Marketing is More Than Visibility

Many business owners will say something like this: “My product is great, it can sell itself – if only more people knew about it.” It’s true that your product is probably pretty great, maybe even life-changing. But unfortunately it won’t sell itself. 

Your potential customers need to understand how your product can help them. A marketing system can help you move customers along the path of awareness to trust to conversion. Each step along the way is important.

When you think of marketing, you might think of advertising and social media, but there are other pieces that are just as important. A marketing system is made up of 5 main areas:

1. Awareness: Build visibility for your business.
2. Lead Capture: Gather information from prospects, such as their email address.
3. Nurturing: Help your prospects get to know you better and build trust.
4. Conversion: Close the sale.
5. Continuity: Bring back repeat customers.  

There are tactics you can put in place to increase your chance of success at each of these stages. Click here to read the Bigger Vision Marketing Strategy Guide for a full tutorial on how to implement a complete marketing plan. 

It’s okay if you don’t have a plan in place for each of these areas yet. Marketing is a work in progress, and you can continue to build over time.

Let’s say for example, you have 1,000 visitors to your website. You put the time and energy into getting the attention of all of these people. If you don’t have systems in place to capture their information and continue to market to them, those potential sales are lost as soon as the person leaves your website. 

However, if you have a plan in place to gather their email address, you can continue to follow up with them. You can build trust with them and eventually turn them into a sale. 

It’s also easier to sell something to a current customer than it is to gain a new customer. This is where a plan for Continuity is important. Systems that bring back former customers are far less expensive, and more effective, than attracting new prospects.

Always ask yourself, “What’s next?” After you’ve gained some visibility, what’s next? After someone makes a purchase, what’s next? Think of the next logical step you’d like your customers to take to keep them engaged with your company.

Visit the Bigger Vision Marketing Strategy Guide and download the free workbook. It will guide you through setting up a marketing plan that works for your business.