Your Business Is Doomed With One-size-fits-all Marketing

By Author: Dan Lok
Total Articles: 113
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Deciding exactly how you'll market your next product, business, or campaign is one of the most important questions you can ask your self. And I do hope you even bother to ask. The correct answer will decide your success or failure.

Should you go for the sale in one step of marketing magic? Or should you spread it out over two or more steps? There's no clear, one-size-fits-all answer. And here's why...

The general guideline is to use a multi-step campaign for higher priced items, or products that require a shift in your prospects behavior. We humans tend to resist change, as you know. So you'll have to engage in some wining and dining, and education to persuade them to believe the benefits vastly outweigh the price or inconvenience.

A new product on the market scene will usually perform better with the multi-step approach. Again it has to do with human nature. Allowing some time and space for people to 'warm-up' to the new kid on the block.

If you think about it... the best solutions to many marketing problems can be found simply by considering good 'ole human nature! ...
... Ask your self how you would react to your own marketing message. Or, ask others you know.

But remember what I said earlier. Sometimes the very best approach isn't always clear-cut. I'll explain...

Think of the marketing context. Example: What if you want to sell a high ticket product to your 'segmented' list of previous buyers? Here's a quick sidebar...

I hope you do segment your marketing list. Categorize your list into those who have bought from you and those who have yet to buy. You can take it further by categorizing by product price-points. Low-end and higher-end buyers. See?

It makes for much, much smarter marketing. If you segment your list you'll be setting your self up for maximized ROI.

Ok... back to the example...

Offering a higher priced product to a segmented list of previous 'higher end' buyers won't require as much wining and dining. And remember these buyers are 100% warm prospects... assuming they're satisfied with what they previously bought from you!

You can usually get away with sending them straight to your sales page.
What are some examples of effective online multi-step marketing?

There is no clear winner in the online world. This is simply due to so many variables such as product, market, origin of traffic prior to seeing your message, quality of traffic, keywords that capture prospects in different buying stages, etc.

There are many more variables involved. But those are just a few to think about.

But... landing pages can be extremely effective for several reasons. The first useful task they perform for you is to filter out prospects who'll only waste your time and bandwidth. Why... ?

Easy. If someone is NOT willing to give you their contact information, then they'll more than likely not respond to your message on the other side.

And landing pages also serve as a mini pre-sell. If your landing page copy is good and full of great benefits, then they'll click through with demonstrated interest in what you have to say.

Other online forms include pop-ups. You have entries, delayed, and exits. Each one can be effective, and the only way to find out for sure is to test. Pop-ups form the initial consent by your prospect to enter in a long term, multi-step marketing campaign. More on that in a minute...

You need to be aware of several important concerns with 'pre-exit' pop-ups.

Perhaps the greatest risk you run is distracting your prospect with too many messages. Ideally, you want your reader to focus on your most desired result. And an entry or delayed pop-up, of any variety, will only serve as a distraction.

Exit pop-ups can be effective for converting some who you would have lost, anyway. And with effective copy, you can capture those who were sitting on the fence.

One of the greatest marketing sins committed by BOTH online and offline businesses is failure to adequately follow-up. Amazing as it sounds, many offline businesses make NO effort to follow-up with their contacts.

And this is where you can set your business apart from the rest.

Keeping sincere, valuable contact with your prospects and customers will compel them to remember you. They'll remember that you continued to provide them with valuable information. They'll also remember that you cared enough about them.

Entire books have been written about multi-step marketing! This is just a taste that'll get you headed in the right direction

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About the Author:

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A former college dropout, Dan Lok transformed himself from a
grocery bagger in a local supermarket to a multi-millionaire.
Dan came to North America with little knowledge of the English
language and few contacts. If you're ready to take your online
business to the next level, go to:
http://www.websiteconversionexpert.com/public/department32.cfm