The success of your business depends on your ability to build marketing momentum. Without the ability to generate new sources of leads your capacity to sell will slump and the growth of your business will stagnate or shrink.
Unfortunately, many small business owners are at a loss when tasked with coming up with new ways to market while others are frustrated into stagnation by seeing consistently ineffective results from their marketing efforts. It doesn't matter if your business is young or established. If your business is young you must market well simply to survive. On the other hand, if you have had marketing success with a method that does not increase your opportunity to generate new business your success will be stunted by your limited ability to find new sources of business.
Building marketing momentum is like kicking a ball down a hill that keeps getting steeper. Each time the hill becomes a little steeper the ball will roll faster and pick up momentum. In marketing, any tactic you add to attract attention to what you do is like making the hill a little steeper.
The other day I was talking to Ed who runs a successful metal shining business. I asked him how he went about generating new sales. He told me that 100% of his marketing effort is networking. I couldn't help but wonder why. I realize that he is doing well with it but if he simply placed an ad in the yellow pages that generated just one sale a year he would cover the cost of the ad and be profitable!
Even though Ed's networking efforts are successful he is limiting his ability to grow his business by only implementing one form of marketing. By simply trying something new in addition to networking Ed can benefit from developing a new way to generate leads and build his marketing momentum.
Is your marketing effort one dimensional or stagnant? Here are five tactics you can use to build marketing momentum.
Deliver a Great Marketing Message
A great marketing message will have the effect of generating
interest in what you do. It never ceases to amaze me the
number of small business owners that fail to use a
compelling marketing message. How many times has someone
described to you their business or what they do with a label
like, "I'm an accountant" or "I'm in Communications"? Such
answers are not likely to start interesting conversations
and marketing opportunities are missed.
If you answer the "what do you do?" question with a savvy marketing message you will find that more people associate what you do with a need of their own or that of a friend, colleague or relative and you will win more referral business. Develop and use an outstanding, compelling marketing message and you will find that more people show interest in what you do. The result will be more better sales.
Make Cold Calling a Hot Source of Sales
Many small business owners hate to make cold calls. Their
derision is understandable. By making cold calls they are
setting themselves up for rejection. No one likes being
rejected. However, rejection is part of the game when
making phone calls. Once you realize that it's not your
fault when someone says no during a cold call you can move
passed your barrier and add cold calling to your marketing
arsenal.
The fact is that by regularly picking up the phone and reaching out to potential clients small business owners increase their chance of finding new business. A percentage of the people you speak with will become clients when you make cold calls, especially if you are targeting your market well and are offering something they need. What's more you can work to improve your phone skills to increase your ability to make sales. Add cold calling to your marketing strategy and you will increase your opportunity to generate new business.
Use Your Web Site as An Effective Marketing Tool
Many companies have web sites that fail as effective
marketing tools. Does your web site consistently generate
leads and sales? It should. And it can. The World Wide Web
is a continuously open marketplace that reaches hundreds of
millions of consumers every moment of every day and allows
you to easily and accurately target those who buy your
products or services. A company without a web site as part
of its marketing team is missing a fantastic opportunity to
increase its revenue stream. Deliver a web site that
functions as an effective marketing tool and you will
consistently add to your marketing momentum.
Develop Your Network
Another great tool to use to build marketing momentum is
networking. Networking is a highly effective means of
generating referral business (which is some of the easiest
business to get, once you get a referral). A person who is
willing to take someone else's advice to contact you about
your product or service will transfer the trust he has in
his friend or colleague making the referral to you. Making
it easier for clients to trust you removes one of the
barriers to making a sale. By developing a robust network
you will increase your ability to find new prospects and do
more business.
So then, just how should you go about building your network?
Ed, from our previous example, is able to successfully operate his business with networking alone. That's because Ed networks the right way. Many small business owners and executives don't realize what networking truly is. Unfortunately, all too often people think they are networking by reaching out only to the people they know when what they should be doing is taking steps to continually expand their network. Ed regularly attends networking events and is involved with multiple networking groups. He ads new people to his network all the time and has a successful business to show for it (though he could be even more successful if he added another tool to his marketing toolbox).
Measure Your Results
No matter what tactics you adapt to market yourself or your
business be sure to measure your results. By measuring your
marketing results you will be able to move away from or
correct what does not work and stick with and reinforce what
does. By diligently measuring your results you will improve
your ability to ad to your marketing momentum and grow your
business and success.
By measuring my results and trying new things I have been able to develop an ad that enjoys a 20% response rate. The ad is so successful I only need to run it occasionally to generate enough calls to keep me very busy. Not only does this great ad do a fantastic job of generating interest in my marketing services it saves me money on my advertising costs because I can meet my goals by running fewer ads.
You too can develop highly effective ads by measuring your results.
Move Your Marketing Forward
If your marketing efforts aren't helping you reach your
goals you can improve your results by implementing any one
of the tactics outlined above. Choose the one you feel most
comfortable with and take small measured steps toward
realistic goals and you will see a beneficial transformation
in your marketing results.
Jeremy Cohen, helps small business owners attract more clients and grow their business with his coaching service and free marketing guide: Jumpstart Marketing: More Prospects, Clients & Success Get the guide at http://www.bettermarketingresults.com
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