Principle Number 2: Ask Yourself The Right Marketing Questions

Every ‘successful’ marketing plan should start off, in my opinion, with the following questions:

What Am I Selling?

• For hairdressers, you are selling confidence, self-esteem, convenience, and pride
• For mechanics, you are selling peace of mind, safety, convenience, and performance
• For florists, you are selling love, connection, and friendship.

Remember, you are always selling results. You are selling how your customer is going to feel after doing business with you.

As a business owner, you can broaden the definition of what you’re selling and thus, expand your potential market. As an example, look at a masseuse. On the one hand, a masseuse offers massages for relaxation. However, what would happen if the masseuse expanded her definition to ‘a service that helps to appreciate life more.’

Now, with this definition, the masseuse can offer further complementary products. She could create a joint venture with health stores and offer special promotions to her clients. Additionally, she could offer a range of aromatherapy oils and scents, together with self-improvement workshops ranging from motivation to goal setting to relationship counselling. Furthermore, she could create a joint venture with yoga, qigong and tai chi instructors – all in accordance with the new definition.

The list is almost endless. Go ahead and expand the definition of your business. Don’t just see yourself in the traditional sense. Offer a broad definition and investigate just how much more you can further develop.

Who Am I Selling To?

Who is your target market? Is your target market young, old, Chinese, African, rich, poor, local or out of town, professional or blue collar? This is very important because each customer can desire different benefits and results.

The more specific and clear you can be on who your market is; the more precise you can be when explaining the benefits they will experience.

If you are unsure who your target market is – ask your customers. Run a survey, and offer them a gift in return as an incentive. Here are some points your questions should touch on:

• Age
• Sex
• Occupation
• Income Range
• Nationality
• Interests
• Address
• Marital Status
• Magazine, newspapers, television shows and other publications they read The survey arms you with a stack of useful information to answer the next question.

How Will I Communicate My Message?

I can categorically state, that if you are not clear on who your customers are, you will not be able to find them effectively. After all, how will you know how to get into contact with them if you don’t know who they are?

Once you have completed the survey, answering this question will be easy. As a start, go to your local newsagency and take a glance at the range of magazines that are on the market. You’ll be stunned. There’s something for everyone. Also, go to your library. Libraries have tons of information for you to use. Contact direct mail houses and get a copy of their mailing lists. There are lists on any demographic you can imagine.

The topic of which mediums to use in communicating messages will be further explained in the next section.

What Price Am I Selling For?

Is your price too high? Is your price too low? I’ve seen products that are more expensive out pull similar products that were considerable cheaper on a per unit basis. This is because there is a perceived value of quality. Have you ever heard or seen the price of something, and because it was expensive immediately assumed it was good quality? Of course. I have too.

To run a profitable business you need to sell your product or service at a price that appeals to your target market.
 

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Tags: advertising, ask the right questions, get more leads and customers, more leads