8 Simple Tips To Improve Your Marketing Results NOW
In this issue:
- The million dollar business that all began with a simple hug
- Insider secrets on how advertising sales reps are ‘trained’ about advertising
- What should you really be selling?
- The 90 day guarantee that captured the lion share of a market
- And Much More!
Fellow Business Builder,
With all the different opinions out there on marketing and growing a small business … it can be incredibly difficult to figure out what works and what doesn’t. The best type of advice comes from those who actually implement and test for a living … versus those who teach without applying.
This explains why many college and university grads come out all confident in their ability – until they find out that what they just learned from a text book … doesn’t have a snowballs chance in hell of making it in the real world.
The following 8 tips apply to every single business – and are based on real life business success stories. The examples provided may come from different industries – but the real gems come from you finding ways to make these ideas work in your own business.
1) Never use the "name, rank, and serial number" form of ad.
Most small business advertisers use materials that read as exciting as a business card – usually stating name, address, phone number and, at times, a slogan. That is not advertising – it is the main reason businesses fail.
Why do most businesses use this form of marketing?
Usually it is the fact that the business owner has no street smart marketing training. Not the kind you learn in university or college, which is useless practical small business training, for the most part.
I have a bachelor of commerce degree with a double minor in marketing and entrepreneurship – and nothing they taught there comes even close to what you learn from The Total Package on a weekly basis – for FREE
So they trust the advertising sales reps to design their ads or give them guidance. Advertising sales reps have little to no training on what makes an advertisement work (* see note below). They do the best they can but 9 times out of 10 they have no clue on what effective advertising really is. I asked one yellow page sales rep what kind of training they get on effective advertising… they were told to “open up the yellow pages to the section you are writing for and copy/model the ads already there”! Now THAT is pitiful training… and is destined to make your ad bomb, like all the others.
What makes it “work”?
Advertising that works means that it makes a measurable profit (if you are trying to sell something through the advertising) or it gives a measurable number of prospects that phone, e-mail, signup or mail in for more information.
No matter what the goal of the marketing or advertising is – we are using direct response advertising techniques from here on in. Direct response means that you get measurable responses direct to you and your company. You know exactly how many people responded to your marketing and advertising efforts.
Another reason for poor marketing results is that business owners believe that “pretty” ads are the ones that work the best.
Wrong again.
White space in an ad is typically wasted space – space you could have been using to win over your potential clients.
A hundred years of solid advertising tests has shown that 100% of the time – “the more you tell the more you sell.” Graphics can support your case in your advertising material – but should never replace your actual sales material.
2) Assuming something you think your potential clients know – is pure death.
NEVER assume that they will know what you mean – make sure they know by telling them what you mean.
When you live, sweat and breath your business the way you probably do – you know every feature, advantage, disadvantage, benefit, price code and history. Never assume that your prospects know these same things – that is your job – make sure they understand every nuance – and make sure there are no unanswered questions floating around in their mind.
A Famous story of Schlitz beer.
They were number 9 or 10 in the marketplace and hired direct response copywriter and master marketer, Claude Hopkins, to help them out. After spending a week in their production line he discovered an amazingly intricate procedure that was involved in the discovery of and filtering of the water that is used in the brewing process. That, plus the sterilization process they went through for the bottles … he thought he had a winning ‘hook’.
The ad he wanted to run, told of the "crystal clear water from a special artesian well" … and the one "mother" yeast cell that produced all the quality yeast for fermenting the beer. This process was the result of over "1,500 experiments and produced a very distinct fresh, crisp taste". He then proceeded to tell how the bottles were "sterilized 12 times to ensure purity, so that nothing would interfere with the clean taste of the beer".
He was lambasted for writing an advertisement that explained something that "everyone in the industry does it that way!" He then asked "do the clients know about it?" and of course the answer was no.
So a new marketing campaign was created that focused in on the filtering process of the water, and the sanitization behind the bottles.
His results?
From 9th in the market to 1st! All the competitive beer companies never knew what hit them. So they started copying that type of ad that says "we do it too" – too late – they looked like the copycats.
Be the first in your market to tell the whole story
and you will put serious profit in your pocket.
3) The most succesful butcher doesn’t sell meat!
Think about the butcher business – price is typically how they advertise and compete. Yet, most people will pay a little more if given a good reason to. If you are hosting a special dinner party – the price of the meat is not your main concern – it is what the end result of the meal is. If your guests rave about it being the best they have ever had – then you are happy. And are willing to pay a premium to guarantee the meal is the best they ever had.
A success story about a butcher.
10 years ago Lori scraped together her savings to attend a seminar being put on by Ted Nicholas (a direct marketing legend and copywriting genius). She got his attention during the break and told him the story. Her and her husband had been struggling with the butcher shop (and almost to the point of closing the doors), as the entire parking lot was ripped up and unusable for 6 months – totally destroying their customer flow.
So how could she get more customers in?
Ted started asking some questions and found out that her husband was quite a tall man, and he love to hug people as well.
Ted gave her the one single piece of advice
that turned their lives around almost immediately.
He said "when you get back home – first thing I want you to do is call your butcher shop "The Hugging Butcher" – advertise it everywhere, new signs and all over your marketing. Use direct response style marketing and make that husband of yours the hugging butcher and have him stand at the front door and hug everyone that walks through – men, women and children."
She followed Ted’s advice to a T. Quicker than she ever could have dreamed – business was booming! People couldn’t wait to visit the hugging butcher – business went through the roof (parking lot or not). Soon, they were able to raise the price and commanded the highest price in the market they served – and clients line up at the door. After a few years they sold that business for a very large sum of money – amazing what a simple differentiator can do for a business.
Now she runs a multi-million dollar consulting business – teaching similar techniques that Ted teaches … all beginning with a simple hug.
4) Expect immediate results from your marketing – or don’t bother
Branding is a buzzword that many business owners think they must do or implement into their business. They hear about it from all the press, they hear about it from the companies that sell them the advertising, the yellow pages, the coupon books etc. You must have multiple exposures to get them to buy. Once again, bull.
Every ad you run should be expected to pay for itself. BUT, you must run direct response style advertising to know if it’s working. What is reality is that a well written direct response ad will continue to make money for a long time – but responses drop every successive time the ad is run.
When you expect your ad to pay for itself immediately, your entire marketing focus will be much more focused on results. You should be able to tell to the dollar how effective your ad is.
The best part? When you run advertising that works and makes money … your brand is being created as you go. When you see (as I do in my favorite business paper) companies who use effective marketing … their brand eventually becomes one and the same as their hard hitting ads.
Those that get this invest heavily in lead generation and sales conversions – along the way creating the image they want in the marketplace.
5) How to guarantee your success.
One thing that continues to amaze me is how scared people are to guarantee their products and services.
If what you are selling is so good – why are you scared to guarantee it?
If the quality is not good enough to guarantee – get out of that business or find new products to sell (of much higher quality)
The fact is – the longer and more solid your guarantee is – the fewer returns you will get.
Exactly opposite of what everyone thinks!
With many products, they will never return it (even if they are unhappy with it) because they know that they have more time to return it. So they put it on a shelf … thinking that they may just need that in a month or two. And never get around to returning it.
That’s why lifetime guarantees are the best – and have the lowest return rate of all.
They can hold off for years before returning it – and never do.
Put a guarantee to everything you do.
100% complete satisfaction guarantee – no hassles, no questions. If for any reason within the next 365 days you feel this product is not living up to its expectations – send it back and we will immediately send you a prompt refund.
Or
Keep these extra bonuses even if you decide to return the product and get all your money back.
There is a realtor I know that guarantees he will sell your house in 90 days or less – OR HE BUYS IT. Takes lots of guts to do it – but it certainly makes you stand out from the crowd. His business is booming – 95% of the other realtors fight for every listing they can get. His business attracts an ample supply of qualified sellers (and buyers) – other businesses have to constantly battle for the mindset of the market.
6) Avoiding the "Sales/Sales/Sales" Syndrome
In this day and age – we are bombarded with sales. Many companies have sales that extend throughout the year. People are becoming immune to the word sale. They still seek it out but are less prone to jump every time you scream sale.
Used sparingly, a sale can be very effective and put some serious cash in your pocket.
But always remember, sales mean you have to work much harder to make a profit. You have to sell 3, 4, or 5 times as many products to make the same profit when you discount the pricing.
This is not to say price is not important – it is very important. In many businesses price is a factor in the decisions that are made. But it is rarely AS important as business owners like to think. Even at rock bottom prices you will never own 100% of the market – so why cut all of your margins to such a point that you go out of business?
What is important?
Top-notch service. True value in the buyers mind. Being treated like a friend. Offering unique services or add-ons that are not available elsewhere. Knowledge not found elsewhere. Be the expert that they go to when they need help. Make yourself so valuable in their eyes that they have no alternative but to go to you.
Just be anything but the one on the block that thinks a weekly 50% off sale is what’s needed to grow your business.
There is a clothing company in town who owns a 15,000 square foot building on a very busy street. For the past 2 years they have had the "going out of business" sign up in front. It has taken them 2 YEARS of running false advertising to realize that people won’t fall for it anymore. Their parking lot is ALWAYS empty – and they are very close to actually, really, truly, going out of business. People get tired of it – and will ultimately refuse to take part in it anymore.
When you do have a real sale – make it a good one. Create a theme to it. Make it very limited in time. And do not overdo them.
7) Test Small – Rollout Big
In marketing and advertising you have to find the right message to take to your market. You will never know what the right message is until you test it.
When you have a marketing piece or an advertisement you want to test – test it small. But make sure you test it in a place where your ideal clients frequent – to guarantee accurate results.
Test classifieds first, or smaller display ads, or inserts in magazines.
Find a way to test small.
Based on the results (because all we run from here on is direct response – right?) you can determine if you will test a larger ad or medium. If it tests positive and makes a profit – then you will get better results when you make it bigger. Usually twice the ad size will return three times the results.
When you find an advertisement or marketing piece that works – use it again and again and again. Never stop using it.
Which brings me to the last point here …
Never stop using an ad just because you are bored of it.
A big mistake that is made very frequently.
The only times you should drop an ad are when:
- You come up with another ad that pulls better results (through your measured results) or
- It stops making a profit in that newspaper, magazine, etc (also you will know this when the numbers finally drop to an unprofitable point).
Remember – the longer you run an ad the fewer results you will get. If your ad pulls 100 orders the first run, second run 85, third 65 etc. Eventually you may run into a situation where you do not make enough orders/profits to make it worthwhile.
But, also remember – it can take years to run out an ad’s useful life – and make you a ton of money in the process. Some of the most successful ads will run for 10 years or more – making a profit each and every time.
Talk about a license to print money! Think about it … if every time you invested $250 in a smaller display ad but KNEW (based on past measured results) that you would earn $1,250 from that ad in profits – how many times would you run that ad? As many as possible right?
When your tests show your ad produces a profit – you can run that ad many times, and in as many different magazines, newspapers, or trade rags as you wish. Each time you are literally guaranteed to make a profit.
I was just talking to a realtor this past week who is trained in direct response and has a very successful business. But, even despite his training, he was about to pull his ad series and replace it with another. The ad series is PROVEN to pull. It has been running for a long time. The only reason this should be temporarily replaced is to try and improve on it. He had forgotten this simple lesson – fortunately he realized his mistake before it was made … and ultimately saved himself a bundle on wasted ad space and made himself a bundle on newfound clients.
When you find one that works – use it again and again and again!
To your success,
Troy White
Editor, Small Business Mastery
Supplement to THE TOTAL PACKAGE™
Looking for resources related to this article? Try some of these.
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A Final Note:
If you have specific subjects you would like addressed, or have any comments on what you have seen here, please submit a comment below and I will see how I can help.
"Money frees you from doing things you dislike.
Since I dislike doing nearly everything, money is handy. "
–Groucho Marx
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The only rule: RESPECT THIS HOUSE! Postings that contain abusive language and/or personal attacks will be cheerfully VAPORIZED. One cross word and – POOF! – your well-thought-out post will be gone in a puff of smoke.
– Clayton
Comment by Greg — June 19, 2007 @ 7:41 pm
I realize this may not be perfectly in line with most of your list, but I for one would appreciate some much more advanced concepts being discussed here. Every once in awhile there is something that approaches that, but it seems to be around 90/10 - 90% marketing 101 and 10% more advanced. It wasn\’t always so much like that whenever Clayton was writing once per week and it was just him.
Comment by John C. A. Manley — June 20, 2007 @ 6:39 am
Yeah, Greg\’s absolutely right! I mean how much are we paying for our subscription to the Total Package?!
Oh, yeah, we aren\’t paying anything.
I\’m not sure why any smart information marketing is going to divulge advanced concepts in a public venue like this.
Anyways, most people just need to be reminded of the basics and encouraged to apply them. What Troy said here about split testing ads is done by about 5% of direct-marketers.
I also appreciate the examples. The Hopkins one I\’ve heard a hundred times (but never tire of the reminder) while the other two examples were new to me.
People are always looking for new, \”advanced\” concept, instead of rolling up their sleeves, doing the grunt work, and applying the basics. Usually, in that process, you find a bunch of advanced concepts all by yourself.
John
Comment by Steven Cundiff — June 22, 2007 @ 10:36 am
Hey John,
I just wanted to heap a little praise on you for what you wrote here. Honestly, one of the smartest things I have read in a while and I didn\’t even have to pay 24 bucks at Borders and read for an hour to find it.
Too many people seem to think that the secret for them or their business is going to come in the form of the next great book or tip or insider technique. But the truth is that unless you constantly apply the basics, all of the advanced techniques in the world will never hepl you. And if you are, well then you should be discovering little fixes and techniques left and right!
And Troy, I think your column is perfect. Please don\’t change a thing. We all need to read the words you write.
Steve Cundiff