Asian Business Review
How to make your Business
Grow in any Economic Climate
14 Keys to your Marketing success.
Peter Sun, Peter Sun Advertising and Marketing Ceasattancy
Right now, there are businesses that are booming. Their sales and profits are the best ever. Is your business one of them? By following certain rules of marketing and advertising. You can • dramatically increase your share of business in any economic climate. Here are 14 of the most important ones to boost your profits sky high.
II Peter Sun.
- Always Test Your Marketplace.
You cannot dictate what your market wants or the price your products should sell at. Test one marketing approach against another. Test your headlines, products, offers and guarantees. -You will find that one approach will always out perform the others. Often by many, many hundreds of percent. If you do nothing else, this alone will dramatically increase your profits.
- Run Direct Response Advertisements and not Institutional Ones.
Everyone of your ads or marketing programs should pay its way. If you cannot measure the success of an ad or promotion, stop it now. Contrary to most media and advertising agency advice, repealed exposure will not increase your sales. Not by enough to cover their costs anyhow. If an ad is bad, running it 27 timm, will not make it any better.
- Always Aim for Sales and not Entertainment.
Every ad, mailing piece or sales approach should make you a profit_ Not look good or be cute. You would never ask your sales people to go in front of a prospect and look artistic. You want your people and ads to sell.
- Advertising is Simply Salesmanship in Print, Radio, T.V., etc.
You would never keep a sales person who does not earn more than they cost. Same with your ads. Everything you do must justify itself or be replaced.
Advertising is simply selling to thousands instead of one person to another.
Having said that. All your ads and promotions must be written as if to only one person. Because that is how they are read. One person at a time.
- Develop Your Unique Selling Advantage.
Your customers are primarily selfish. They only care about what you can do for them, Most companies simply say to the prospect, “Give me the business you’ve been giving to someone else. Let my company make money instead”.
You must find out what it is that you have that gives you an advantage over your competitors. Tell your prospects about your products or service. Its performance, constructions, guarantee, etc. Be specific in what you tell them.
- You Must Use Headlines in all Your Ads.
Headlines can increase the response to your ads, letters and promotions by as much as 1700%. Increases of ,300 to 400% are not uncommon.
Headlines are an ad for your ad. Its purpose is to attract the attention of the prospects you wish to target.
Never use ads without headlines or clever ads with confusing or amusing headlines.
In a letter the headline is the opening paragraph. Make it strong and offer a benetit where possible. Examples of good headlines are:
- For Real Estate – XYZ Real Estates 25 Ways to Sell Your Home Fast … at the Price You Want.
- For Insurance – Spend 8 Minutes with my Free Booklet and I’ll Show You Five Simple Ways to Save at Least 12% on Your Insurance Premiums.
- For overseas Real Estate – Here is a Unique Way Hong Kong Business People Car. Buy Gold Coast Real
Estate with Only 5% Deposit.
- For Import Export – 7 Vital Facts You Should Know When Importing Products Into Australia. Our Free Report Will Save You 17% or More on Your Next Order.
- Why You Will Increase Your Ad Response by Being Specific.
Most companies offer generalities such as, “We give excellent service”, “Long lasting product”. etc. This is meaningless. By being specific people will take your information seriously. Say, “We have three servicemen working seven days per week and 98% of all service calls are used in 24 hours or less”. Or, “When you place an order with us. It will be delivered at your door in 48 hours. Anywhere in the world. If not. We’ll take 25% off our bill”.
- Why Every Advertisement Must Tell a Complete Story?
When arguing merits of long versus short copy. Ask yourself, “Would I tell my salespeople to stop his presentation after 30 seconds of 50 words? And get up and leave the prospect”. Of course you wouldn’t. Demand the same from all your ads, letters and brochures.
- Why Education is a Powerful Marketing Tool?
A customer who is considering a product or service, but still has unanswered questions, is less likely to give you the business.
When you take the time to educate your prospects you gain their trust.
Teach them everything about your products and services and you will sell to twice as many people.
Contin:ted on (huge 37
The Asian Business Review February 1992 31