Again, this is a common marketing mistake, that unfortunately almost 95% of businesses make.
You must TEST and MEASURE every form of marketing you do. That way you will know what to improve... What to continue rolling out... And what you need to stop!
For example, when I’m trying to ‘dig deep’ and discover what is or isn’t working within a client’s business, my initial conversations will go something like this:
“So you’re currently running an advert in the Yellow Pages... What’s the kind of response you’re receiving?”
“Well, we’re not sure. We think it’s doing okay”
“You mean, you never ask a prospect how they heard about you?”
“No.”
“So why do you continue to keep running expensive yellow pages ads?”
“Well... Because we’ve always done it.”
... Because we’ve always done it? How many of you reading this paper now, are using marketing strategies without TRULY knowing how successful they are? MEASURE the response to ALL your marketing
activities.
The other conversation often goes something like this:
“So what other kind of marketing have you done?”
“We did a leaflet drop a couple of months ago. Distributed around 1,000 leaflets, but nothing.”
“Okay... So will you be using this strategy again?”
“What’s the point? It’s obvious leaflets don’t work for us.”
A leaflet drop, in this example, will probably work; it’s simply the DESIGN and CONTENT which probably was at fault. It simply didn’t engage with the audience. Or it wasn’t the right audience... Or there was no call to action... So you see, the marketing tactic may have been correct, but the approach was at fault.
TEST all your marketing activities. That way, instead of committing to an extensive marketing campaign using, say, a specific sales letter. Roll out the campaign to a small number, see what the response is, and then once you have discovered which layout/offer/call to action etc elicits the greatest response, market this extensively to the rest of your audience.
That’s why direct response advertising is so effective, because if you’re encouraging the prospect to take action by using an ‘offer’... And there is still none -- or it’s minimal -- then at least you know you need to improve the message, offer, call to action etc
The major problem with “institutional” advertising is that you can never, truly, gage the response, because you are never asking for one.
To claim your free copy of my detailed-rich white paper “The 7 CRITICAL Marketing Mistakes Nearly Every Business Owner Makes... And What YOU Can Do To Avoid Them!” (Value £30.00)visit www.maverickmarketingconsultancy.co.uk and subscribe for free to the Maverick Marketing Newsletter.
