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The Fastest Route to Sales4 Quick Ways to Reach Your Hottest Prospects By Kim T. Gordon Transforming a cold prospect into a hot one can take considerable time, effort and marketing dollars. So why wait? To increase sales now, choose marketing tactics that reach your hottest prospects and convert them into customers or clients. Tactics that reach hot prospects are a vitally important component of every effective marketing program because they balance out the longer-term efforts required to move cold and warm prospects through the sales cycle. Hot prospects are actively looking for what you market. They're pre-qualified, because they've gone through much of the preliminary decision-making process and know what they want -- or have at least a general idea of what they're shopping for. Here are my picks for the 4 fastest routes to sales. 1. Online Search Engines Where will your hottest prospects turn when they've made the decision to buy the type of product or service you offer? Close to 90 percent of shoppers research their purchases online before buying in brick-and-mortar stores, according to Bigresearch’s June Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey. So even if you sell predominantly off-line, a visible presence in search engines is an absolute must. To get noticed, it's important to turn up as close to the top of search results as possible -- preferably on page one -- since the majority of search users click on a link within the first results page. For most small businesses, a local paid search campaign is the answer. A paid search campaign using local search terms can help you reach prospects in your market area, put you near the top of search results, and is more affordable than bidding on keywords for a national campaign. Optimizing your website will also help you turn up higher in search results, but unlike paid search, there are no guarantees. 2. Print and Online Directories For many small-business owners, ads in the local Yellow Pages command a significant portion of their marketing budgets. Yet today, as the popularity of online directories grows, it's possible to reduce your phone directory expenditure and reach more of your hottest prospects by moving some dollars out of print Yellow Pages into those same directories online. How you split your online and off-line dollars should depend on the age of your prospects. A recent study by the Kelsey Group revealed a divide between younger and older consumers. Teens and younger adults prefer to search online, while the majority of respondents age 45 plus favor the print Yellow Pages. If you’re a business-to-business marketer, you can also rely on a range of other online and off-line directories to reach your hottest prospects. Depending on what you market, your prospects may turn first to the ads and listings in anything from traditional industrial directories to creative sourcebooks. 3. Newspapers, Magazines and Specialized Media Print media are highly successful "search corridor" tools. General media, such as major metropolitan daily newspapers, are split into sections to draw readers looking for a particular type of content. Search corridors -- places people look when they've made the decision to buy something -- will vary from day-to-day and section to section. And newspaper readers use and rely on these search corridors for information on sales, products and services. Magazines are also terrific search corridor tools, with content tailored to fit every type of advertiser and shopper. Highly specialized publications, such as those that feature real estate or automotive listings, are 100 percent search corridor media, while more general publications often offer special Shopper sections, generally in the back pages, where you can place smaller ads to reach well-qualified prospects. 4. Personal and Public Endorsements Hot prospects -- people who know what they want and are preparing to buy it -- will often seek out expert opinions. Of course, there are all kinds of "experts," ranging from columnists and reviewers, to bloggers or the neighbor next-door. And whether you garner endorsements or referrals, they are often the shortest route to sales thanks to the credibility they carry. To win business-to-business referrals, make a list of your best referral prospects and contact them by telephone to set up meetings. Be sure to add these referral sources to your prospect database and make contact on a regular basis. And supply them with tools and materials -- from business cards and brochures, to sales tools -- that they can use to promote you. To get consumers talking to their friends and families about your product or service, you can build buzz quickly and cost effectively by using your own website to create a strong community, and facilitating interaction with a message board or blog of your own. If product reviews and endorsements are your goal, identify all the websites, print media, and broadcast sources your best prospects look to for guidance, and target them with an ongoing media relations campaign. Send press releases, press kits, and product samples, when appropriate, and always follow up by phone or e-mail for coverage that will stimulate sales. Get In-depth Coaching on this Topic>>
Kim T. Gordon's columns and articles are read by more than 3 million small-business owners each month. She is a small-business expert and the author of four books, including Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars: The Top 50 Ways to Grow Your Small Business. Copyrighted material. May not be reproduced in whole or part without expressed permission from the author. |
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