How to Increase Business Traffic
Are You Trying to Sell a Secret?
2008 is shaping up to be a year packed with uncertainty. The stock market goes up and crashes the same day. The news media tells us we are heading for a recession. Your cash flow may tell you we are already there. In November we will elect a new president and all the potential ramifications of that. One political party can only win if the country is in a recession and conditions are poor and thus talks about how bad things are. The other can win if we are seen to be in danger of attack. This is not an editorial for one political party or the other only that it creates instability. In fact, people want and are buying what you sell. They may not be buying from you, but they are buying.
As managers and owners of businesses what do we do? You could pull back, tighten up the reins, hunker down and try to ride it out. You can cut back advertising and promotion hoping to save money and improve your bottom line. But is cutting back going to improve your business?
Research and experience has shown that cutting advertising and promotion during economic down turns speeds the downfall of a business. The reason is with reduced or eliminated advertising you are trying to selling a secret.
No matter what you may think or feel there is always a number of people who are ready to buy what you sell today and more will be in the market to buy tomorrow and more next week and next month. If consumers are not thinking of you when they are ready to buy what do you think the chance is they are going to buy from you?
Think of your market as a big bulls eye. The center of the bulls eye is the buy now zone consisting of people who are ready to buy today. As you move out to the outer rings of the bulls eye these make up the “consideration” or “thinking about buying it” zones.
Some people may be days or weeks away from buying, others months away. Experience tells us that when people are in the outer rings of the marketing bulls eye they are forming decisions about what and whom they are going to buy from.
Think about the last car you purchased. Did you one day just go out and buy a car? Or, did you for several weeks or months in advance notice different makes and models of cars and think about how you would look behind the wheel? Did you ask friends who had a specific model how they liked their car?
Did you read consumer reports? Did you research who had the best price?
The rule of thumb is that the larger the ticket item the longer people are in the “thinking about buying it” zones. The smaller the ticket the quicker and more often people move in and out of the buy today zone. So if you sell a relative small ticket item or service people move more quickly in and out of the buy now zone. With big tickets items people move slower. The way to get your UNFAIR share of the business in the buy now zone is to reach, influence and make people aware of you while they are in the awareness zones. To become known you have to advertise consistently.
If people are not aware of your business when they are in the “thinking about it” zones what are the chances they will come in and buy from you when they are ready to buy? You would have better odds of hitting on the slot machines in Las Vegas. When you cut back your advertising and marketing you are effectively putting your business and future of your business in the category of being a SECRET. You cannot sell a secret. People do not buy secrets.
One of the services we offer at Wilson Printing is help with your marketing. We assist businesses with not only design and printing but help with developing concepts to attract customers.
There are several ways to advertise. The most effective advertising vehicles put something in the hands of prospects closest to time of purchase. We call this direct marketing because it goes directly to the prospect and they respond directly. If you need help marketing your business call us we are here to help.
– Mark Hale, CEO, Wilson Printing
