Marketing
is the real 'master key' to unlocking your business
success. In addition to being the foundation of
how you
will
communicate
with customers, clients and prospects to differentiate
and make your offers, it is also the strategy behind
how
all of your promotional
activities
interlock
and
work
together to get the results you need in growing
your business.
Marketing
determines what you do and how you do it, what
you say and
how you say it, what you want to achieve in
your business and how to get it. But
it doesn't succeed unless you work at it, work
on it, and work it good.
Isn't
it amazing how so many companies either go out
of business before they get a full head of
steam, or fail to gather
any momentum? Ever wonder why?
After years and years of seeing businesses come and
go, we here at Profit Solutions have come to the conclusion
that it has a lot to do with widespread misconceptions
that
have
perpetuated
the business
community for
half a century or longer.
One
of the most common is when
it comes to solving marketing problems. Many companies
turn to brainstorming, guessing,
and arbitrary 'creative solutions' for their
next successful
marketing idea.
That
is old
school and for the most part ineffective, but
it's been sold as
a solution for so long that people assume guessing is
the
way
it's
done. And it's still being sold today by many graphics
and ad agency professionals.
Take
a step back and look at it from a fresh, 21st century
viewpoint, realizing how much of our world has
changed in the last 50 years or so.
If
all this so-called 'creative' marketing and guesswork
were really the
answer and really produced
bankable profits,
wouldn't
more and more companies be enjoying increasingly
higher and higher
levels
of success instead of closing their doors forever?
Wouldn't more businesses be successes than failures?
As
an example, many ad agencies and graphic design
groups sell themselves to potential clients
based
on
how well they guess at
marketing. They call it providing 'creative'
solutions. And often when they are done and there
are little if any measurable results,
you
are told,
"We're
building your image
and brand. It takes lots of time, your money,
and repetition."
In
the real world this is called poohockey.
This is nothing more than hit and miss, spray and
pray marketing based on guessing at what works.
And
it can cost you dearly in the time, money and energy
you expend trying to build your business.
The majority of marketing apparently goes something
like this: if you don't know, you guess. And when
you're
wrong
you
blame it on the market or the timing or a variety
of other false targets - and then guess again.
All the while convincing the client to keep dumping
buckets of money on the fire.
It
takes tons of your hard-earned money to constantly
force-feed your 'hopefully correct' message to
the public
and pound it into their heads. You can end up
spending
tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or
even millions of dollars trying to outguess your
competition
and ram your message home.
But
there's more...
If
it's not a creative 'guessing campaign' it's
usually an image-building, or 'branding' strategy.
We've
never understood
the logic
behind wasting money on trying to
get prospects to buy products and services based
on
a logo design, and a corporate color palette. But
designers and ad agencies sell this so-called 'solution'
every day.
Of
course you need an identity as a basic point of
differentiation,
and you need to communicate what
your
company is
all about. But the majority of customers buy
based on your offers and the benefits (real
or perceived) to them, not
what your logo
looks
like or your company colors.
(We're
sorry
if this concept bruises your ego, but
we thought you ought to know - after all, it is
YOUR money that is being spent with little or no
measurable return.)
Many
business owners fall in love with their company
and anything representing it. It's only natural
as their business is their baby. But in doing so
they
often
fail
to
see their
company
through the eyes of their customers and prospects.
And
it is this self-inflicted blindness that allows
the 'image-builders' and branding experts to effortlessly
remove the drain plug
on your marketing budget bank account.
Image-based
marketing is a passive and ineffectual strategy that
is a waste of your time and money
Yes,
we said it loud and we said it proud. But isn't
it clearly evident by the steady stream of
business failures that base their
hopes
and
dreams
on image-based marketing?
Statistics
prove that it seldom creates a measurable response
- much, much less than a response-based strategy.
And simple observation proves it says
little if nothing
more
than what
your competition already claims - usually statements
like 'higher quality', 'better service', 'lower
prices', and 'long-lasting
dependability'.
These
statements are no longer a point of differentiation
in today's aggressive marketplace. In fact, for
many consumers they are the minimum accepted requirements
to be
considered
as a credible option in the first place.
Image-based
advertising passively sits there trying to sell
an 'impression' of
who
you
are and
what
you
do.
Instead of presenting a decisive
position with clearly defined benefits and impossible-to-ignore
reasons why you are the best choice in the marketplace,
image-based
advertising is vague and general. It
tries to stir your emotions with catchy
phrases having little or nothing to do with why
you really buy.
True,
a small percentage of people sometimes buy
based on creative artwork, images or slogans. But
for most, these things are seldom remembered. Benefits are
still the dominating, over-riding, decision-making
factor for the largest majority of people who want
the most for their money.
Do
you really want to appeal to the least number
of potential customers?
The'
image-building'
concept is why advertising budgets are in
the clouds. It's
why so many marketing campaigns
fall
short of expectations time
and time again (and don't even get us started on
the cute and funny 'entertainment ads' that are
forgotten
as soon as the chuckles fade away).
So
what's the
solution? What can a company do if these lone-standing
pillars of marketing are filled with hot air?
Why
not just market more effectively?
Why not build your
image and brand as an automatic result of
having more effective marketing?
We
utilize marketing strategies and tactics that are
proven to eliminate
guesswork and arbitrary creative concepts.
