If a ship sets off on a voyage and it’s just a fraction off course, it will soon end up massively off course, unless it quickly adjusts it’s direction. – Quoted from Jim’s Marketing Blog
In this day and age, online platforms have become very instrumental in influencing marketing strategies. Consumers are more in control of their purchasing decisions largely because of the information being offered for free on the internet and the wide variety of products available to choose from.
Products and services are also getting to a near saturation point of innovation. There is not much difference between one product/service and another nowadays (however this doesn’t apply to all industries) Hence manufacturers/ service providers now have rely on cutting edge marketing strategies to come out on top of the race of creating demand.
This has lead to the increase of the usage of online platforms to communicate to consumers at the palm of their hands and on a personal level. Most online platforms have evolved and have data capturing tools that help you know how many people you reach. For instance… Facebook and twitter have Likes and followers respectively. Some social media platforms and other online platforms have analysis tools that help you know the rate of consumer engagement per conversation created. However, some businesses seem to be getting lost at this juncture.
Businesses seem to be spending more time and resources to get more followers and likes rather than business inquiries. There is a clear cut difference between traffic and bankable results. Bankable results achieve targets that you have set. At the end of the day, your business needs to grow and thrive. It goes without saying that the internet has definitely created a platform for business to create a relationship with consumers. However, these relationship needs to produce results for it to survive… bankable results. That is why it is a business and not a charity.
Bankable results start from inquiries –> Evaluating the need –> Offering the desired solution in the best way possible –> Getting paid –> Satisfied customer who refers other friends to you and even endorses your business online. This process grows like a multi-level marketing model.
To get bankable results you need to market your business with the following elements but not limited to them:
- What – Be specific in what you are offering your potential customers. Keep in mind that you need to be offering a solution to an existing problem
- Why – Be specific as to why the potential customer need to get the service from you and not any other person. Sometimes you may need to define the problem to the customer and let them know you have a solution. Truth be told, competition is out there and they are going to do anything to steal that customer away from you. Even if it means reducing their price for the same service by half to ensure that they are the ones making the sale.
- When and where – Be specific on the location and when your potential consumers can reach you. If they cant they will move to the next person who offers the same service. In the case of a business that doesn’t have a physical location, a contact will suffice.
Another point to note: you only have 10-30 seconds of a potential consumers attention before they move on to another alternative. Therefore you need to impress in (if possible) less time.
An action call that comprises of all the above summarized in a sentence that is not more than 140 characters long would do.
Snitch Marketing 