Know Your Numbers: Generate Unlimited Business Prospects
In part 1 we looked at why it is important to start your marketing plan by setting very clear Business Objectives, then setting your Revenue Targets & Costings, and finally we explored why identifying the right Target Markets for your products or services is critical.
In this blog we are looking at the final 3 steps in building a results driven marketing plan.
- Your Offer: i.e. what should the “offer” be for each target market. Note, this does NOT mean discounting, it means what feature or benefit are you “offering” that the target market would find attractive.
- AIDA = Attention, Interest, Desire, Action: the content of the marketing material that will generate interest in your products and services.
- Acquisition Cost, Lifetime Value, Test & Measure: Understanding what to “Test & Measure” to your business goals without wasting money on non-effective marketing again.
Step 4 – Offer:
It is important to note that this does NOT mean discounting! Discounting is the fastest way to lose profits. By offer we mean what feature or benefit are you “offering” that the target market would find attractive.
For each target market you now need to consider the most appropriate offer. The offer should be based on what you want to sell to that target market – the product or service you supply. The key question is “Why would that target market want to buy this from me?”
Consider what the benefits are to the target market of using your products or services? Your benefit must be of interest to the target market and create a desire to purchase because it addresses a need: either giving them something they want, e.g. healthier lifestyle, holiday, possessions, etc, or solving a problem they don’t want, e.g. giving them services to save time or stress, products that make life easier, etc.
Step 5. Plan & Copy:
Build a calendar, or plan, detailing when each campaign will be running and write the content for each campaign. The content is built by answering the questions:
- “How do I communicate this offer to the target market?”
- “Which target market do I want to run my campaign for and when?”
It is the least important of steps 3-5 because if the target market is wrong or the offer is not strong enough then no matter how good the copy is there will not be a positive response to a campaign.
By following the AIDA principles, you will significantly increase your chance of success:
- AIDA = Attention, Interest, Desire, Action
Step 6. Acquisition Cost, Lifetime Value, Test & Measure:
In my view this is the second most important step and one which is rarely done by most business owners! Building the test and measuring system to understand your ROI (Return On Investment) on each of your marketing campaigns.
The testing and measuring system will allow you to calculate your costs per lead and your conversion rate per marketing campaign. From this you can calculate your customer acquisition cost. You should also calculate your average lifetime customer value, in other words how much do they spend and how often do they spend with you.
Once you have these systems in place you can identify which areas of your marketing work most effectively and exactly how much you need to invest to “buy customers”. The ongoing testing and measuring of your marketing campaigns will enable you to calculate:
- average cost per lead per campaign
- conversion rate per campaign
o and therefore, average acquisition cost per campaign
- average lifetime value per customer
o and therefore, ROI per £ spent in each marketing campaign
Having these numbers in your business will enable you to grow your business and achieve your business goals without wasting money on non-effective marketing again.
Marketing is Maths!
These six steps, applied diligently and consistently, WILL improve the success of your marketing plan. I hope you have found this useful, if you would like me to discuss how you can use this in your business please contact me on:
01823 217040 johnmccarthy@actioncoach.com
Register your interest to receive a free place on our marketing training course:
If you would like to grow your business, generate more leads and acquire more profitable customers then register your interest to receive a free place on our marketing training sessions.
