5 Rules for Great Marketing

Does your business have all the customers it needs? Does it have a potent marketing system that reliably goes out into the marketplace and brings in profitable business?

Most businesses don''t.

But marketing effectively isn''t that hard, and it''s not that complicated. It just takes a little bit of discipline and consistent adherence to some basic rules.

If your business is struggling to bring in customers, or if you''re just looking to give your sales a boost, review all of your marketing materials and make sure they follow some basic fundamentals.

Here are a few things to pay close attention to:

1. It''s All About the Customer

You must start thinking about things from your customer''s point of view.

Most businesses focus on themselves. This is a mistake. Forget about your business, your products and services, and what you need from your prospect. Instead, approach everything from the standpoint of your customer.

Start focusing on your prospective customer, show them how you can help them, and fully explain how they''ll benefit from working with you.

2. Response is King

You must ask for a response in every marketing activity you do. If you don''t get a good response, change your approach.

Whether the desired response is the completion of a sale or simply a request for more information, you must make this response as straightforward and as enticing as possible for your prospects.

You must ask for response on your website, in your advertisements, and in your mailers. When meeting people for the first time, have something for them to do such as signing up for an ezine. If you''re giving a speech, ask for business cards from your audience and offer to mail them a transcript of your presentation or a free report that provides additional information.

Asking for a response is one of the simplest ways to measure the effectiveness of your efforts. If one marketing method generates more response than another, you know that it is more effective and you can adjust your strategy accordingly. If another isn''t pulling a response, make changes to it. Don''t just hope that by repeating it unchanged it will somehow manage to generate the results you''re looking for.

Let response guide your marketing. Repeat successful efforts, change unsuccessful ones, and always ask for a response so that you know which is which.

3. Make Your Offers Shamelessly Irresistible

Whatever response you ask for, the more attractive you can make it the better. In fact, a shamelessly irresistible offer is one of the best ways to generate response.

You don''t need to give away the farm to make your offers attractive. All you need to do is think about things from your customer''s point of view. Ask yourself objectively "If I were my customer, would I respond to this?"

You should fully explain the benefits you can deliver through your product or service so that your prospects know exactly what''s in it for them. This alone will often drastically improve the results you see.

But you might go further in making your offer as irresistible as possible. An advertisement might offer a valuable, informative free report. Your website might offer a free trial. Your direct mail may include a coupon for a discount.

This is where creativity is important in marketing. Don''t waste your time (and money) trying to make your advertising "creative" in the sense that most people think of the word. That is, don''t waste time trying to be funny, cute, or clever. Instead, invest your time in thinking about ways that you can make your offers more enticing and in ways that you can continue to add greater value. That''s creativity!

4. Repetition

Repetition in marketing is grossly misunderstood.

Most business owners think it means that they must keep hammering away with their marketing efforts, confident that once people have seen their company''s message enough times, they''ll start to respond.

This is complete nonsense!

You should never repeat your marketing efforts unless they''re generating a profitable response for you. So the trick here is to repeat the ones that work, and make changes to the ones that don''t before you attempt them again.

When it comes to marketing, never give up. Always continue to market and advertise. Just don''t repeat ads or offers that fail to appeal to your customers. As we said above: Response is King!

5. Delight Your Customers

Make doing business with your company as easy and enjoyable as possible.

Offer dazzling service. Instruct your sales people to educate your prospects as much as possible, so that even if they don''t buy, they''ve still learned a lot about the benefits of your products and services. Make sure your phone is always answered, and if you do miss a call, return it promptly.

Outstanding service is part of successful marketing. All it takes is a commitment to good service and a relentless approach to follow up.

Overall

There are scores of other things you should do in marketing your business, but if you focus on the five rules we''ve discussed here, you''ll be way ahead of most of your competitors.

If you''re not happy with the way your marketing is working for you, try incorporating even just one or two of these rules into what you''re doing and your effectiveness will improve.

Andrew Pritchard is the owner of Inspire Consulting, a marketing company in Michigan. They offer several free reports on marketing more effectively both online and offline. The reports can be downloaded from their website.