Do you remember that time when you placed an ad and the sales came flooding in?
“Bueller?… Bueller?… Bueller?”
Yes, even Ferris Bueller knows…
That’s a Fantasy.
Building a Great Brand is a Lot Like Dating.
And doing a one-off ad is like proposing on your first date.
It doesn’t go well!
(Me) “Will you marry me?”
(Date) “Ahhh, that’s a hard NO. I hardly even know you!”
To get the BIG Sale, there need to be follow-up dates. Flowers sent with love notes inside the bouquet. Late-night phone calls. Gifts.
Ya gotta put in the effort! Right?
Most of all, you need to stay front-of-mind.
Never forget… There are plenty of other fish in the sea!
Effective marketing is no different than dating.
All we need to do is take our prospects from the 1st date, (initial impression), to the altar (purchase).
And EXACTLY HOW do we do that??
By following…
The 4-Step Marketing Formula To Building a Great Brand (Or Landing an Awesome Spouse)
STEP #1: Frequency
After your 1st date, you’re not waiting 3-months for date #2. You’re texting. Stopping by his/her office. Connecting on social media.
Think about it…
At this stage, you’re a borderline stalker. 🙂
Your brand is no different. It needs to be seen as often as possible. And the more media the better! Print, digital, social media, lawn signs, truck wraps, podcasts, video, email marketing, and more.
(Go to 61Benefits.com to review the dozens of ways we keep your brand front-of-mind. All included with our Good Neighbor Omnipresent Marketing System!)
The frequency of seeing your brand in various media also helps to instill trust.
As humans, we are innately risk-averse. Seeing your brand seemingly everywhere puts the consumers’ mind at ease, knowing that when they make a buying decision, they are dealing with a reputable, local company.
This is also why smart companies sponsor community events and causes. They understand the long-term value of establishing a brand that supports and cares about the community. It pays huge dividends.
STEP #2: Consistency
Okay, you’ve done everything right so far. The dates have been wonderful. And that surprise 6-month, 1st date anniversary gift was off the charts!
You’re so, so close to achieving your goal, and then…
“Bueller?… Bueller?… Bueller?”
WHAT… Where did you go?
You got busy?!
No time for dating?!!!
So it’s bye, bye marriage! And goodbye sale!
I call this the roller coaster ride of marketing. There’s a flurry of advertising activity and then crickets.
The business gets busy. No surprise. Their marketing efforts paid off.
But, in keeping up with the sales demand, time spent on marketing their business evaporated. Or they purposely throttled back their marketing efforts thinking they could save a few bucks since the sales were flowing.
And just like a roller coaster, after all of that effort and investment in climbing that monster incline, you hit a peak and…
… the inevitable downtrend in sales occurs. Sometimes like a roller coaster, it’s a dramatic, stressful, sales plummet.
STEP #3: Long-Term Commitment
Would you ever enter a relationship on a trial?
(Me) “You look promising. So I’m willing to give you a try for
like 3 – 6 months. Cool?”
(Date) NOTE – (In keeping this newsletter family-friendly, the verbal response is unprintable.)
The most effective marketing happens after a year of consistency and frequency.
We’re led to believe that advertising should be about ROI. (Return on Investment)
However, ROI can be very misleading!
Great marketing is about sales growth… over time.
The confusion with ROI is that often times the ROI window is way too narrow and limited.
We live in a “What have you done for me since yesterday?” world.
Smart companies and successful big brands understand that the marketing they do today is an investment in growth for next year and beyond.
Investing your advertising money in a short-term campaign mostly benefits the media company that sold it to you.
Consumers need you when they need you.
If I’ve seen your roofing company ad for the last ten months but my roof isn’t leaking, I’m not hiring your roofing company.
However, the good news for your roofing company is that while all those impressions and goodwill accumulate from your marketing campaign, my roof is deteriorating.
Fast forward two years later when I need a new roof. Who gets the call?
The company that I’ve come to know, like, and trust. The company that I’ve seen consistently for over two years.
STEP #4: Targeting the SAME Audience of Ideal Prospects
Going on 20 dates a month might sound like a relationship that’s growing.
But what if those dates are with 20 different people?
Or, what if those 20 are already married!?
In marketing your brand, to get the most from your efforts and investment, you’ve got to focus on Your Avatar or Ideal Client.
If a roofer is investing in advertising that goes to condominium owners, they may get some great referrals but they’ll never get a roofing job from the condo owner.
For many businesses, especially start-ups, playing “small ball” is the way to win the sales growth war, one battle at a time.
Small ball in baseball is about getting a lot of easy hits, like singles which can result in runs, versus swinging for the home run which can result in just a lot of strikeouts.
How Do You Win the Marketing Battle?
By hyper-targeting your marketing efforts on an area or community filled with your ideal prospects.
So for a roofing company, the most effective advertising campaign following the above 3-steps, would target homes of a certain value, occupied by homeowners of a certain income, all located in a tight geographical area like a community or neighborhood.
By keeping the geographical area tight, you capitalized on the compounding effect of:
1.) Neighbors Talking… Referrals / Word of mouth growth in the community
2.) Neighbors Seeing… your company vehicles driving to and from the job.
3.) Neighbors Remembering… they see your lawn signs and vehicles on the job site and are reminded, that’s your company they see every month in the community magazine, thereby reinforcing your dominance as the trusted roofer.
The real estate industry has used this formula effectively for years. They call it, “farming a community”. It allows them to become a dominant player with laser-focused efficiency. And without emptying their marketing budget.
Of course, once you become the dominant company in one community, your increased sales will fuel your next hyper- targeted campaign.
It’s a Proven Cookie-Cutter Marketing Formula.
And for our Good Neighbor Omnipresent Marketing System clients, it’s this formula, with its 61 client-attracting (Done- For-You) benefits, that strategically builds their market share without breaking their marketing budget.
Would you like to get more results from your advertising?
A limited number of exclusive spots are available. To learn more and to find out if your business category is available schedule a Discovery Session at: www.GrowInSWFL.com
Your Partner in Success!
Charlie McDermott
Let’s talk:
www.GrowInSWFL.com