Get Your Marketing Message Across
Last week I listened in to a teleconference presented by Eben Pagan. Some people might know Eben by his pen name David DeAngelo. One of Eben's most successful web sites can be found at doubleyourdating.com.
If you visit the doubleyourdating web site and cringe, hold off judging "a book by its' cover." The model used for doubleyourdating.com generated over $20 Million USD in revenue for Eben last year. Some of the core marketing concepts he used to generate his $20 Million in revenue were presented in his teleconference.
For today’s post I’m going to share my notes from Eben’s teleconference. The crux of Eben's information focused on marketing, listening, and testing.
There are a plethora of different definitions for marketing. One really useful definition brought up during the call was that marketing is “letting people know about something they already need.” Marketing isn’t about being manipulative. Marketing is about identifying and meeting your customer’s needs with the products and services you offer. Most companies approach marketing and product/service creation by assuming the wants and needs of their target market. Making assumptions about your target market is a recipe for disaster. During my own business journey I’ve been witness to several businesses create marketing campaigns built upon dangerous assumption. I cannot think of one marketing campaign that was ultimately successful. Focusing on your end user is also crucial for any successful web venture. Put the user before your company, product, or service.
Get Into Their Ego
In order to create better marketing you need to separate you and/or your company’s ego from providing your customers with the best possible product or service. Egocentrism and idealism end up costing companies dearly. Instead of approaching your marketing message from the “we know best” angle, as most companies do, concentrate your messaging on your customer’s wants and needs. Use words like “you and your” in your messaging.
It is far easier to get your marketing message across when you establish trust and credibility with your prospect. Don’t try to change your customer’s mind, because they won’t let you. You can’t use logic to talk someone into doing something they don’t want to do. Tie your customer’s wants and needs into their emotions and feelings, “we understand your pain and here is a solution we think might help.” If people don’t have the sense of being understood they aren’t likely to feel trust or take action.
Listen to Your Market
If you want a better understanding of your market you need to listen to them. Start with asking insightful questions and don’t make assumptions. Something as simple as an email survey can give you valuable information to help identify your target market’s wants and needs. Drill down deep to get the best information possible. Here are some questions to consider . . .
- What’s most important to my prospect?
- Is the prospect unhappy about something?
- Am I overlooking a want or need?
Don’t Forget to Test
Eben passes along the advice to “test everything and never get too attached to anything.” You can test everything from your marketing messages to your products and services. You can’t afford to approach your marketing with the “there is only one best way to do this” mindset. Think about how many different ways you can do something without overextending your time or resources. When testing it is important not to set your expectations too high. Businesses should expect an 80% failure rate. Each failure is an opportunity to learn something new. You can only fail so many times before you figure it out. If you’re not testing you’re setting yourself up for failure. You need to repeat the cycle of testing and reimplementing on a continual basis. Approach everything you do in terms of marketing as a test.
Marketing is by far one of the most important factors in determining the success of your product or service. The most effective way to get your marketing message across is by listening and constantly testing. Take a few minutes to consider how you might be able to integrate some of the concepts presented above.
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