John's a freelance photographer in Ohio who called to tell me of his frustration with the advertising and promotional campaigns he has tried in the last couple of years. Each time he does a promotional mailing to his list of 10,000, he is lucky if he gets one or two inquiries. I had a similar call from a corporation that was spending its time and money driving traffic to its web site. With six thousand visitors a day, they were only getting a couple of inquiries per week.
Both businesses were spending a lot of money to get attention but weren't converting this attention to leads.
Are you having the same problem?
Marketing is a lot like farming. You can't just head out to your fields and bring in a bountiful harvest. First, you buy seed from the money you've budgeted. You buy enough to be sure that a good crop will germinate and thrive until harvest, and you're likely to plant several different crops to hedge the weather and the market.
You may not be interested in becoming a farmer, but if you want to see your business grow there are three ways thinking like a farmer can help you.
1. Learn How to Collect More Leads A farmer needs seed and lots of it to bring in a bountiful harvest. You need a lot of quality leads to increase your clientele.
If your ads or mailings aren't resulting in a steady stream of inquiries, find out what's not working and change it. By changing a couple of sentences of your marketing copy or your offer, for example, you can increase response rates by a factor of ten or more.
Could you collect more leads with the right marketing strategy and marketing copy?
2. Learn How to Increase Your Lead Conversion Rate A farmer who had spent his savings on seed wouldn't plant his field, then go on vacation and come back months later expecting to find a healthy crop. While you may be the exception, this is the way most people market their businesses. According to The Yankee Group, between 40% to 80% of new business leads aren't converted simply due to lack of follow-up.
Many businesses spend money on getting attention and then don't follow up on a prospect's interest by giving them the information or contact opportunity they want. What you tell a prospect and how promptly you respond when they show an interest determines whether they continue to stay in touch.
Of the people who see your ads, what percentage respond?
Of the people who visit your web site, what percentage contact you?
Of the people who contact you, what percentage become clients and customers?
Could you increase your lead conversion rates by improving your Internet, phone and mail follow-up?
3. Learn to Use Systems that Generate Leads, Nurture Them and Increase Conversion Rates Today's farmers are as technologically and information savvy as any of us. Farmers use GPS in their tractors to plant their crops, the web to connect to weather forecasting and crop price information web sites to track their markets.
Using high tech information and machines to get the work done, today's farmer has a system for buying seed and supplies, planting, maintaining and harvesting his or her crops. They make good use of systems and machines to increase their chances of bringing in a bountiful harvest.
In the case of the corporation mentioned above, a simple change to their web site increased their lead conversion from 1 or 2 a week to 80 a week.
Could your lead conversion rates increase with a better system for capturing and following up on leads?
If you're like me, you get hungry often. Whether you're taking photographs or growing lettuce, you want to generate more leads and grow your business. To fill your larder and bring in a steadily increasing number of clients, think like a farmer. Use your marketing strategy and lead generation system to bring in many more prospects and increase your conversion rates. When you do you'll find yourself with a bountiful crop of new clients. -
2005 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved. - The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals, small business owners and marketing professionals attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up to receive the F.ree Marketing Strategy eBook, '7 Steps to get more clients and grow your business' at http://www.marketingforsuccess.com
To be your own marketing expert you first need to... Read More
It all started out with an email message: "I am... Read More
Our bodies work like our small businesses. They work best... Read More
If you want your marketing to be effective, you absolutely... Read More
Preparing a Marketing Plan for your product or service is... Read More
What's a small business owner to do if they have... Read More
What makes one logo better than another?Simplicity.A good logo works... Read More
There's a saying that half of all marketing efforts are... Read More
Altruism. Corporate responsibility. Philanthropy. These are often used to describe... Read More
A while back a small business owner paid me a... Read More
Coming up with an idea, seizing the opportunity, and setting... Read More
Fear and Greed. The stock-in-trade of sales. Appeal to them,... Read More
It is a well known web site marketing strategy: To... Read More
The key to success in any business relies a large... Read More
Why give freebies?We have all seen freebies at trade shows... Read More
So how do you effectively market your product or service... Read More
When you take a piece of gold to a pawn... Read More
Whether you are already running your own business, or still... Read More
1) People are buying in smaller quantities. Our busy lifestyle... Read More
People are known to shop on impulse- buying an item... Read More
Here is your C.I.T.T. (pronounced "kit")[Color ? Illustrate? Type ?... Read More
Jay Conrad Levinson coined the term guerrilla marketing, which I... Read More
There is no shortage of marketing programs, many with great... Read More
Our business environment has changed dramatically. Companies must now be... Read More
In previous articles, we discussed the generation of a contact... Read More
The toughest job you face as a B2B direct marketer... Read More
Here are some questions to get your thoughts and cash... Read More
You may be in business for yourself or as a... Read More
1. Your Most Valuable AssetA mailing list of valued customers... Read More
Who says scientists can't market? Here are 10 easy marketing... Read More
You'll always need to find new prospects for your business.... Read More
Does your Web site talk about your company? Yes, I... Read More
One of the most common mistakes in marketing is making... Read More
NB: You can read part one here: ... Read More
The trade show floor is full of different types of... Read More
What?!? Sabotage your own success? Who would do that? Well,... Read More
Rest assured that no matter how smart you are, you... Read More
Whether you're a former retail store owner known for your... Read More
These steps are taken from the Referral Flood Marketing Program.... Read More
Are you on track for hitting all your business goals... Read More
A powerful consumer market with annual spending power exceeding $350... Read More
If you don't get this right, you can just forget... Read More
One of the reasons direct mail works is the personal... Read More
Real estate marketing is a lot simpler than most Realtors... Read More
Grant Businesses have a love-hate relationship with the Yellow Page... Read More
You need only one card, but make it noticeable. Make... Read More
excite v. 1 a: to call to activity b: to... Read More
Unlike any other marketing vehicle, newsletters give you the opportunity... Read More
When you take a piece of gold to a pawn... Read More
Being a master of your craft, skill, or talent doesn't... Read More
Hey, as business owners we CAN'T be all things for... Read More
Regardless how small or large your budget is, there are... Read More
A colleague who does work for a nonprofit organization contacted... Read More
Are you willing to fail your way to great marketing... Read More
If you want your business to grow and attract new... Read More
In direct mail lore, there's a rule stating that you... Read More
When you're just starting out in business, it's a safe... Read More
One of the greatest challenges to effectively marketing a business... Read More
No, customers aren't bloodsuckers (well, maybe a few are!) and... Read More
Information is the lifeblood of the economy. That's especially true... Read More
While success with any internet marketing program falls on the... Read More
As an educated professional, your success is based on what... Read More
More and more companies seem to be looking for new... Read More
I read an article recently about how many mainstream retail... Read More
Starting a business, whether it's retail products or services, must... Read More
There's a secret to marketing, which is so simple, yet... Read More
Marketing |