Recently I had a business owner email their list saying that they were a little short when it came to tax time so they were going to open up access to a product that basically wasn’t taking on new clients in a bid to get those extra dollars for their taxes. Whether that was a story to pull on readers heart-strings or an actual reality (from what I know I think it’s real) it’s something that we can all learn from for our businesses and our marketing.
Of course the first thing that came to mind when I read the email was awe that we live in a day and age where you can send out an email or a social post and the money just rolls in. It really goes to show how much has changed in the world over the years that a business can recognize that they’re short and in a matter of hours or days they can do something about it, instead of hoping that someone will wander through town and decide they want the product or need a service and just get lucky that any extra money came in, or knowing that you were really in trouble and not having any really good options at your disposal.
But as anyone who has tried this method before knows, it doesn’t always work. I’m sure most if not all of us have sent out promotional emails and posts and heard back less than crickets about our offer. But let’s assume that we are targeting the right people with our offer (i.e. we’re in touch with people who live in our service area or love a specific sport or live where it snows or have kids etc.). If you’ve got the right people targeted and you don’t get a response then two big reasons why they aren’t buying come to mind: they don’t really know you or your offer isn’t the right value. The first reason has to do with one of the foundations of successful marketing: consistently engaging with your people. If they hear from you twice a year maybe they’ll be so excited by what you have to share (i.e. a Black Friday offer), but chances are just as good that you’ll have missed out on the sale because they went with someone else who they know/like/trust more. And with the value question, I totally understand the feeling of panic when you’re short on finances, but putting out high-end offerings and hoping that you get people willing to break out the big cards doesn’t often work, especially if you don’t often offer big packages or it costs more than people would easily hand over in a short amount of time (most people don’t have money for a big theme park trip or home renovation just lying around as “extra” in that months’ budget). I’m not saying that big ticket offers are a bad idea, they’re not, just that they can be hard to sell in this type of situation, even when you manage to clearly communicate the value.
So the next time you’ve got something going on in your life, don’t be afraid to be a little vulnerable with your audience, especially if you generally do share some personal information with them. Also, take time to celebrate the gift of being in business when we are! Finally, are you taking advantage of all the opportunities that are available to you? Are you showing up for your customers in such a way that they will show up for you when you need them to? If not, start today.