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Small Business Gets a Failing Grade in Marketing

Guest post by: Paul Tobey

Article Overview: Why small business gets a failing grade in marketing and how to dramatically improve your sales with "you" focused marketing.

Small Business Gets a Failing Grade in Marketing

Do you know feel like a fish out of water when it comes to marketing? I recently received a brochure in the mail from a landscaper.While the landscaper is putting his best foot forward in terms of reaching his potential customers right on schedule for a spring clean up, his brochure gets an F. The cover of the black and white brochure, had a picture of a park like garden and the words: "Welcome to my world!"


So why do I think he is deserving of a failing grade? Here's why! What do I care about his world? What does anyone, but he and his immediate family care about his world. What does anyone looking at his brochure care about? Street-Smart Marketers know that the only thing anyone cares about is "What's in it for me?" or "What can he do for me?"


Although it was not an expensive brochure, it cost money to produce, and money to get into my hands. I suspect it was money this small business could ill afford. Yet the only thing likely to happen to this brochure is that it will find its way into the garbage. There is nothing to grab my attention, there is nothing to interest me in reading further, there is nothing to entice me to open it. The inside copy was all about him, his equipment and his qualifications, it had nothing about what his prospects would be interested in. It had no special offer, no call to action.


The truth is that most small business owners attempt to market, but really fail to deliver to their customer. Many of us have made similar mistakes with whatever marketing strategies we implement. It's astounding how many websites fail too. It's For example, our websites say "who we are", "our team", 'our mission","contact us", and moves in the direction of showing pretty pictures of our logo and/or building. We completely forget to enroll and engage our visitors.


When we do fail, do we blame our lack of skills or the strategy for being ineffective? Here's a few recommendations to small business owners that can dramatically improve their conversion results. What would have happened if the landscaper had included an enrolling and engaging headline such as "Is It Time For Your Spring LawnClean-Up?". Notice that we are no longer talking about his world, now we are talking about "your" spring clean up.What if he told me in five quick bullet points what I could do to improve my lawn or landscape instead of talking about his equipment? What if he made me an irrestible offer that caused me to pick up the phone before Friday? What if the brochure had included a valuable golden nugget, a tip I would value that would make me trust he's a good source to go to?


Other people's mistakes contain valuable lessons that will help save you money and make your marketing more effective. The first step for you is to review your marketing material and website to examinehow many times your site contains the words "I" or "we". Try to replace the content to say "you" or "your". For example instead of saying "We have 25 years of experience" you can say "you will benefit from 25 years of experience".


"You" focused marketing is the most powerful copywriting sales strategy on the planet. You can use iton your print material or anything you publish online. Make certain that your content answers "What's in it for me" and clearly outline the benefits of your product and service. Always include a clear call to action. There are several to choose from such as "buy one get one free" or "for the first 100 people" or "for today only" or "redeem this coupon".


Avoid the simple mistake of making your marketing material all about you or your company. Make it all about your target marketand how you can help them and you'll dramatically improve your marketing grade!

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Article Tags: business, conversions, headline, marketing, small, you focused marketing



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