Debbie Mayo-Smith: Three successful marketing strategies

Would you like greater marketing success from less cost in time, dollars and effort? I can vouch for all three because I personally do them every day.

1. Top Down

It makes infinite more sense to employ a top down rather than bottom up approach. Is your marketing directed to individuals or single businesses? Switch your focus to getting to many prospects at once by finding where they congregate. Associations. Clubs. Groups. This tact does double duty of seeming to be endorsed by them.

2. Do Your Homework

How much time do you take researching a prospect before your initial contact? After several presentations this September at the Bi-annual Asia Pacific Ronald McDonald House Charities conference, An Australian house manager made this comment. "Debbie the most important point I'm taking home from you isn't one you mentioned, it's what you vividly demonstrated throughout this conference. It suddenly hit me that I wasn't doing any research before going to talk to prospective business partners or donors. I just front up the meeting, talk about us and ask for donations or support. It is now clear to me that we can be much more successful by understanding them more. Putting their shoes on. Empathising how we can be of help to them also."

3. Tenacity

Figuratively speaking most businesses knock on a door and ask "will you do business with me"? When the answer is "no, not now", they move on to the next prospect. Then the next. And the next. That time spent is forever wasted.

Change the question to "can we start up a conversation"? In other words, by using a continuing what's in it for them communication strategy you create tenacity. Persistency. You nurture prospects along until they are ready to do business with you or equally important, they refer people to you.