Economy "crisis" everywhere
We are bombed with the term "economy crisis" from all around. Since 2008, we got used to blame the global economy for our failures, drop in sales and less revenue. The world economy is more and more globalized, and the competition is significantly increasing. There are so many choices for each service or product that customers are forced to find an effective way how to deal with buying anything. Customers tend to trust more the popular brands; they appreciate culture and socializing much more than the product itself. Social proof is essential for our shopping online and most of would never buy stuff without any review. We have become more responsible in online shopping - as there are so many options where to buy the desired product, why to risk with strangers.
Business owners who used to have success in late 90s may now struggle, because the online world has had changed the way how we shop. Emphasizing the best price or the highest quality is not enough, in fact, nobody cares about such slogans. We all expect the quality implicitly, and we can check the prices ourselves very easily.
So, do not blame the crisis or economy! Firstly, check your business from outside. See it the same way as your prospects do. Would you like to become your own client? If your judgement is too biased or you are way too busy for this task, hire a consultant and follow his advice.
10 marketing tips & questions to ask yourself
What should you keep in mind when it comes to marketing? Check these 10 points and think honestly about your business.
1) Do you understand your clients and their needs?
2) Are you certain about your target audience? Don't try to be everything to everybody! It never works.
3) Are you certain about who is NOT your target audience? This might be as important as the previous question.
4) Do you understand clearly what your product can do for your clients? (This question might seem stupid, but... is it really? )
5) What is the motivation for your clients to choose your company? Why not your competitors? What can you do better?
6) Do you care about your online reputation? If you find any issues, do you care or do you ignore them?
7) Do you know that marketing is not only the outbound communication, but also your internal processes and how you handle the client?
8) Do you, at least, try to over-deliver to each client? Does under-delivery appear in your company?
9) Do you have a concrete vision how your business should look like from the outside? What should the clients see and what can their expectation be? Do your employees share and follow this vision?
10) Can you answer the question "Why are you in the business?" in such a way that contains client and not yourself? "To make money" is not the right answer.
The term "Marketing" has become so widely used that many people don't even know what it means. Marketing is the way you handle the client - communication, product delivery, attitude - including all the tiny details you can imagine. Prompt answers, friendly staff, clean office/store, informative website etc etc. If you spend too much time in your office or if you check your website on a daily basis, you will most likely be not able to see these tiny issues.
We are happy to offer help with marketing analysis and we will provide a lot of useful tips how to tidy up your business and get rid of many tiny obstacles that hold your business back.