Is Effective Marketing a Mystery to You?

I recently posed the following question to attendees at my Business Bootcamp--"What is the real purpose of marketing?" (Yes, it sounds so basic, yet everyone initially answers it incorrectly. Everyone!)

Everyone is so eager to rush into marketing, but unless we really understand what our purpose in marketing truly is--we stand the risk of our efforts failing to achieve our desired results.

Many people come to me for coaching when their marketing is not yielding the results to match their financial goals. With some diagnosis, the problem is simple to detect. You see, many people still don't understand what their true purpose of marketing is, and so they make the same mistakes over and over again.

These costly mistakes, arise out of not knowing your single most important mission in marketing. The bad news is, marketing costs the same whether it works or not. The good news is, the problem can be fixed.

There are many different results possible of any marketing campaign, but there is only ONE marketing mission that will yield you the highest and best results each and every time! For most people, they think the purpose of marketing is to sell their products and services.

Big Mistake! And that is where the problems begin.

If selling our products and services were the real mission of marketing, then marketing would be so simple and easy. We could just send out a brochure advertising our product or service and watch the dollars come pouring in. However, here are a few discouraging statistics:

- A direct mail brochure gets less than a 1% return.
- People today are bombarded with junk mail and junk email overload.
- "Do not call" lists and "do not write" lists are growing exponentially daily.
- Fact: It takes at least 7 repetitive marketing hits for a brand name like Coke to get a new prospect buying.

It takes on the average 11 repetitive marketing hits for the ordinary person like you and I to get a response from a prospect to begin thinking about buying on average. (These numbers vary slightly with different statistics).

We all make the mistake of thinking the purpose of marketing is to sell something. This is the single biggest mistake people make. Here is the organizing principle around the real purpose of marketing.

Selling is not your marketing purpose. Attracting warm to hot prospects and turning them into customers who buy in time is your real purpose!

Think of it like dating. Imagine you are single for a moment and meeting a new person for the first time. Your mission in meeting that person is not to marry them on the spot, but to get to know them and they you-- to determine if you would even like to date each other.

There's meeting, then dating, then courtship. . . then possibly marriage down the road. The more people you meet, the more great dates you can have, and eventually you attract the ideal person you would like to marry.

Imagine someone walking up to you and saying, "Hi, it's nice to meet you. Ready to get married?" That is often how people approach marketing.

There are terms we use to call people like this, "slimy, sleezeball, used-car salesman, hypster, slick and slickster." Why? Because we all hate to be "Sold."

So your mission is to find and attract interested people into your marketing funnel, first building rapport, then building trust, sharing your expertise, offering value--knowing when you add value to their lives and business, they will automatically want to do business with you. It becomes not a matter of if they will do business with you, but when.

So here are 8 Steps to Attract Quality Prospects and Turn Them into Customers:

1 - Attract them into your marketing funnel by getting them to respond to a compelling offer.
2 - Offer them something of value first (Special Report, Article, Trial Sample or Offer).
3 - Follow up with an email, phone call, mailing. Offer more value.
4 - Diagnose their deepest needs through surveys, interviews, assessments or questionnaires.
5 - Create a product or plan that solves their worries, challenges or concerns.
6 - Show them the benefits of how your service is a solution to their needs.
7 - Make it easy for them to buy your products, providing great customer service.
8 - Ask to help their friends and family by getting referrals.

The mission is to create life-long customers by taking the time to build quality relationships, inviting them to take one step at a time with you. Think dating! When you give them value first by sharing your expertise, you not only remove the stress and anxiety on your part, but you also create an atmosphere of zero resistance marketing.

You become the Expert meeting their needs, rather than the pushy salesperson they can't wait to get rid of. The real bonus is that your marketing results will become both more profitable and also more predictable.

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