Yesterday I was part of a discussion about how to market a new service a company was thinking about launching. One of the participants commented:
“We have one chance to market this new service to our target audience.”
Those who know me know that comment got my wheels turning. I then shared the following:
“I have a different perspective on that. I think we need to market this service consistently and frequently. When we launch to our clients, maybe only about 10-20% will even notice we’ve done so. Just like with any other business, we have to stay out there on a regular basis with our message so that when our clients are ready to buy, our message is there, just waiting for them. We also need to remember to promote different features of this service from time to time because one of those times, we might just say something that appeals to a different person than the last message.”
This is the same for all of our businesses and practices. We can’t expect to market what we do once or twice, then just hope people will remember us. People will hear our message at different times than we expect them to, and most only after repeated exposure to the message. If current statistics are true, people are bombarded with over 3,000 messages a day, so to expect ours to really hit the mark the first time we’ve sent it is expecting a lot.
As I wrote in this recent post Let’s Give ’em Something To Talk About, it’s not the responsibility of our clients and target audiences to be aware of our message. It is, however, our responsibility to tap them on the shoulder consistently to remind them what we do so that when they are ready to buy, or even to research options, we are there waiting for them.
Come up with a plan that includes different ways you will communicate to your desired audiences. Don’t rely on one tactic to do all the heavy lifting for you either. Develop several ways you will tap them on the shoulder to remind them you’re there, what you do, and that you are interested in helping them.
What methods have you come up with to tap your potential clients and clients on the shoulder?
Thank you very much to demordian for use of the image above.
