Transcript 10 Marketing Techniques without spending a cent

J.D. Rockefeller
“Next to doing the
right thing, the
most important
thing is to let
people know you
are doing the right
thing.”
#1: Focus on Email Marketing to
Reach Your Audience First
Email marketing is all about using email to reach out to your target audience.
When our clients have access to an email list, we find that email marketing is the most
effective (cheapest and best) way to reach their target customers.
Think of email marketing as the prime way that potential customers can get to know
your company better. This could mean hitting the Reply button to make an enquiry, or
visiting your website to find out more.
It works like Google or Facebook to provide quality traffic to your website; but better.
Google or Facebook can change their rankings or algorithms as they wish. But when
you own an email list, you have control over your reach to your target audience. No
one can take that away from you.
“Email is almost 40x better at acquiring new
customers than Facebook and Twitter“
- McKinsey & Company (2014)
#1: Focus on Email Marketing to
Reach Your Audience First
Your email inbox is one of your most private and closest
possessions. How many times have you checked your
email inbox so far today?
Compared to noticing messages in advertisements, we are
much more likely to notice the email that hits our inbox.
If you send them something that is valuable, fresh and
entertaining (non-boring), your target audience will pay
attention to your emails. Sometimes they may even look
forward to receiving and opening your emails.
#1: Focus on Email Marketing to
Reach Your Audience First
First, set up a way to collect email addresses on your
website. This can be in the form of:
1. Box on a side column
2. Pop-up on the page
3. Form on the page
#1: Focus on Email Marketing to
Reach Your Audience First
To entice people to leave their email addresses, you
would want to offer something valuable for it. We cover
this idea in #2.
What should you send them after collecting those
emails?
We cover the email content in #3.
#2: Give Away Something
Valuable to Collect Emails
You need to build an email list for your marketing efforts.
But an email address is something personal that people hold
close to. Why would someone give you their email to add to your
list? What is in it for them?
Think about something valuable that you can offer in exchange
for that email address. This could be in the form of a:
PDF ebook
Video content
Free trial of your product
#2: Give Away Something
Valuable to Collect Emails
Firstly, there is always a draw towards FREE things,
especially when it has a perceived value to your target
audience.
And if your freebie contains some really good ideas or
content, it is a further chance to cement in your prospect’s
mind that you are an expert in your industry or niche.
#2: Give Away Something
Valuable to Collect Emails
• A good freebie should do 2 things for your prospect:
- It should have good content that is valuable to the
prospect
- It should soft sell and point the prospect towards your
product
Along with the freebie, you need to use good copywriting
to get someone interested enough to download it. Just
because it is FREE does not mean you do not have to
‘sell’ the freebie.
#2: Give Away Something
Valuable to Collect Emails
Your freebie can have the best content in the world but only you
know that. You created the freebie and you are aware of its
value, but your potential customer does not.
Use good copywriting to build up its value, and give them good
reasons to leave their email with you to get the freebie.
Note:
If you are in the B2C (business-to-consumer) market, be sure
to include a disclaimer that mentions the purpose of
collecting these emails (future marketing updates) and that
you assume consent to send these updates in the future.
#3: Set up an Email Marketing
Sequence
Once you have built up your email list, you will need to
know what to send. You have put in effort to build this list
so what you do next is important. Create a nurturing
system where you pump out good content to this list.
#3: Set up an Email Marketing
Sequence
This tactic works because you are building a relationship with a
potential client base (your email list) over time. As you send
good content, you will have more chances to soft sell your
product.
You can also fix your product’s positioning and your value
proposition (why they should buy your product or service) in their
minds.
At any one time, only a small percentage of your market are
ready to buy your type of product (less than 5%).
This is your chance to maintain a relationship with them when
they switch to buying mode.
#3: Set up an Email Marketing
Sequence
• Plan a series of emails using content or information related
to your product. There are many ways to do this. Here is
one example of the potential sequence of emails:
“By creating and publishing remarkable content in the form that
educates, informs, inspires and entertains, marketers can begin
to build relationships with prospects early on in the buying cycle.“
- Jonathan Lister (VP Sales Marketing Solutions at LinkedIn)
#3: Set up an Email Marketing
Sequence
You can mix up the flow of the emails as you wish. If you are out
of ideas for email content, find a relevant article that your
audience find helpful and add in your opinion. Professional
insights are considered valuable content too.
Remember to always start with your target audience in mind
when writing these emails. There has to be a clear benefit to
reading your emails, otherwise the recipients will stop opening
them after awhile.
#4: Make Full Use of Your Email
Signatures
You probably send 20 business emails a day on average.
These emails go to many people: potential customers,
vendors, and friends.
It is a good idea to make use of this and put details of your
company in your email signature.
#4: Make Full Use of Your Email
Signatures
Emails are one of your company’s most read materials.
Many times your emails get forwarded to other recipients,
further increasing your reach.
Each email eventually reaches more people than you
think.
It is the perfect chance for you to reach someone new and
introduce your product to them.
#4: Make Full Use of Your Email
Signatures
• Email signatures are a chance for you to introduce your product,
but avoid writing a lengthy paragraph.
• Ideally, you should use a tagline that explains the unique selling
proposition of your product in one or two sentences.
• Your value proposition is how your product is different from your
competitors’.
#5: Use Trust Factors
People really want to buy products that can solve their daily
problems or make their lives better.
But they are wary.
They are wary as they risk being scammed or making a bad
purchase, especially if they are a first time customer.
While they are interested in your product, they may be hesitant
to contact you to find out more due to the lack of trust.
You can reduce this occurrence by putting trust factors on your
website or marketing materials.
#5: Use Trust Factors
Trust factors make you look more credible in the eyes of
your target audience. Their skepticism is reduced when
you use trust factors to establish yourself as a credible
business.
#5: Use Trust Factors
•
If your company has been featured in the media, you can include a line
on your website listing the media that you have been featured in.
•
You can also add your phone number to the top right corner of your
website, your physical office address on the front page, etc. This helps
to make you look like a legitimate company that really exists.
•
Many eCommerce sites place their telephone number or physical
address in less visible places. This can make the visitors nervous when
they have to submit credit card or personal details when making an
online enquiry or purchase.
#5: Use Trust Factors
•
Also, consider adding a human face on your website. Ideally, this
should be a face that directly looks at the visitor of the website. This
gives them someone to relate to. (Refer to screenshot on the next
page)
•
Lastly, you should use any customer testimonials that you have to boost
the confidence of your target audience.
•
Establishing the trust factors above can boost a person's trust and
willingness to buy from you. Reduce the barrier for them to do so.
#6: Do Not Display Pricing Before
Value Is Properly Conveyed
Unless you run an eCommerce website, you may not want
to list your prices online. This is particularly true for a high
priced product (above $500).
This is because you may not have had the chance to fully
explain the value proposition of your product yet.
#6: Do Not Display Pricing Before
Value Is Properly Conveyed
Without creating a price focus at the beginning, you are in
a better position to explain the value and benefits of your
product to prospects.
This gives you a better chance to capture their attention
and drum up interest, while demonstrating your product's
value.
The more interested prospects are in your product and the
more they understand it’s value, the more likely they are to
make a purchase late
#6: Do Not Display Pricing Before
Value Is Properly Conveyed
Unless you run an eCommerce website, remove any form of pricing
from your website where possible.
An exception is if your product’s price is your unique selling point. For
example, when it has a lower price than your competitor’s for the same
features.
Another exception is when your website has great copywriting to build
up the perceived value of your product before the sale. (E.g. By
explaining the benefits of your product and how it directly improves the
life of your prospect.)
#6: Do Not Display Pricing Before
Value Is Properly Conveyed
In this case you may be able to slip in your product price at the end of
your copywriting because you have built up the product’s value.
This is also a good reason why copywriting is important. Good
copywriting builds up the desire for your product or service. Once
that desire is strong enough, the price point matters less.
So when should you introduce the price of your product?
Pricing should only be mentioned after you’ve fully introduced the value
and benefits of your product. This applies to the end of face-to-face
meetings, phone conversations, or an email conversations with the
prospect.
#6: Do Not Display Pricing Before
Value Is Properly Conveyed
Another way to introduce price is during the email
sequence in Tactic 3. For example, you can set up
the first 5 emails to explain the value of your product
and finally introducing the price in email number 6. .
#7: Use Case Studies As Proof
When going through your website, your target audience is
always looking for proof that your product can really solve
their problems or make their lives better. By using case
studies, you are increasing their confidence and trust in
you.
#7: Use Case Studies As Proof
Case studies show your target audience how you already
have achieved results for your existing clients.
They also help your target audience to imagine a better
future for themselves after using your product.
#7: Use Case Studies As Proof
There is no fixed way to write a case study. Outlined below is a suggested format
you can use when you write a case study on a successful client:
Background
What industry was your customer in?
Challenge
What problem or challenge did your customer have?
Approach
Specifically how did your product solve this problem?
Results
What was the outcome after your product was applied to this problem? Did it
improve their situation by 70%, 100%, 150%?
#8: Use Landing Pages Instead of
Websites
A landing page is a more tactical and concise approach compared to a website.
If your main aim is to get your online visitors to perform a certain action, landing
pages will give you better results.
Believe us when we say that landing pages are the way to go. We’ve created
more than 200 of them.
When it comes to getting the visitor to perform a certain action, we have found
that a landing page beats a website’s performance.
Every. Single. Time.
Landing pages are especially crucial when you are running advertising or
promotional campaigns.
#8: Use Landing Pages Instead of
Websites
Websites today look like corporate brochures. All the
information is spread across a few pages.
A landing page has all the essential information about your
product
concentrated on one page for maximum impact.
A landing page can also lay out your sales pitch in the best
possible sequence so that you can build value (Tactic 6)
before you sell your product to your customer.
#8: Use Landing Pages Instead of
Websites
Think about your value proposition to your target audience and write
persuasive copywriting to cover these points.
Think about the logical flow of your target customer’s thinking. Position your
pointers in the best possible sequence to get them to complete your desired
action (E.g. make an enquiry, sign up for your event or purchase your product)
If you are running a promotional campaign in advertisements, drive them to your
landing page. Include the same information at the top of your landing page
where it will not be overlooked.
If you would like to harness our expertise in this area, clickTRUE offers landing
page creation services (check with last page for contact details).
#9: Put Your Tagline or USP On
The Top Fold on Your Website
Your product most likely has competitors in the market.
A prospect that visits your website would want to quickly understand the essence
of your product.
#9: Put Your Tagline or USP On
The Top Fold on Your Website
You have an average of 8 seconds to catch your web visitor’s
attention* from the moment they land on your website.
If you are unable convey your value proposition fast enough, the
visitor will exit your site and visit your competitors' sites instead.
Often the difference between a sale for you or losing a sale to
your competitor is a poorly designed top fold.
The top fold is the first part your website that a visitor sees when
he or she lands on your site.
#9: Put Your Tagline or USP On
The Top Fold on Your Website
Think about your product’s value proposition:
What value does it provide to your customers?
How is it better than your competitor’s product?
Can you explain the value proposition in a simple and concise manner (in a
sentence or two)?
Place your product’s unique selling point in a prominent place to capture your
visitor’s attention. This is likely to be top part of your website when a visitor first
loads your website.
The rest of your website could be awesome, but if your audience leaves before
they scroll down, it would not matter.
#10: Use Email Sharing Functions
Make use of social sharing widgets or email sharing to spread your brand
efficiently. Word of mouth is the marketing method that’s the easiest on the
pocket.
Remember the freebie that we talked about in Tactic 2 to collect emails?
If it’s good enough, people would want to share information about it. This tactic is
about
leveraging on that effect to spread your brand
#10: Use Email Sharing Functions
Think about it, why would someone want to share something?
They would like to be seen as someone credible who provides
value to others.
If your content is valuable, novel, and interesting, they would
would want to share it with their friends or colleagues.
Also, your ideal customer profile is made up of a certain set of
characteristics.
Since similar people share the same social circle, a sharing
mechanism could spread word of your product around your
target customer base very quickly.
“Social media will help you build up loyalty of your
current customers to the point that they will willingly,
and for free, tell others about you.”
- Bonnie Sainsbury (2013 Forbes Top Women Social
Media Power Influencers)
#10: Use Email Sharing Functions
Make it easy for people to share information on your product. Install sharing
functions on your website.
The best time to get someone to share is after they have indicated their interest
in your product or free content. Once they have exchanged their details to
download free content from your website, direct them to page where they can
share it. E.g. social media or email. It is the best time to get them to spread that
interest to their friends.
What’s more, their recommendation helps increases credibility and trust in your
product too.
“Social media will help you build up loyalty of your
current customers to the point that they will willingly,
and for free, tell others about you.”
- Bonnie Sainsbury (2013 Forbes Top Women Social
Media Power Influencers)
Recap
1. Focus on Email Marketing to
Reach Your Target Audience
First
6. Do not Display Pricing Before
Value Is Properly Conveyed
7. Use Case Studies As Proof
2. Give Away Something Valuable
to Collect Emails
3. Set up an Email Marketing
Sequence
4. Make Full Use of Your Email
Signatures
5. Use Trust Factors
8. Use Landing Pages Instead of
Websites
9. Put Your Tagline or USP On The
Top Fold on Your Website
10. Use Email Sharing Functions