Why Use Professional Marketing for Your Business?
There was a time when you could sell your business or product by going out and speaking directly to the people or companies that needed it. True, not everyone wanted to speak to a salesperson, but it was a valid way to make a living.
That time is long gone.
As someone who used to actually do this as part of a job not so long ago, I can tell you the world is no longer friendly for salespeople. You can’t drop in and expect someone to speak with you. If no one seemed angry to see me, I considered it a win.
Why is that? I blame the Internet.
Kind of funny coming from a guy who writes and markets primarily on the Internet for his living, huh? I calls it as I sees it.
Today we have everything we need at our fingertips, and it has revolutionized nearly every industry. A big way it’s done that is by lessening the need and increasing the distaste for human interaction during business transactions.
Blockbuster
I used to work at Blockbuster Video. I was an assistant manager at a local store in college. And for the most part, I loved that job.
I was the guy.
The regulars knew me and sought me out. They wanted a recommendation; they came to me. They either trusted my taste or knew I was good at judging theirs.
When they needed to figure out the name of a movie they were trying to remember, and all they had was a line of dialogue, a vague sense of plot, or the knowledge that it had “that guy from that other thing,” I had a nearly 100% success rate of pointing them in the right direction.
This was not pre-internet. But it was pre-smartphone.
Nowadays, I’d be practically obsolete because a targeted Google search in your pocket computer would get you the answer you needed.
Hence the current absence of Blockbuster.
But as obsolete as it made that job, it made sales, especially drop-in sales, a lot more painful. When people can access anything they want, they don’t want you to sell it to them. Instead, they will find and call you if and when they want your service.
The Good News
But hold on because there’s good news. Where the Internet is the problem, the Internet is also the solution.
All those people who don’t want to talk to someone dropping by because they can easily find what they want? They will use the Internet to look for what they want.
So as long as you’re on there, you’re golden, right?
Not so fast.
The Internet is a Big Store
Blockbuster was a relatively small store. But we used a tool that the big stores could take advantage of. My first position there was as an active seller.
Sounds like a sales guy, right? If done poorly, it was.
But my job was to be out on the floor, talking to people and helping them. My real job was supposed to be to push sales on whatever we were selling that day, but I could usually tell if it would be a good fit for someone, so my main focus was to get the customers what they needed. If it was what I was selling, great! If not, they left happy regardless.
My sales numbers were amazing because I focused on the customer.
In a bigger store, active sellers, or better yet, customer-focused assistors, are even more vital. The Internet is a huge store. Or, more accurately, it’s a vast space where millions of stores compete. So you need something like an active seller to help your ideal customers find what they need – you!
Professional Marketing Helps Your Customers Find Their Movie
Real life doesn’t work like Blockbuster. When customers came into Blockbuster, they wanted to rent a movie (or maybe a video game or buy candy, but we’ll stick with the movie metaphor for simplicity). In real life, customers know they want a movie (your service), but they’re not necessarily going to your store.
They go online to decide what will best match what they want.
Professional Marketers Understand Intent
So the question is, what makes you different from your competitors? Professional marketing focuses on that and works to make it stand out.
If you don’t have the best prices, but you do have the best service, there’s no point in trying to appeal to the people who only want the best prices. Likewise, if you have zero customer service but can beat the pants off the people with better service price-wise, you won’t appeal to those who want to be taken care of.
Professional marketers market your strengths to the people who are looking for them. When someone says, “What’s the move with the guy from the other thing,” professional marketers say the answer is you. Ya dig?
Professional Marketing is Complicated
So how do marketers do it? Honestly, there’s a lot to it: algorithms, writing, and whatnot. But the most important thing is what I call the 2QC formula for success: Quality, Quantity, and Consistency.
Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That
As a small business owner, you don’t have time for that! You’re trying to run your business! You don’t need to learn a whole other discipline and master it. You’re already the best at what you do and can’t be the best at everything.
Professional marketers take over this for you.
Good Professional Marketers Find Your Voice
Where POP excels is finding your voice. We understand what makes your company you. We also know how you would talk about yourself if you had the time.
We start every customer relationship with an onboarding process to learn your voice so that you can be confident in our ability to speak for you.
Ready for Professional Marketing?
We know that only some believe they’re ready for professional marketing. But the time it saves you, and the success it will bring you will be worth the investment.
We have programs for people who just want to have an internet presence, those who want to grow it, and those who are ready to take off.
When you are ready for professional marketing, we’ll be ready for you.
