Mixing up your marketing
I’ve run into this all too often when working with creative folks and other service professionals. It’s scary thing. They put all their marketing eggs into one basket. It can take all sorts of forms - a mailer, joining this club or that for networking, cold calling. The list goes on and on. The problem is that it’s just one link in what should be a strong chain. What happens is they do a single task, expect it to rock their world, skyrocket them to stardom and bring in loads of eager clients.
Although it can happen, sorry folks, it isn’t the norm. It usually takes several points of contact to turn a prospect into a paying client. Typical response rates for mailers are .5% – 2%. As for cold calls, the numbers say for every 100 calls you’ll get five invitations to present and close one or two. Doing one activity isn’t likey to bring in enough work to keep your head above water, let alone get you that sweet BMW you’ve been drooling over.
It’s important to have a mix of marketing tactics. It’s also important that they’re activities that are comfortable for you, otherwise you won’t do them consistently. I recommend choosing three or four core activities that you’ve tested and do on a regular basis. Beyond that, things can become difficult to manage and implement.
Let’s say you’re targeting local prospects. That might mean a mix of volunteer work and chairing a couple of committees, news releases to your local press, an active referral system and perhaps some seminars or workshops.
Maybe you’re going after annual reports on a national level. That might mean joining an organization like the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) for networking, doing some mailings with phone follow ups, entering awards and writing articles and news releases for industry trade press.
Think about what types of materials and activities are will meet your prospects on their level. It’s not a bad idea to ask them what they read, what organizations they belong to and such. Take action based on facts, not whims. Speak to their needs. Be a resource.
After a while, your activities start to generate a synergistic effect. Every time Ms. Bigbudget turns around, your name pops up. When project time rolls around, you’ll be the one her mind.
Although it can happen, sorry folks, it isn’t the norm. It usually takes several points of contact to turn a prospect into a paying client. Typical response rates for mailers are .5% – 2%. As for cold calls, the numbers say for every 100 calls you’ll get five invitations to present and close one or two. Doing one activity isn’t likey to bring in enough work to keep your head above water, let alone get you that sweet BMW you’ve been drooling over.
It’s important to have a mix of marketing tactics. It’s also important that they’re activities that are comfortable for you, otherwise you won’t do them consistently. I recommend choosing three or four core activities that you’ve tested and do on a regular basis. Beyond that, things can become difficult to manage and implement.
Let’s say you’re targeting local prospects. That might mean a mix of volunteer work and chairing a couple of committees, news releases to your local press, an active referral system and perhaps some seminars or workshops.
Maybe you’re going after annual reports on a national level. That might mean joining an organization like the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) for networking, doing some mailings with phone follow ups, entering awards and writing articles and news releases for industry trade press.
Think about what types of materials and activities are will meet your prospects on their level. It’s not a bad idea to ask them what they read, what organizations they belong to and such. Take action based on facts, not whims. Speak to their needs. Be a resource.
After a while, your activities start to generate a synergistic effect. Every time Ms. Bigbudget turns around, your name pops up. When project time rolls around, you’ll be the one her mind.
