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When talking about marketing, there are two main concepts that get thrown around frequently- market penetration and customer loyalty.
Marketing is mostly focused on creating awareness for your product or service (market penetration) as well as developing relationships with potential customers (customer loyalty).
But what are we actually achieving with these goals? What benefits do we receive from marketing?
A few years ago, I would have said that most people thought of marketing as an expensive way to gain exposure for your products. This view is still very common today, but it’s starting to be questioned.
Recent studies show that giving away free samples of your product or hosting a giveaway event can help you achieve your goal more effectively than spending money on advertising.
By offering free things to potential customers, they will feel obligated to purchase your product later on. You also earn their trust by being willing to sacrifice for them.
Another important benefit of marketing is enhancing the perception of your company. By investing in advertisements, newsletters, and other promotional activities, you give off the impression that your business cares about improving its image and reaching out to new people.
Some companies spend lots of money trying to increase their popularity, but only come across as self-centered and greedy. A good chunk of revenue comes not from changing how many people know about your company, but instead how much praise you get for your efforts.
A few years ago, marketing was seen as an annoying waste of money that companies need to have to survive in the market. Companies would spend lots of money advertising their products, creating hype around their brands, and sponsoring events to gain attention for them.
But this focus on spending money to attract new customers to your product or service is not a bad thing! It is actually very important to business success.
Marketing helps create word-of-mouth buzz about your company, it creates awareness of what your company offers, and it builds anticipation of what you offer future users. All of these things help determine how much people will pay for your product and/or service.
If someone knows good quality about your company, they may be more willing to spend money on your product or service. Or maybe they’ll try out your product at no cost first before buying so they know if it works then they can afford it.
Product quality is one of the most important factors in marketing your product. If people are going to spend money buying your products, then they should get what they pay for.
Product quality includes things such as how well designed the product is, whether it works properly, and if it fits with other items from the same category.
For example, if you run a fitness studio, then your equipment needs to be of high quality so that students feel comfortable using them. Usable equipment is a crucial part of educating people about their craft.
Marketing is also a very cost-effective way to increase customer value. A few dollars per person per day can have significant impacts. A small investment may boost sales by many times its price!
Online advertisements are a common way to market products. Technology has made it possible to target specific groups of people who might be interested in your product or service.
By including relevant ads where most people will see them, this method can be effective ways to promote your business.
Directly contacting potential customers is another way to spread the word about your company. Doing interactive events or giveaways is a great way to gain attention.
Overall, investing time into improving the quality of your products and services and promoting them is an excellent way to strengthen your business.
As marketing professionals, we spend a lot of time talking about how to get more people to visit your website or buy from you, but what if I told you that most of this is wasted effort?
That’s right! Almost everything we do as marketers for the long term — creating content to publish on our blogs, conducting social media campaigns, and so on – is mostly focused on getting more transactions. It’s important to remember that hefting sales is great, but it’s only half of what businesses are supposed to be doing.
The other part is giving customers reasons to stick around longer than they need to fulfill their needs. This is referred to as customer value.
What is customer value?
Customer value is when a company does something good for its current customers, beyond just making purchases. These things can include offering special discounts, responding to reviews effectively, providing easy access to information and resources, and otherwise enhancing the experience with the product or service.
It's not necessarily anything dramatic like dropping off a new phone line or going above and beyond in terms of performance, but instead little things that make a difference to individual users.
Examples
Take a look at a few examples:
Expedited shipping - big box stores such as Amazon offer faster delivery through online shopping.
Over time, excessive use of email as a tool can become annoying for your audience. It may even push away some potential customers if they feel you are too busy sending emails to focus on other things.
This is not a good situation for you or the company that sends the emails!
Too many unsolicited messages can actually hinder your success by lowering engagement rates and perception of the sender (not only will people stop reading your messages, but they might actively unsubscribe or avoid the product or service in the future).
It’s important to remember that your recipients have paid for their subscription/membership/trial using their resources, so it is essential that you ask for their feedback and input.
By asking questions about how to improve the product and services, you show that you care about them, and give them opportunities to do so. This creates an interactive relationship that benefits both parties.
Furthermore, listening to what others have to say and incorporating those ideas can create an improved product or service – which is why most successful companies offer different ways to communicate with them.
As we mentioned before, social media is a tool that every business should have in their arsenal. It’s not enough to just have a presence on social media platforms- you need to use this space to promote your company and brand.
Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter can be used for more than just keeping up with friends anymore. Businesses are using them as a way to connect with potential customers or even advertise their products and services.
By adding an element of community to your advertising, people will feel more connected to your brand and organization. This connection creates a sense of trust which may influence buying decisions.
Marketing through social channels also allows you to target specific audiences, creating better conversions. By staying focused on who you want to reach, you'll get better results.
As we mentioned earlier, marketing includes everything from telling people about your business to investing in advertisements or media campaigns. When done well, it can be an effective tool to draw in new customers or retain current ones.
However, like any other form of communication, how marketers approach their materials and messages can have different results depending on who they are targeting and what message they want to send.
For example, research has shown that using sexist and racist language when marketing products can make them more appealing to men and minorities, respectively. By using similarly charged rhetoric, you can actively appeal to these groups and thus profit from targeted sales.
Similarly, studies have found that overweight and obese individuals perceive advertisers as less trustworthy than those with healthy weights. Consistently portraying yourself as a quality product can help mitigate this skepticism and increase customer trust.
Direct-marketing via phone is one of the most powerful forms of advertising there is. Marketers use this technique to speak with potential customers about their products or services. This is typically done through calls either for sales purposes or as a way to promote additional services that help marketer gain business.
Direct-marketing by word of mouth can be effective if you do your research and understand the field. Companies have been doing it for years, so there are now lots of examples of how it works.
With the rise in technology, though, online tools have become more prevalent than ever before. Online advertisements have slowly but surely took over as the main form of marketing.
As they say, “You get what you pay for”, and I would add that sometimes, “you need to spend money to make money!”
By using these tools, you give yourself a leg up on the competition. Technically cost free, you still earn benefits from them. It is just not very obvious who those benefits are being paid out to at first.
That is why it is important to evaluate the effectiveness of each tool depending on your budget. Find ones that are affordable, but also know that they will always work at least somewhat effectively.
There is an art to making the right call when it comes to investing in new equipment or software. Use common sense to determine which ones work and don’t waste your hard earned cash.
Recent studies show that it’s not just about what a company says to you, but how they say it – something we call verbal engagement. This includes things like their tone, whether they look you in the eye, how long they talk to you, and if they use casual or formal vocabulary.
According to research conducted by communication expert Dr. Robert Cialdini, even subconscious cues can influence your buying decisions. For example, he notes that when someone smiles at you, you are more likely to give them his or her business because you feel happier for having made another person happy.
On the other hand, a frown can make you less willing to spend money because you sense that you have been rejected. (Totally untrue, of course! But this theory has helped explain why some people never buy anything.
