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By:
Allyn
How
many times has bad advice gotten you into trouble? Yeah,
everybody's saying and doing it, so you jump on the band
wagon... and guess what... you get the same results as
they get. Maybe it's a comfort to know that you're not
the only one who played the part of the fool, but when
it comes to marketing...you may not have enough leeway
to count the loss and go on.
Yeah, there sure are a LOT of ideas out there about what
will and what won't skyrocket sales numbers and profit
margins! And to be truthful, a lot of those ideas are
just a bunch of bunk. Yep, you've got to be on your toes
and know the truth about marketing tales. Here are a few
of the lines of misinformation that you've probably
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heard
before...
You've Got To Have The Cheapest Prices In Town To Be
Competitive
Let me ask you this...Do you always buy the cheapest
product on the
shelf, or always shop at the
store that has the lowest prices? No, I don't either.
What you and I know that these people don't is, that
value counts for a lot. Oh yeah, sure... there are a few
people out there who only buy the cheapest things in
town, but most of us understand that the cheapest isn't
always the best buy for our buck.
How does this apply to you? Here's something you can
try...make it a little test to see just how true this
myth is. Find a low-cost way to enhance the perceived
value of your product or service, then raise the cost a
little. See what happens! Don't be surprised if your
sales and profits shoot up!
Advertisements Need To Be Changed To Keep The Public
From Becoming Bored
This one reminds me of one of my cousins. He's famous
for breaking things that are fixed. Yeah, he'll go out
and buy a perfectly good running car, but every time you
see him, he's under the hood tinkering with something.
Before long...you guessed it...the car won't run and has
to go to the garage for repairs.
It makes no sense to run a business like Cousin Jim and
his cars. Hey, if it's working why try to fix it? Think
about it...what's the goal for advertising? Yeah, to
attract new customers. Once the new customer comes
through the door, the advertisement has effectively done
its job. Does that customer need to be affected by the
same ad? No, so let the ad do its job for the rest of
the people out there who haven't seen it yet.
Now, I'm not saying that you should never change your
advertisement... just never abandon a winner midstream.
A good rule of thumb is to spend 80 percent of your
advertising money on proven methods, and to risk 20
percent on experimental advertisements. Keep the tried
and proven working for you, while you test the waters
for new ideas that might work even better.
The More Choices A Customer Has, The More Likely He
Is To Buy
Yeah, yeah...they say variety is the spice of life and
all that, but too many choices can lead to
procrastination. We all know what happens when we
procrastinate. Yep, we never get back to it!
Do you know what happens when a customer can't
decide?... you lose a sale that you already had in your
pocket. Yep he came in to get it, saw more options,
stopped to make up his mind, then walked out still
thinking about it...maybe to never return.
A tip for the wise marketer - limit your customer's
decisions to either yes or no. Let them decide either
yes I'll buy or no, I won't buy. Don't risk confusing
them and losing the sale.
Everybody Needs My Product/Service So I Don't Need To
Advertise
Hey, building a business is a lot of hard work! There
aren't many free rides along the way. Chances are, your
potential customers need to be convinced that they NEED
to choose your service/product. Yep, finding the
customer, convincing him to use your service/product,
then closing the deal is a process that can't be easily
bypassed. Don't be fooled into thinking you're any
different! It could be hazardous to your profits.
A friend of mine owned the only dog grooming shop in her
town. Hey, no competition means you don't need to
advertise...right? After an initial announcement of her
grand opening, this lady did no advertising. Business
slowly trickled in and barely covered the overhead.
Finally in a desperate attempt to get business off the
ground she began putting flyers in all of the local
veterinarian clinics and ads in the local newspaper.
Bingo! Business began pouring in... and most of the
people said, "I didn't even know you were
here!" or "Fifi's been needing groomed for
quite some time. When I saw your ad, I decided to go
ahead and get it done."
Let's face it, people are often....well, lazy. They
don't always go out of their way to find the phone
number to contact you, even when in the back of their
mind they know they need to do something. Yeah,
advertisements are often the little prod they need to
get motivated. Don't short change yourself by neglecting
to advertise.
How about you? Have you ever driven by a business for a
long time without even noticing it? Yep, we all get too
busy to pay attention sometimes.
Hey, you've learned a few of the misguided marketing
myths that many people are fooled by...now you can apply
the REAL marketing concepts to your own advertising
campaign and watch the results!
Article
Source:
http://articles-4-free.com
Who
is Allyn Cutts, and why should you care?
Allyn has spent over 24 years helping businesses like
yours find new customers and increase sales to current
customers. Allyn is a marketing and sales fanatic,
providing measurable marketing solutions that drive huge
results for small-to mid-size business clients. Allyn is
the owner of AmazingMarketingStrategy.com
and works personally with clients to design and deliver
off-line and on-line direct marketing strategies that
focus on measurable results. Submitted with Article
Distributor.
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