Fact your promotional material has Four seconds or less to catch the reader’s attention before it gets filed under not F but R for Recycle or in electronic terms the reader moves on, clicks the back button or proverbially swipes left.
So the problem, or rather the solution is about holding your audience.
Before you start.
First step: Research the audience. Why? So that you have something to offer that interests them.
If you were selling home improvements to a housing estate where 80% of the occupants are renting and you don’t know that before you circulate your promotion then 79% of your collateral is already in the bin. Why? Because you are not reaching the person who is making the decision to buy. So let’s break it down a little more.
I see promotional material, whatever the medium, as having one of 2 purposes
- To raise / maintain brand awareness.
- To generate leads.
Awareness raising is for big established brands. Normal humans need sales leads so I will focus on that. If we are to generate leads the first thing we need to know is who am I trying to sell to?
If you are selling B2B what is the name of the decision maker in your target customer? Is he / she on linked in? Could someone introduce you?
If you know who they are then you can find out what they want or need to buy, what their attitude to sales people (that’s you) and meet their expressed needs rather than trying to suss it out while customer facing. . Become the paracetemol for the specific headache. Even promo material needs to do that.
Prospecting B 2 C is more difficult.
Your customer is less defined and more difficult to reach directly so your market awareness needs to be top class. What gender is my decision maker? What age? Where do they work/ where do they live? Can I reach them through work – on an intranet or similar or do they fit some demographic reachable through a social media platform? If so when is the optimum time to post on that platform? What do they do for fun? You are still trying to ease their problem. Once you know who they are and what they want; you are almost there. Phase 1 complete Target identified – FIRE
90% of promotional material, including websites does not appeal to the desired customer
This is outbound prospecting and I recognise that I have only scratched the surface but if it makes you work smarter rather than harder and gets you better or faster return then I did my job.
Inbound is different.
The person who searches on line and finds you or who asks a friend for your name is a qualified lead. They are interested in something like what you sell. Therefore your aim is to get them to choose you before they choose a competitor. That is mostly a function of your listening to the client.
Lots of people over complicate this process.
I want to simplify it into the 5 F’S
FIND OUT WHO YOUR CUSTOMER IS
FIND HIS POINT OF PAIN
FIX WHATEVER THE PROBLEM IS THAT HE IS EXPERIENCING
MAKE A FINANCIAL TRANSACTION OUT OF THAT
And I have a method for making sure that you get the business
FOLLOW UP and FOCUS. Do this at agreed appointed times but stay in touch with the client because at the end of the day it’s the relationship you build that closes the sale
One last thing: If you Fail in this process……… Learn! Ask the client why they chose someone else and don’t repeat the Fault.