Are Your Prospects Puppets?

When was the last time you gut-checked your marketing strategy with the question “What do we want them to do?” Think about your strategy. Whether you are using traditional push techniques such as direct mail and print advertising or pull tactics such as search engine optimization and trade shows, do you really know what you want your prospect to do when the interact with your promotion? What behavior are you expecting (desiring)?

Of course our prospects are not puppets (mine certainly would take offense to the characterization). I use the analogy to demonstrate that you are in control of your marketing plan (the strings) and when you pull them you want (and should) expect a planned reaction. Often I hear “we want sales or we want leads.”

Yes, in business we need to complete sales. Think hard about your sales process. You will rarely make the sale at a trade conference, but you can certainly begin the relationship. Your goal may be simply “we want pre-identified and pre-targeted attendees at a conference to come to our booth for a demonstration.” Hence, the dance begins. Then, you can book a follow up engagement, another step in the process and ultimately lead them where you want them to go.

Another example is social media pull. Is your goal to drive sales through the website or simply to further develop prospects by having them opt-in to your content? Content is king. You know you have good material but you need to have an audience for content to achieve your goal. To keep your name recognition high, you want them to opt-in to your emails and other communications. Ask yourself again; when we use this particular tactic, what do we want to happen? Your choice of marketing tactics and the measurement for success will now be much clearer.

What would I like you to do? If you find this article valuable, please share with two of your colleagues.

Rob Felber – President

Felber PR & Marketing