It's All About Awareness

Written by Kevin M. Stirtz


A couple weeks ago I had a conversation with a guy who runs an auto service business. Their company has a good name in town and I believe they do a pretty good business. He hitrepparttar nail squarely onrepparttar 138372 head as we were discussing local advertising.

His observation was that he really wasn't sure which of their ads were bringing inrepparttar 138373 most customers. And like many small business owners he felt they spent too much on advertising for what they got in return (at least for what return they could track).

But, he said they keep advertising because they understandrepparttar 138374 need to keep their name out in front of local people who would need their services. They understandrepparttar 138375 need to build their brand in their community. "It's all about awareness" he said.

How to Get Lexus Results at Chevy Prices from your Marketing

Written by Kevin M. Stirtz


The good and bad of marketing is that price and results are not necessarily connected. You can payrepparttar same price for poor results as you would for great results. The difference is largely based on what you put into your marketing before you implement.

By planning your marketing you can put more quality into it and get better results out of it.

Here is an easy yet effective four-step method to plan your marketing so you can see better results and more profits for your business.

1. Understand your strengths

Why do people buy from you? What do you really do for your customers? How are you better than your competition? What special skills or advantages do you have?

These are your competitive advantages. They are what make you stand out from your competition. They may be related to price, location, professional skills, attitude, responsiveness or your own personality.

People buy from you because you do something for them no one else does. Understand this and you’ve takenrepparttar 138355 first step to better marketing and more profits.

2. Identify your customers (your target market)

To promote your business you must focus on people who value what you do. Your strengths (or competitive advantages) will help you focus on who will most value your service or product.

For example: if your location is a strength then your customers will reflect your location. If high quality is a strength then your customers should appreciate quality.

Look at your current customers to get an idea of who your target market is. Or, look at your profit margins to decide which type of customers to focus on. You might have several target markets because you have several products or services and a variety of strengths.

Bottom line: focus on people who will place a HIGH VALUE on what you can do for them. These people will be your most loyal and profitable customers.

3. Create a meaningful message

The key in successful marketing is to deliverrepparttar 138356 right message torepparttar 138357 right people as often as your budget will allow. So, you need a message that tells your target market why they should do business with you.

Your message should reflect your strengths – because those are what you do best. And, your message should be in terms that your target market is interested in. In other words speak in their language and say what they want to hear.

Example:

If you’re a realtor and your strength is that you sell houses fast and your target market is people who want their houses sold fast, then your message might be:

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