4 More Low Cost or Zero Cost Ways To Improve Your Marketing Results…

 

OK, following on from my last post, here are four more highly effective marketing strategies to help grow your business.

 

Whilst these tips and examples come from different industries – the real value comes from YOU adapting and tweaking these ideas to work for your specific business.

 

In case you missed them, the first 3 strategies are here.

 

4) How to guarantee your way to success

One thing that continues to amaze me is how scared people are to guarantee their products and services.

 

But when I ask business-owners and managers how many people have been very unhappy with their experience of buying from them in the last one or two or three years, the response invariably comes back “Well, I can’t easily remember anyone like that… maybe one or two at the most in the last few years”.

 

So, if what you are selling is that good – why are you scared to guarantee it? Based on your own experiences, any risk you feel you’re taking is absolutely minimal.

If you feel the quality of the product or service you offer is not good enough to guarantee – I suggest you get out of that business, or find new products to sell (of much higher quality).

 

The fact is – the longer and more solid your guarantee is – the fewer returns or requests for money-back you will get. It’s exactly the opposite of what everyone thinks! Lifetime guarantees are the best – and have the lowest returns rate of all.

 

Put a guarantee on everything you do.

 

Here’s some sample wording to get you thinking. What would you have to change or improve or adapt to make this work in your business?

 

“100% complete satisfaction guarantee – no hassles, no questions. If for any reason within the next 365 days you feel this product / our service is not living up to your expectations – send it back / let us know and we will immediately send you a prompt and courteous refund.”

 

 

5) Avoid the permanent “On Sale Now” disease

It seems that every five minutes somebody else is launching their latest Sales Event. Closing Down, Spring, Mid-Summer, End of Season, Stock-Clearance, End of Line, Factory Direct, the list goes on and on.

 

One well-known sofa manufacturer says that have only two sales per year, but it seems to me that they each one last six months! We are bombarded with sales announcements. People are becoming immune to the word ” Sale”.

 

And whilst we all look for a bargain, we’re more and more skeptical that there’s any genuine deals on offer whenever a company screams “Sale Now On”.

 

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against sales per se. Used sparingly, a genuine sale (where the reasons for offering the discount are explained) can be very effective and generate a useful boost in cash-flow.

 

But always remember, sales mean you have to work much harder to make a decent profit. You have to sell 3, 4, or 5 times as many products to make the same profit when you discount the pricing.

 

Price is important. Sometimes very important. But it’s rarely AS important as business owners like to think. Even at rock bottom prices you will never capture 100% of your market – so why cut your margins to the point that you’re not making at least a profit that allows for future investment in your business?

 

So what else is important?

 

Un-matched service. True value in the buyer’s mind. Being treated like a friend. Offering unique services or extras that are not available elsewhere. Knowledge not found elsewhere. Be the expert your market goes to when they need help. Make yourself so valuable in prospects’ eyes that they have no alternative but to go to you.

 

Just do anything except hold a weekly 50% off sale believing it’s the quickest way to grow your business.

 

When you do have a real sale – make it a good one. Create a theme to it. Make it very limited in time. And do not overdo them.

 

 

6) Test Small : Roll-out Big

In marketing and advertising you have to find the most profitable message to present to your market. But you will never know what the right message is until you test different options.

 

When you have a marketing piece or an advertisement you want to test – test it small. But make sure you test it in a place where your ideal clients frequent – to guarantee accurate results.

 

Test online ads on social media first, or smaller display ads, or regional inserts in magazines, before you splash out on larger campaigns or advertise with a half or full page.

 

Find a way to test small.

 

Based on the results (because you’re now running direct response marketing – right?) you can determine if you will test a larger ad or higher circulation medium. If it tests positive and makes a profit – then you will get better results when you make it bigger. Usually twice the ad size will return three times the results.

 

And remember, when you run a bigger ad, you don’t just make your logo bigger! You include more valuable content, more advice, evidence of results, and a deeper explanation of how you deliver those results etc.

 

When you find an advertisement or marketing piece that works – use it again and again and again. Never stop using it unless each use becomes un-profitable.

 

Which brings me to the last point here…

 

7) Never stop using an ad or mailer just because you are bored of it

This is a big mistake that’s made very frequently.

 

The only times you should drop an ad are when:

You come up with another ad that pulls better results (through your measured results) or…
It stops making a profit in that particular newspaper, magazine, etc

 

Remember – the longer you run an ad, generally the fewer results you will get (unless you are selling an everyday consumable which everyone is using). If your ad pulls 100 orders or enquiries with the first 10,000 impressions (or on the first insertion), second time 75, third 45 etc. eventually you may run into a situation where you do not make enough orders/profits to make it worth-while.

 

But, also remember – it can take years to run out an ad’s useful life – and make you a ton of money in the process. Some of your most successful ads could well run for 10 years or more – making a profit each and every time.

 

Talk about a license to print money! Think about it – if every time you invested £250 in a pay-per-click campaign or smaller display ad but KNEW (based on past measured results) that you would earn £1,250 from that ad in profits – how many times would you run that ad? As many as possible right?

 

When your tests show your ad or mailing produces a profit – you can run that ad many times, and in as many different magazines and newspapers, or to as many prospect lists as you wish. But remember, each time you test a new media, test small, then roll-out big.

 

When you develop a campaign that works – use it again and again and again!

 

 

Let me know below if you have any questions on applying these tactics and strategies to your own business – I’ll be delighted to help!

 

P.S. If you are ready to grow your sales revenues and profits significantly, consistently, month-by-month over 2018 and beyond … I invite you to BOOK YOUR BREAKTHROUGH STRATEGY SESSION HERE. and see for yourself just how easy it is to start out-competing your rivals.