Grow Your Business In 5 Days

- Video Training Course - Video #7


TUTORIAL #7: ENSURE YOUR MARKETING GETS NOTICED

Hello and welcome to ‘Grow Your Business In 5 Days’.

In this tutorial we’re going to talk about something else which once again is crucial to the growth of your business. Although your target market and UPB are the two most important single elements to the growth of your business, they are both made redundant if your message doesn’t get seen by your prospect.

You see, not only does your BUSINESS have to differentiate itself from the competition in order to attract and retain customers – the same principal applies to all your MARKETING material. People are subjected to hundreds of marketing messages every day so your message has to rise above this ‘clutter’ to get noticed. If your marketing is like everyone else’s it just won’t get seen.

And you’re not just competing with your competitors for your target market’s attention – you’re competing with every other type of business which is marketing to them. In reality it explains why most marketing simply doesn’t work – none of it rises above the clutter so 95% of it goes straight in the bin or simply isn’t even noticed. You can have the best most lucrative target market and have a powerful UPB, but if no-one notices them – you will still struggle.

I advise you to look at what other people are doing with their marketing and pay close attention to the types of media you’re using to reach your target market.

For example, if you’re going to use lead generation letters, what types of letters are you currently getting at home and at work that really stand out? Do any gimmicks catch your eye? Which letters ethically force you to respond? The chances are you can mimic these approaches and tailor them to your own business. And above all else don’t be boring!

The further away from what your competitors do, the more successful you’ll become. You see, if your marketing pieces rise above the clutter, you put your business on a different level to all your competitors.
For instance, let’s use the lead generation letter as an example. Most people will of course do their level best to write a professional letter. It won’t include the right message but that’s okay, and the format they choose is a basic two-page letter. Again that’s fine. The problem is they send it in a plain white envelope, with the contact details printed on to a label and then frank it. They think it’s easier to do it this way – which of course it is – but easier doesn’t mean better!

They send the letter out and wonder why they didn’t get a response.

They could have been giving away fifty pound or dollar notes inside the envelope, but 99% of people didn’t even open it. Why? Because it smacks of ‘junk mail’ and it looks like 95% of other marketing that arrives on their desk. You see, whether you like it or not, we all subconsciously have two piles in our mind when we’re sorting mail… Pile A is stuff that looks uninteresting and is probably junk. It takes us about half a second to decide this. Yes, just half a second.

Pile B, on the other hand, is stuff that looks interesting. Stuff that we will either open straightaway, or leave to open later. If your letter isn’t in Pile B you’ve had it. That’s why it needs to rise above the clutter and look interesting. Most letters unfortunately go on Pile A. They are doomed to failure just because of this.

But now you know this, you can do something about it. The rules are simple…

Never, ever, use a marketing piece that looks boring. Never, ever, use a marketing piece that looks like junk. Never, ever, use a marketing piece that doesn’t rise above the clutter. Do this and I promise your results will improve significantly. To help you understand this further, here are three examples of the direct mail material we create for our members of our Accountants Growth Programme, our internationally renowned programme that helps accountants to acquire more of the right type of clients.

We have dozens and they are all created to rise above the clutter. All are very different to what any other accountants or any other business for that matter, are sending to their target market. Clearly the message is very powerful and this combined with the fact that each piece gets noticed and is memorable, ensures our members’ messages are getting through to the right people. And results speak for themselves.

The three examples shown here include a postcard with a puzzle on the front. Puzzles are what we call ‘involvement devices’ and they are a very effective way to increase readership and response. The second piece is an x-ray that’s sent in a brown envelope with the words ‘Do Not Bend – X-Rays Enclosed’ on the front. I defy anyone NOT to open that.

And the final piece is what we call a ‘Tear Sheet’. This is a simulated ripped out magazine article and comes complete with a handwritten Post-It Note.

And here’s a favourite of mine and one of our most prolific marketing pieces we created for our accountants. It’s called the Super Accountant Comic’. I’ll let you into secret, comics are impossible NOT to read, so if you can combine your message with a relevant comic strip, and every business can, then using a comic like this will elevate your marketing above everything else your prospective customers receive.

These marketing pieces have generated literally hundreds of thousands of pounds and dollars for accountants all over the world primarily because they stand out. This next example is one we used frequently in the early days of the Accountants Growth Programme. It’s an elaborate invitation to accountants inviting them to join the programme. It was responsible for getting the company off the ground and running into profitability very quickly. In this example, the invitations were delivered by courier and the fact that they are 3D in shape automatically grabs attention and makes them stand out. Lumpy mail is always more inviting than flat mail.

There are thousands of gimmicks you can use in your mailing pieces to create lumpy mail, it’s just a matter of using your imagination.

And finally, here’s a handwritten letter, an approach I’ve used many times to rise above the clutter in dozens and dozens of different industries. Notice the crossing out – this makes the letter look more authentic and really gives the feel that it was sent just to the recipient. Of course it needs to go in a handwritten envelope with a couple of real postage stamps on the front.

You have to be prepared to step outside your comfort zone to do these things. Most business owners really struggle to do this. But if you want exceptional results you have to do things very differently than everyone else. Different from convention. Polar opposites to the ‘norm’. A great place to start with all this stuff is look at what everyone else is doing in your industry and do the exact opposite.

Better still, the BGS Vault includes dozens of examples, just like this that you can adapt to your own business. But we go further than just direct mail. We show you what to do to stand out with all your advertising, emails and every other media you can think of. Of course you have to use different strategies for each media, but we give them to you – all on a plate. All tested and all proven.

You’ll never, ever be boring again and you’ll transform your results. So let’s recap...

Here are the key learning points from this tutorial...

  1. First... your target market is being bombarded with hundreds of marketing messages every day. This is known as ‘Marketing Clutter’.
  1. Second... to get results with your marketing it therefore has to stand out. From this day forward it should never, I’ll repeat NEVER be boring.
  1. And third... you can invest thousands creating and testing your own clutter-busting marketing materials, or you can join the BGS Vault and adapt the examples in the system for all the key media such as direct mail, advertising and email. For more details, simply enter your name and e-mail address in the boxes on the right of this page and watch the presentation video. (Note that as a client of this firm you can have immediate and free access to the Business Growth System Vault. It’s valued at over $6,000 per annum and to get access just contact the office today).

Now please DOWNLOAD the ‘One Page Action Plan’ that accompanies this tutorial and start putting together your own clutter-busting marketing materials. Thanks for watching.

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