Do you have a marketing plan in place for 2012 yet? If not, you’d better get started on one. It’s not too late yet, but time is ticking. You can do four simple things this year to drive your revenue upward and achieve greater growth in 2012 than you saw in 2011.
We’re not talking about touchy feely resolutions here. Rather, this article is about taking specific actions that will give you a leg up on your competition and give you the edge necessary to drive major opportunities through the front door of your business.
Who Is Your Perfect Customer?
You need to know your ideal client inside and out. What are their struggles and problem areas? What kinds of results are they looking for? Specifically, how do you ease their pain or increase their pleasure?
Understanding these questions (and the answers to them) will make you a much more effective marketer. It will allow you to focus on the benefits that matter most to your audience, and it will help you avoid wasting time and promotional energy on the wrong leads. Do a careful study on the leads you’ve converted into sales and the ones you’ve lost. Ask yourself “why?” in both cases.
In short, you need to work to identify and understand your ideal client, and then go find more prospects like them.
Craft a Unique Message
Focus your attention on delivering a unique message to your ideal audience. You need to grab attention, or else you’ll just be “another competitor.” Once you know what outcomes your ideal clients value, focus your energy on showcasing the ways in which you deliver those outcomes. Focus on the benefits you provide, rather than just the service or product, and you’ll build a valuable brand rather than just a commodity.
Hone the Conversation
Most business owners have the same conversations over and over again but with different clients. When was the last time you analyzed your message? You need to introduce insights that go the extra mile. You know the conversations and your message inside and out, so anticipate where your clients are being led and ask if it’s where they really want to be led. If it’s not, then make a change. Your clients will value you and your business more if you challenge their assumptions and make them think in new ways that lead to greater satisfaction by solving their problems. The first step here is very simple: Listen to your clients very, very closely. Then practice your pitch over and over and over.
Don’t Be Afraid to Promote Yourself
PT Barnum once said, “Without promotion something terrible happens . . . Nothing!” You need to get your business on the map, whether you promote yourself and your business through a simple blog or a coordinated assault on the public via social media, press releases, print advertising, or even television commercials.
Opportunities to promote your business are everywhere. The question is where are your ideal clients hanging out and what are they paying attention to? You need to figure that out, and then you can place your message directly into their hands. Build brand awareness by educating the crowds that follow you, and eventually you might even have a word-of-mouth following.
Tip of the Iceberg
This article and the many others that we write are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the ways in which we can help your business (even if you’re just in the initial planning stages of starting your first business). Contact our offices today and mention this article by name, and will give you a free LIFT™ (Legal, Insurance, Finance, Tax) Business Audit normally priced at $1,250. You literally have nothing to lose and lots of knowledge to gain, so don’t wait on this offer.
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