JOINING FORCES TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR MARKETING DOLLAR
JOINING FORCES TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR MARKETING DOLLAR
When we four speakers were discussing the event, we talked about how we would market the event given that we didn’t have huge dollar to spare.
We were staggered when we realised how many people we were able to reach, once we had asked the question – ‘Who do we know?’
Collectively we had a database of 20,000 of thereabouts. Yet when we then thought about professional bodies we either belonged to or knew of, that number swelled to 67,000, and when we thought even further outside the square, and talked about – who did we know who put on events who would be willing to advertise OUR event to their client base, if we did the same for their next event.
Suddenly the list of potential contacts grew to well over 150,000.
Did 150,000 people show up to our event? Thankfully no. But we certainly generated enough interest and business for ourselves to make the exercise very profitable indeed.
Every business needs to market itself in some way, shape or form. And marketing can be our most costly, yet hit-and-miss effort. I have heard other business professionals ask:
How come we sent out 1000 flyers and only 3 people bought what we were selling? How come we paid telemarketers to phone around to rustle up activity and all we got was a lousy .02% return on our time and investment?
I read some statistics recently which may answer those questions, but which could also help us to make our marketing dollar work more effectively in the future, I know it changed my way of thinking about marketing.
Apparently marketing works like this:
1st contact with 500 potential customers = up to a 1% response rate
2nd contact with the same 500 = a 1 – 3% response rate
3rd contact with the same 500 = a potential 5-7% response rate
It is at this point that most of us throw up our hands saying ‘This isn’t working’ and go and find another 500 new, potential customers and try the whole process over again with them. And of course, achieve the same statistical response rate.
Yet, according to the statistics above, had we persevered with the first 500 customers we could have experienced the following:
4th contact with the same 500 customers = a potential 7-15% response rate
Which is getting better, however, it is with the 5th and subsequent contacts that real traction is gained, because according to good marketing advice, staying in regular contact with those initial 500 contacts, by the 7th, 8th and 9th contact we can expect anything up to a whopping 60% response rate!
We quit too early.
We all know we should be in touch with our customers every 60 – 90 days. Yet how many of us ever actually stick to that? And yet it isn’t difficult.
So 2 tips:
1.Create a regular newsletter with some interesting stories or facts or quips or items of interest. This is such a cost-effective way of staying in touch. We don’t even need to pack the newsletter with info on our products or services, in fact I would suggest you don’t. Perhaps a PS at the end of the newsletter would be enough – oh by the way – we have a 20% discount this month on xyz – the first 25 people to contact us hit the jackpot.
If nothing else, it will make your clients read your newsletter to the very end!
2.Make your marketing (whichever format you use) stand out in some way. Colour, texture, density, sound, music, pictures, invitations, balloons, tea-bags, chocolate and mints – all work well. Pens are SO last year.
I run a 100% referral business, and I know it is because of my little newsletter which goes out monthly(ish). I sell very little of my own in it; I offer other people’s books and CDs. But the one thing I have become known for is that in my newsletter I always run a quiz. My little quiz has been sent all around the world and I regularly have people who say – can I please be on your database. Of course you can!
So be creative about marketing – don’t be afraid to try different things, but always measure the results. See what feedback you get – and you will get feedback.
Happy marketing.
JOINING FORCES TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR MARKETING DOLLAR - To learn more about this author, visit Ann Andrews's Website.
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Earlier this year I invited three female speakers to join me in a one-off venture – to host a showcase of our various offerings to our collective client bases. We each have a different speciality topic and it seemed a good way to cross-fertilise our topics and our clients.
When we four speakers were discussing the event, we talked about how we would market the event given that we didn’t have huge dollar to spare.
We were staggered when we realised how many people we were able to reach, once we had asked the question – ‘Who do we know?’
Collectively we had a database of 20,000 of thereabouts. Yet when we then thought about professional bodies we either belonged to or knew of, that number swelled to 67,000, and when we thought even further outside the square, and talked about – who did we know who put on events who would be willing to advertise OUR event to their client base, if we did the same for their next event.
Suddenly the list of potential contacts grew to well over 150,000.
Did 150,000 people show up to our event? Thankfully no. But we certainly generated enough interest and business for ourselves to make the exercise very profitable indeed.
Every business needs to market itself in some way, shape or form. And marketing can be our most costly, yet hit-and-miss effort. I have heard other business professionals ask:
How come we sent out 1000 flyers and only 3 people bought what we were selling? How come we paid telemarketers to phone around to rustle up activity and all we got was a lousy .02% return on our time and investment?
I read some statistics recently which may answer those questions, but which could also help us to make our marketing dollar work more effectively in the future, I know it changed my way of thinking about marketing.
Apparently marketing works like this:
1st contact with 500 potential customers = up to a 1% response rate
2nd contact with the same 500 = a 1 – 3% response rate
3rd contact with the same 500 = a potential 5-7% response rate
It is at this point that most of us throw up our hands saying ‘This isn’t working’ and go and find another 500 new, potential customers and try the whole process over again with them. And of course, achieve the same statistical response rate.
Yet, according to the statistics above, had we persevered with the first 500 customers we could have experienced the following:
4th contact with the same 500 customers = a potential 7-15% response rate
Which is getting better, however, it is with the 5th and subsequent contacts that real traction is gained, because according to good marketing advice, staying in regular contact with those initial 500 contacts, by the 7th, 8th and 9th contact we can expect anything up to a whopping 60% response rate!
We quit too early.
We all know we should be in touch with our customers every 60 – 90 days. Yet how many of us ever actually stick to that? And yet it isn’t difficult.
So 2 tips:
1.Create a regular newsletter with some interesting stories or facts or quips or items of interest. This is such a cost-effective way of staying in touch. We don’t even need to pack the newsletter with info on our products or services, in fact I would suggest you don’t. Perhaps a PS at the end of the newsletter would be enough – oh by the way – we have a 20% discount this month on xyz – the first 25 people to contact us hit the jackpot.
If nothing else, it will make your clients read your newsletter to the very end!
2.Make your marketing (whichever format you use) stand out in some way. Colour, texture, density, sound, music, pictures, invitations, balloons, tea-bags, chocolate and mints – all work well. Pens are SO last year.
I run a 100% referral business, and I know it is because of my little newsletter which goes out monthly(ish). I sell very little of my own in it; I offer other people’s books and CDs. But the one thing I have become known for is that in my newsletter I always run a quiz. My little quiz has been sent all around the world and I regularly have people who say – can I please be on your database. Of course you can!
So be creative about marketing – don’t be afraid to try different things, but always measure the results. See what feedback you get – and you will get feedback.
Happy marketing.
JOINING FORCES TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR MARKETING DOLLAR - To learn more about this author, visit Ann Andrews's Website.
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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