Everything is marketing
And conversely, marketing is not everything. It’s actually the very final piece of the puzzle. Before you put that piece into place, the rest of the picture needs to be right.
We believe that a good business will grow without marketing, purely due to word of mouth. This is because, when you get it right, you create an army of people who are out there advocating for you.
They do that because at every stage of their journey with you, they’ve had a good experience. That journey might start when they walk past your shop on the High Street. Or see your posts on social media.
From there, you or your employees have engaged with them positively. So positively that they consider you to be better than your competitors and have made a purchase with you.
Everything you do to get your customers to that point of purchase (and beyond) is marketing. The way your shopfront or social media feed looks. The way products or services are displayed. The smile and offer of help you give them, be it in person or on a sales call.
Everything is marketing. And this is how you can start to make improvements immediately.
Service
What you’re selling could be incredible. But if it’s delivered by someone with no product knowledge, no passion and no interest in engaging with the customer, you’re unlikely to sell many of it. For those with bricks and mortar stores, it’s all about your employees being ambassadors for your brand.
Online stores can look at adding a personal touch, whether that’s quick, smooth ordering or added perks sent out with the purchase.
Quality
Make small improvements on the quality of a high frequency product to make it look, smell, taste or work better than your competitors. As example of this would be a cake shop that sells coffee. If your coffee is better than the average, people will come to you for that and are more likely to then buy your produce.
Desirability
Keep people coming back for more. Or, if you’re in a business that people usually purchase once from, create a niche for yourself. You can take inspiration from what your customers come to you most for. For example, if you’re a bridal dress shop could you focus on product lines that are harder to find elsewhere.
Consistency
We’re not the only ones who’ve had fantastic services in a cafe or shop one day and a disaster the next time we go in. Your employees are your business, as far as the customer is concerned. Putting effort into training them and they’ll be the reason people come back.
For online services, making sure your customer service is on point from people emailing with questions to getting orders correct will make a lasting, positive impression.
Remember, putting in place these simple changes could transform your new customers from being ambivalent to being advocates who recommend you to their network time and again.
Our Virtual Marketing Director (VMD) package gives you dedicated time with our marketing strategist every month, as well as access to our planning tools, so that together we can implement a growth strategy for your business.
