Wouldn’t it be great to have dozens (or hundreds) of people with lots of money to spend (your ‘ideal’ customers or clients) contact your business every month or have thousands of people visit your retail store eager to buy? This is what good marketing is all about. But how do you start?
One of the most important lessons I learnt about marketing from my mentors is that marketing is simply maths and psychology.
What does that mean? Answer : Each marketing campaign needs to be analysed using questions that relate to the purpose, goals, actions and results expected. Perhaps some examples are in order…
Marketing psychology :
- What is the readership demographics of the newspaper I wish to advertise in?
- Will someone read my advertisement? Is the headline interesting enough?
- What’s the purpose of the advert? To sell from the page, or to create leads?
- Does the content (body copy) of the advert make sense? Will it be understood by a fifth-grader?
- Have I used ‘power’ words that have been tested and proven to improve response?
- Do I have a strong guarantee?
- Will the reader take action – call, request further information or visit my web site?
- Will the advert attract the ‘right’ type of prospect?
Marketing maths :
- What is the circulation of the newspaper?
- What is the cost of the advert?
- If the advert costs $600, how many leads and sales do I need to make to break-even?
- What is my conversion rate to a sale from leads generated from the advert?
- What is the lifetime value of these customers?
Every marketing campaign whether it’s print or internet advertising, direct mail, fax promotions, etc requires answers to these questions about maths and psychology.
Unfortunately most business people are busy and don’t take the time to use this method to correctly plan a particular marketing strategy. The outcome is either – spending money on something that got no response, OR, a marketing campaign that brought in good leads, good sales and good profit!