Friday, May 10, 2013

Seducing the Customer

Creating a perceived value of a product that is more than the cost of production is ultimately the main way to drive profits on a given product. A consumer's perceived value of a product/service directly affects the price they are willing to pay for a product or service. In general, customer's have no idea of the real cost to produce a product or of the cost to provide a service.

This is where innovative marketing strategies come into play. The trick is to develop creative marketing campaigns that seduce the customer into believing the value of the product is more than it is actually worth.

When developing these strategies companies should try to produce commercials and advertising that are relevant to its target market as well as relevant to the company. I find it obnoxious that there are so many ads on TV today that have nothing to do with the product or the company. It is not an effective way to get someone interested in the product. Advertising should be about showing the functionality of the product or service in a way that makes the customer see value in purchasing the product.

Yes, your irrelevant over the top commercial may be memorable, but if it does not create an increase in perceived value you are wasting your money. And my time.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Cold Calling

Cold calling can seem daunting if you have never done it before. The very idea of cold calling makes many people have anxiety. But, to have an effective marketing strategy you must reach as many potential clients as possible.

Cold calling does not necessarily mean that you will be sitting behind a desk making random phone calls in hopes to schedule meetings. From my experience the most effective form of cold calling is done in person face to face. Now if the thought of calling random people on the phone seems intimidating to you, the idea of visiting them face to face probably seems like a terrifying ordeal. I get this, but as with everything in life, the more you do it the easier it gets.

Face to face cold calling has benefits that sitting behind a desk hiding behind your phone doesn't. It is much harder to say no to someone or be rude to them if they are right in front of your face. With phone calls people can simply say "NO" and hang up on you. With emails it is way too easy to just not respond. When you are face to face with people they HAVE to acknowledge you.

The first step of any successful marketing approach is to get yourself and your services acknowledged by potential clients. People are generally nice to people when they are face to face (even if it is fake). Face to face cold calling may be more time consuming, but it can be a lot more effective.

If you visit someone enough they may even do business with you just so you stop coming by so often.