The 7 Keys To Marketing Success

Marketing is not hard.

In fact, marketing is quite easy… when you know what steps need to be taken.

It’s a system!

Of course, you have to actually follow the steps start to finish in order for the system to work. But that’s the beauty of a system – it is a repeatable set of steps that produce a predictable result.

In business that predictable result is supposed to be a profit!

In order to get the best result out of a proven system, you must follow the steps exactly as the system outlines. Changing the system is fine, but you must track the effect of your changes on the end result to determine if the change was helpful or not.

Key #1 – Know Your Business
You must understand why you are in business, what your current strengths and weaknesses are, and you must have a vision for exactly where you want to take your business.

Key #2 – Know Your Market
Understanding who your “perfect customer” is will enable you to speak directly to them with every marketing communication you send out. This feeling of personal connection will naturally and automatically attract people to do business with you.

Key #3 – Know Your Competitio

Who else is fighting for the same consumer dollars? What are they doing differently than you are? Is it working for them? What are their customers saying about why they choose to do business with your competitors? Answering these questions will give you insight into the ways you can differentiate yourself from your competition.

Key #4 – Craft Your Message
The right product and the right potential customer are the first two things you need, but having the right message will hook that prospect and turn them into a customer faster than you can say, “Do you want fries with that?” Do you have a clear, compelling marketing message that speaks specifically to your perfect customers?

Key #5 – Deliver Your Message
Advertising, promotions, yellow pages, internet marketing, public relations – there are hundreds and hundreds of different ways for you to deliver your marketing message into the minds and hearts of your perfect customer. Knowing who your customer is and developing a psychographic profile of them will give you great insight into the types of advertising and promotions that will reach them. Using the media and the internet to leverage your message delivery is absolutely essential in modern marketing communications.

Key #6 – Measure Your Marketing
What you measure improves. By tracking everything you can in relation to your marketing efforts, you will begin to see what works and what doesn’t in certain specific situations. It also gives you a regular indication of where you are in relation to the key performance indicators that you have set out to track your progress. Every time you implement a change in your marketing, you can (and should) test the effect of that change on your results. Anything that improves your results and gets you closer to your business vision should be kept, while anything that decreases your results or moves your business away from your primary vision should be ceased.

Key #7 – Funnel Your Marketing
Having a marketing “funnel” that gently qualifies your prospect and squeezes them further down into a more intimate relationship with you will help you get more sales with less effort. The funnel is a system unto itself and allows you to respectfully communicate with each prospect uniquely, based on where they are in the marketing funnel. The final phase of the funnel is where you ask for the sale, close the deal and integrate your prospect into a customer relationship with your business.

When it comes to marketing, these are the 7 key things that you must address to maximize your campaign. When done in the correct order and when properly thought out and executed, these keys can turn up the heat and unlock your business success.