Marketing Basics (For non-marketers)

This article is aimed at people who are completely new to the world of marketing, or who are not at all sure about what marketing means to their business.

So, we’re going right back to marketing basics here.  But, having said that, you’d be surprised how many of the so-called marketing “hot shots” forget the basics (or never knew them in the first place) and keep tripping over themselves as a result.

Please remember, this is a just a basic guide – not a manual on marketing techniques and strategies.  It is designed to get you pointed in the right direction with your marketing efforts and to ensure that you have your plan for the next month, the next quarter, and the whole year, documented… written down.

A Plan That Exists Only In Someone’s Mind Is No Plan At All

The aim of this article is to get you to the point where you are ready – properly, professionally, confidently – to go out there and launch your marketing efforts.

Bad marketers are unprepared marketers. They don’t know their customers, or how to reach them effectively (although they think they do)… they use “gut” feelings… they shoot from the hip… they scatter-gun their marketing efforts… they try to sell features of their products and services, not the benefits, to potential buyers.  But it’s only the benefits that the potential buyer is interested in!

If you follow the advice in this report, here’s what you’ll know that the great majority of your competitors don’t know:

• You’ll know exactly who your customers are, what they want and expect from you, and what are the best ways to impart your messages to them.
• You’ll know the lifetime value to your business of each of your customers and you’ll understand the importance and practicality of the statement,  “It’s much easier – and cost-effective – to sell more to an existing customer than it is to attract a new customer.”
• You’ll have defined your Unique Selling Proposition which distinguishes you from the “me-too” players in your industry and gives focus and direction to all your marketing efforts.
• You’ll understand how to highlight what you have to offer your customers and how you offer it to them to properly answer the only question they want answered by you:   “What’s in it for me?”
• You’ll know how and where to spend your marketing dollars to best effect, and…
• You’ll appreciate the wisdom of this statement:  “If you can’t measure it, don’t do it!”

NOW, TO WORK AND THE FIRST THING YOU MUST DO IS:

Define Your Market

• If you don’t know precisely who your customers and potential customers are, and what they want and expect, how can you possibly expect to sell anything?
• Sit down with a pen and paper and write out who buys your product or service.  If you own a general store, you might be inclined to write simply:  “People within a 2km radius.”  But, ask yourself:
• Are the people who shop with me young, old, middle-aged, or a mixture?
• Do I have a lot people of other nationalities shopping here?  What countries predominate?
• What is my busiest time?  (For example, if your shop is near a commuter railway station, you’d probably be busiest at peak hours.)
• How many customers do I know by name?  Do I know their telephone numbers and addresses in case I want to contact them, or send them some information about my business?  How can I get their telephone numbers and addresses?
• What do my customers predominantly buy from me? Is there something more they want that I don’t know about?

Ask yourself as many questions as you can think of about your customers.  Involve your staff.

Main point:

You can’t know enough about your customers.  You must know a lot more than you do now, and you have to establish ways of gleaning from them the information you need … beginning with addresses and contact numbers, and then moving on to what they buy from  you, how much, when, etc.

For more on Marketing Basics see our other articles.

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