should ask.

If you want to be successful at selling your product you need to know what marketing steps to take.

Hundreds of “consultants” make millions of dollars each year teaching seminars and boot camps, and selling newsletters about marketing’s magic bullet – that one simple thing you can do to fill up your register with virtually no effort on your part.

People buy this tripe because they want “simple” and “no effort” ways to move their business forward.

All those magic bullet consultants are wrong. I have the secret and I am going to share it, but you won’t be happy about it. My marketing magic bullet: focus, discipline and consistency. Yes, my magic bullet involves some work on your part.
Focus requires you to define your audiences, learn about their behavior, and then provide relevant and believable information, communicated in an original, impactful fashion.

Discipline necessitates developing a marketing plan and implementing it aggressively. Your plan must also include a sales element. I know businesses that market and then just expect clients to flock to them with wallets in hand. Unfortunately for these businesses, it requires some effort on their part. Sorry, no passive income.

Finally, we come to consistency. This means implementing your program even after you are tired of it. And don’t change your message and marketing tactics on a whim. The race goes to the marathon man, not the sprinter.

Some other smart people agree with me. Business Coach Brent Dees says, “You can do anything, but you can’t do everything. If you focus, you can accomplish your goals.” Friend Bill Loeffler used to tell clients, “We can’t do everything. Let’s pick three marketing tactics and do them right.”