Imagine there are 100 potential prospects for your business in a room and you could select only 3 of them to become clients. Do you know the questions you would ask to identify the ideal 3?
This question is posed as part of our quiz "Lead Generation & Conversion: Are You Winning?". We often ask this question when helping business owner-operators plan their marketing strategy. Their response is often preceded by a long pause. Just when you thought you knew everything about your clients, it appears there’s more to know.
Potential Clients
A potential client is anyone who might possibly buy your product or service. For example, a recruitment business may define a potential client as "any business that needs a temp", or a tea manufacturer may say "anyone who drinks tea".
In both of these examples the definition of "potential clients" is correct. However, it provides a shaky foundation for your marketing strategy. You need to push your thinking further.
Become a Sea Eagle
Sea eagles are very savvy birds. Essentially any fish in the sea is a potential meal for them yet they don't dive after every fish they see. Why not? They know there is a limit to their energy and resources so they need to wisely pick out fish that will maximize the return on the energy expended during the catch. White bait is too small and marlins are too big.
Small and medium businesses also have limited resources. Are you going to wildly dive after every opportunity you see or wisely select those catches that have a good return? If your limited marketing budget is going to deliver results, you need to focus all of your activities on your ideal clients.
Ideal Clients
Ideal clients are a subset of your potential clients. Ideal clients are those prospects who will provide you with the maximum return on your marketing investment. The challenge is to establish some specific and observable criteria to clearly separate your potential and ideal clients. Here are some working examples to get you thinking.
Recruitment firm:
Potential clients - "any business that needs a temp"
Ideal clients - Located within 5 km radius, has an ongoing requirement for at least 3 temps, is adding at least 5 new staff each year, professional services industry
Can you see how you could walk into a room of 100 people and ask specific questions about these criteria to identify your ideal clients? Another interesting exercise is to ask everyone on your team the question that we have posed and see what answers they come back with. It will tell you very quickly if you need to up skill and train your team to become more effective at spotting sales opportunities.
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Zip Code Target Marketing
Now, while this may seem obvious to many, it is important to understand and to be prepared with the tools and methodology to overcome the saturation factor. Particularly with online marketing.
One method to break through the saturation barrier and get actual buyers to see your product or service is to very specifically target the exact type of client you are looking for who has already shown an eagerness to have what you offer.
This is a variation on the now popular niche marketing strategies being promoted everywhere but with a few essential twists that not only improve the conversion of those who are just looking into actual buyers, but that create a targeted and motivated buyer who is glad to just get what they want without all of the hype and sales copy.
You may ask, How do they know what they want and why can't I just sell them what I have?
The truth is that while people often have a general idea of what they are looking for, the various factors such as price, color, potency and even the amount of information they are given about the product or service often effect the decision to actually BUY.
In today's marketing of say, home businesses, there has been a proliferation of long, multi-page, excessively detailed and psychologically optimized sales letters that (if they read the whole letter) tells the potential client a hundred different reasons the product or service is different or better than anything they've ever seen before.
Complete with testimonials from "leaders" and "gurus", extras and bonuses, one time offers, audio, video and ... well you've seen them.
The poor client is exhausted and confused by the time the page actually gets around to OFFERING!
So, here are three ways to target your marketing to achieve higher conversions:
1) Use less keywords - yes, you can use long tail keywords but use words very specific to your product or service. Less than 10 is best.
2) Use less verbiage and distraction in your ad or sales page - If you can keep your message SHORT( less than two or three paragraphs), and concise. Limit the video, pop ups and other ads.
Then make your offer immediately with a call to action, i.e. Buy It NOW!
The client who already clicked on your ad or link is forced to take action. Either they WILL buy or they will exit. More often than not, they will buy, if simply to see why you aren't spending 10 pages telling them why they should like every other site does.
You see, one of the most enduring tenets of successful sales is to make your offer and then SHUT UP!
This forces the buyer to either accept your offer, engage you by requesting more information, or leave.
If you've already taken huge amounts of their time and attention spouting the pitch, they have way too much to think about, ponder, and use as an excuse to not buy. You lost them.
3) Remember that you can always give them more information Later - Chances are that you used a opt-in lead capture page (not necessary if your page is short and to the point) or as I prefer, give them the option to request more information, I.E. your Contact information.
People who opt-in AFTER your pitch and offer are the ones most likely to become a paying client!
Well that's all for now. Just these three adjustments have increased my sales over 1200%!
Both Kirrily Dear & Harold Lundy are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Kirrily Dear has sinced written about articles on various topics from Management, Start Online Business and Marketing. Kirrily Dear is the Founder and Development Director of Eyes Wide Open. Kirrily has worked in the field of strategy and research for the last 13 years. Her experience extends internationally to include North America, UK, Europe and New Zealand. She is a w. Kirrily Dear's top article generates over 5400 views. to your Favourites.
Harold Lundy has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet, Marketing. Harold Lundy has been a successful online entreprenuer for over 10 years, marketing both his own products and services as well as those that meet his stringent requirements such as:. Harold Lundy's top article generates over 3600 views. to your Favourites.
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