I made a really bold claim right from the start that everything you have ever learned... everything you have ever been taught... and everything you have ever been told about marketing is WRONG!
I asked you to watch a 73 minute video (
click here to watch) that I hoped would prove this to you beyond any reasonable doubt, and teach you the proper steps to take to make marketing work for your business.
I then pointed out some of the main points made in that video, such as the purpose of marketing is to help facilitate your prospects' decision-making process. I said there were two additional ways to look at marketing's purpose... to enter the conversation taking place in the head of your prospect... or to answer the number one question on your prospect's mind at just the right time.
All of these do an excellent job of defining the real purpose when it comes to marketing your business.
Unfortunately, most marketing doesn't do this at all, and explains why so many businesses struggle to generate leads and close sales.
We then began a lengthy discussion about the three fundamentals of marketing...
- have something good to say
- say it well
- say it often
To have something good to say means that your business MUST be unique when compared to all the others who sell what you sell.
You must be different... there must be something that separates your business from all of your competition.
Then once you have something good to say about your business, now you have to say it well.
Unfortunately, most businesses DON'T!
They saturate their marketing with platitudes such as highest quality, lowest prices, family owned and operated... and these platitudes are absolutely meaningless to most prospective buyers.
I then gave you a "magic formula" that would bestow upon you the unprecedented ability to "say it well" for your remaining days as a business owner... the Conversion Equation.
Interrupt, Engage, Educate and Offer is the way to format every piece of marketing you create... from ads, letters and emails to brochures, flyers and especially your website.
The Interrupt refers to an attention-grabbing headline - it MUST be problem-based and focused on a major hot button for the prospects you're targeting.
The Engage is a subheadline that promises a solution to the problem referenced in the headline.
The Educate part of your marketing provides the solution and backs it up with evidence and proof.
And the Offer must be compelling and provide VALUE to the prospects you target.
To help you write powerful and compelling headlines and subheadlines yourself, I passed on my "insider tip" to help you.
Prospects basically have just two things on their mind...
a problem they have and don't want
a solution they want and don't have
Your headline should highlight the MAJOR problem they have and don't want, and your subheadline should promise them the solution they want but don't have.
I also offered you my Marketing Message Starter Kit to help you with your future marketing (
Click here to download).
I showed you before and after website examples where the "before" represented a typical business website... and then the "after" where we applied the
Conversion Equation (
Click here to review the two websites again).
In the psychologist's "before" site, he attempts to target ALL of the prospects who may have a need for one or more of his services.
But in the "after" site, he addresses only the parents with kids suffering with emotional and behavioral problems, and therefore gains the ability to speak to them directly and target their hot button, problem-based issues.
But then I said that the real key to the success of the "after" site is the Informational Offer!
This has to do with the Buyer's Journey... the single, most important visual you need as a business owner in order to dominate your market (
Click here to review).
This is a visual representation of your prospect's decision-making process, and it's the way most prospects decide whether or not they will buy what you sell.
They typically start on the left side and slowly progress to the right side.
But look what 99% of prospects are really searching for - INFORMATION!
Information is actually referring to "evidence"... the prospect is looking for evidence or proof that you truly offer them the best deal (aka - the most value for the money they will pay you).
This is called "strategic marketing," and if you will learn how to execute a strategic marketing campaign, you will see anywhere from a doubling to a ten to fifty fold increase in your leads and sales... and here's why.
Most prospects DON'T buy the first time they see an ad (or the second, third, fourth or fifth).
It often takes multiple marketing messages before someone decides to buy what you sell.
But most businesses these days don't have multimillion dollar ad budgets like the big companies do... and yet they keep trying to market the same way they do.
Small business owners have to get smart about their marketing.
They need to adopt what we call "direct response marketing," where you offer something of tremendous interest or of a highly compelling nature that entices qualified and interested prospects to request your offer in exchange for their contact information such as their first name, email address, home address, phone number or whatever is appropriate for your type of business.
Now the business owner can start marketing to this smaller, select group of prospects more often and at a lower cost.
This process will dramatically increase leads and produce far more sales than standard marketing ever will.
Finally, after you "say it well," fundamental #3 says you have to "say it often."
This is simply referring to the power of "repetition."
Fortunately, when you follow the Conversion Equation of Interrupt, Engage, Educate and Offer, you don't have to use as much repetition to get your message across when compared to most advertising that relies strictly on branding.
But here's the problem... how can a small business owner afford to do that?
The answer - implement what we refer to as a "drip campaign."
A drip campaign involves staying in touch with your interested prospects... the ones that requested your informational offer.
That's why you want to offer information to your prospects when it's appropriate, so you can capture their contact information and then convert them into customers by staying in touch with them... reminding them of the benefits of your product or service... and helping them down their Buyer's Journey until they finally arrive at the point where they're ready to buy.
But what type of information do you send your prospects through a drip campaign?
Simple, you use the information in the informational offer you sent them originally.
You simply take individual components from that offer and remind and reinforce them to your prospects.
This is hard to explain, so I showed you an actual example of this.
Remember the Sunroom Guide...
Look at the various sections again in this Guide.
Then
click here to see a postcard drip campaign that highlights and reminds the prospect about the benefits in the Guide...continues to overcomes their objections... and even reinforces WHY the prospect should use this sunroom contractor over their competition.
Notice also how EACH postcard follows the Conversion Equation of Interrupt, Engage, Educate and Offer.
If I owned a sunroom company, I would invest in a Facebook pay-per-click campaign where I would place an ad on Facebook... send prospects that clicked on that ad to my website where I would offer them my FREE Sunroom Idea Guide.
They would have to enter their first name and email address to download the guide, and I would capture their information and immediately begin my drip campaign to them.
Sure, I truly hope my Idea Guide will convince them to buy one of my sunrooms, but the reality is that sunroom prospects often take months and possibly years before they're ready to buy a sunroom.
Well, during that interim period, I plan to stay in touch with them... nurture them by reminding them of all the fabulous benefits my sunrooms offer... overcoming their objections along the way... and emphasizing to them why they should buy their sunroom from me and not my competition when the time does come for them to buy.
And by following this strategic marketing campaign, I will ABSOLUTELY dominate the entire sunroom industry... guaranteed!
Now do you agree with me that everything you have ever learned... everything you have ever been taught... and everything you have ever been told about marketing is WRONG!
But now you know the RIGHT way to market, and if you will follow my process outlined here, you too will position your business as the dominant force in your industry.
Previously, I offered to jump on the phone with you and perform a complete evaluation on your marketing and your website. It is still available!
It's 100% free and I promise it doesn't come with any type of sales pitch.
Using the Conversion Equation, I can show you exactly what to do with your website and marketing collateral that could double or triple the number of prospects who respond to your marketing.
Best wishes,
Tim Wesley
