Here's a plain fact: Marketing exists to support sales.
Sure, it's also used to create awareness and build a brand
image. But ultimately if your marketing doesn't motivate
customers to take action, it's probably not doing its job.
If you're experiencing less than stellar results when it
comes to getting customers to respond to your marketing messages,
it may be time to take a hard look at your campaign. Here are six
factors that may stand in the way of customer response, plus tips
on what to do to improve your response rates.
1. Ads are out of context. Due to the proliferation of
specialized media, it's easier than ever to reach prospects in
the right place at the right time. For marketing success, your
customers must be exposed to your message when they're in a
receptive frame of mind. Suppose you owned a landscape nursery. You
wouldn't place your newspaper ads in the Business
section-you'd run them in Home and Garden, because readers
there are more likely to be interested in landscaping their
properties and would find your ad relevant. You'd follow the
same principle if you used local cable TV advertising by running
your ads during gardening shows, not general programming, in order
to present your message in the right context.
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2. Benefits are weak or missing. Sometimes marketing
campaigns that reach prospects in the right context fail
nonetheless because their message is all wrong. No matter whether
you're running advertising, sending direct mail or even placing
PR, it's vital to create a benefit-oriented message that will
capture the attention of your target audience and motivate them to
take action. What specific benefits will your prospects derive by
responding to your marketing? Benefits may be tangible (such as
saving money) or intangible (such as peace of mind) and they should
help to differentiate your company or its products and services
from competitors.
3. The offer is off-target. When a campaign fails, the
real problem may lie with the principal offer, such as when the
product or service that's being marketed lacks the right
appeal. This can often be overcome by bundling in additional
features that meet the special demands of the target audience. And
if a special offer is used to motivate responses, it's not
unusual to test several different versions to find the one that
pulls best.
4. The execution is poor. Many forms of marketing are not
do-it-yourself projects. Creation of advertising is something that
should be left to experts. And even then, it's important to
enlist the right people. Some designers and copywriters specialize
in direct mail and collateral materials, while others create ads
for magazines. Marketing failure is often the result of poor copy
or design execution. At other times, the advertising or materials
may look great, but they just don't work because tried and true
rules have been ignored. It takes experience to create marketing
that produces results.
5. Your marketing is invisible. Your prospects can't
respond to your ads or place orders on your website if they never
see them. When it comes to advertising success, business owners
tend to underestimate the amount of frequency required for their ad
placements to be remembered by prospects, or to achieve
"penetration." The exact ad frequency required for each
unique campaign will vary, but the bottom line is that multiple
placements in a single publication or within specific broadcast
programming are absolutely essential. And if you want to make sales
on an e-commerce website, you'll need an effective online
advertising campaign to send prospects there. It's unrealistic
to expect high traffic volume without one.
6. It's too hard to buy. No matter how compelling you
make your marketing campaign, if you ask prospects to take too many
steps, or if there are other sales barriers (such as uninformed
salespeople or out-of-stock products), you'll lose them. For
example, suppose you send out a direct-mail package for a service
business. Interested prospects respond by calling your toll-free
number, but get voice mail-and most hang up. Only a few, highly
motivated prospects leave messages on your voice mail. Then you
call them back, miss them and leave messages of your own. At this
point it's unlikely your prospects will return your call. Get
the picture? For best results, walk through your sales process to
eliminate any unnecessary actions and to make sure the prospects
that respond can quickly take advantage of your offer.