Introduction to Marketing
Marketing can feel really overwhelming, especially when the tendency in modern marketing is to do more, in more spaces, for more people. I don’t think that’s a helpful tendency. The reality is that most of your marketing results are coming from, or would come from, a handful of marketing activities - it’s the pareto principle for marketing. The issue for a lot of businesses isn’t just that they don’t have the insights available to track and clarify which of their current marketing activities are generating the best results, but that they don’t know whether what they are currently doing is even ideal for them.
'Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half.' John Wanamaker.
Perhaps you shouldn’t be prioritising social media marketing or need to pivot towards events.
Here are three categories based on the customer journey to help you think through the key marketing activities you should be engaging to convert more customers:
1/ Transaction Type
The transaction type is how the customer actually converts with you. What are you asking them to do to complete the sale? Each of the types of transaction are a different destination, along completely separate marketing pathways. Asking a customer to come into your store to purchase something is a completely different experience to buying something online on their couch or meeting for lunch to discuss a proposal. Clarifying the type of transaction the customer makes gives you the opportunity to reverse engineer your marketing activities to suit. As simple as it sounds, if you want customers in store, you build your messaging and marketing offers towards encouraging them to come and visit - you might prioritise events, or seminars, or trade-shows, or DIY classes to get people into your shop.
In-store
How can you gather people together before they’ve made a purchase to meet you, experience your product/service, learn something new, have fun and ask questions?
E-commerce
How can you encourage people to visit your website to watch/read/engage with resources and media that helps them solve their problem? What offer can you create in order to create a pre-conversion connection with your customers?
Sales meeting
What value can you deliver to a prospect that has little to do with the specific product/service you are putting on the table? How can you go out of your way to give them a quick win, either through a simple phone meeting or an in-person meeting or a downloadable resource/questionnaire?
2/ Transaction Duration
The transaction duration is the time from when the customer first is made aware of you, through to when they make a purchase. This is generally longer than you think because it includes the period where they aren’t necessarily actively pursuing a solution. Clarifying the duration of your customer journey helps you to plan marketing activities that make sense for the customer. More time in the marketing funnel will necessarily warrant more resources and education. A real estate with a 3-6 month customer journey might consider resources that educate sellers on current market conditions and the state of the finance/property market more generally. Doing this enables them to build a relationship across a longer period of time. However, an e-commerce store selling wrist-bands will consider more direct communication and a clear offer.
How long does a customer take to purchase?
<1 day
1-7 days
1-4 weeks
1-3 months
>3 months
Shorter marketing funnel: How can you engage and convert the customer with a clear offer to solve the problem they are facing? Consider sharp, clear copy-writing that communicates value on your website; a great offer to help customers convert; and regular, helpful social media content for building an engaged community of returning customers.
Longer marketing funnel: How can you build a relationship where the customer is happy to hear from you? Consider helpful resources to maintain top of mind awareness and automations to help create efficiency over a longer period of time.
3/ Purchase Price
The purchase price is how much the customer pays for the product/service, but it’s also asking whether you are below, on par with, or above market value pricing. Clarifying this helps you to consider what marketing activities and marketing messaging you need to convert more customers. If you’re selling a premium product/service above market value price, you’ll need to do the leg-work to communicate the value that exists within your product. Branding, built on copywriting and graphic design, is key to help establish your authority here. More generally, if you sell a higher value product, you also likely have a slightly longer purchase process so consider marketing activities that re-engage the customer throughout the decision making process.
What is your purchase price?
<$10
$10-$100
$100-$1,000
$1,000-$10,000
>$10,000
Get clear about what's important
Don’t waste your time and money on marketing activities that aren’t producing results for your business. Get clear about the customer journey and build marketing activities that make sense for them. Build marketing activities that generate better results - book a discovery meeting here to start your journey towards better marketing.
