Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your
contribution is not tax-deductible.)
PayPal Acct: 
Feedback: 
Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):
| [ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, [4], 5, 6 ] |
| Subject: Basic Marketing Information For Advanced Results | |
|
Author: Dennis S. Vogel |
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: 19:02:33 02/27/11 Sun In reply to: Blog Readers 's message, "Requests For Clarification" on 16:42:30 02/27/11 Sun Thanks to those who sent requests for clarification. If I write something that confuses you, please ask for clarification. What I wrote below is very basic because I want to be sure all readers will understand the concepts. I wrote at a level probably equivalent to Marketing 101. Even some MBA level textbooks have very basic content for those who got Baccalaureate degrees without studying undergraduate level marketing. Mass Appeal May Be Unappealing To Small Businesses I understand mass media advertising is expensive; a major reason for the expense is its inefficiency. Advertising sales reps call it various things: circulation, audience, viewership, readership, reach, households using television (HUT), Area of Dominant Influence (ADI), Designated Market Area (DMA), etc. The basic meaning of these terms is: ads/commercials are potentially received by many people, some of whom have no interest, need or budget for what you offer. There are at least 2 reasons for the term Gross Rating Points (GRP). Gross can be broad/general &/or disgusting. Many small business owners are disgusted with mass media. How about you, have you been advertising more but liking it less? After your budget is blown you may be s___ out of luck (SOL) & call the advertising rep a son of a b—- (SOB). To be realistic & fair, mass media advertising can be beneficial for some mass marketers who use it wisely. A Marketing Budget Is a Terrible Thing To Waste Mass marketers can afford to waste a little money when they reach thousands of people in the wrong demographics. As long as the majority wants what mass marketers offer & buy millions of dollars of merchandise, a little waste is tolerable. A LITTLE waste is relative. For a small store with less storage & display space, plus a far smaller budget, a little waste can be hundreds of dollars. That loss can be a major part of a marketing budget & the difference between staying in business & failure. When you can only stock a small amount, you should limit the reach of your messages commensurately. You should know who wants & can afford what you offer. You should know where these people are. They may live in the same neighborhood. They may work for the same company. They may belong to the same clubs, groups or sports leagues. They may attend the same events. Prospects are prospective buyers meaning they have a desire & ability to buy from you. Suspects are people you suspect may have a reason to buy from you. A response rate is a percentage of people who receive your offer & inquire (make an inquiry) about it. A conversion rate is a ratio of people who inquire compared to the number of buyers. In this example an inquiry is a visit to a store to check a product or a phone call for more information. Example: If you think you can reasonably expect 2% of inquirers to convert (buy from you), then you should consider the size of your inventory & how many people you need to buy what you have in stock. If you can reach 100 prospects effectively & efficiently & your conversion rate is 2%, your sales will be 2. For big-ticket products (boats, cars, appliances, etc.), 2 may be enough. Networking for Influence Degrees of separation may be a factor in your ability to reach prospects. Many people figure they can reach anybody in 6 degrees of separation or less. LinkedIn has its Six degrees of separation Experiment http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=73997 LinkedIn seems to be this concept in action. The following paragraph from LinkedIn explains the concept of its experiment. Six degrees of separation refers to the idea that, if a person is one step away from each person he or she knows and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people he or she knows, then everyone is an average of six steps away from each person on Earth. If you know somebody who has contact with a business owner, it means you have only one step between you & the business owner. After being introduced, it may be easy to get your marketing messages to the employees. When those employees are happy with what they buy from you (They will be happy, right?), the employer may introduce you to another business owner. Some of my other posts have details about reaching customers & employees of other businesses. Reaching club or sports league members is similar. When Your Transactions Are Low, You Need A Bigger Network If your net profit from a typical transaction is low, you need to reach a bigger group &/or multiple groups. If you can reach 500 prospects effectively & efficiently & your conversion is 2%, your sales will be 10. In that case, if you can only afford to keep 8 of a product in stock, sending your message to 500 could cost you a small amount of money, but your response rate may be too high. Always consider the consequences of demand being too high for your supply (being out of stock). How much more likely are you to be victimized by shoplifters if your store is crowded & customers distract you? Whether you have a marketing consultant or do the marketing work yourself, be sure you can fulfill your results, even if your results are higher than you expected. You should also consider the consequences of too many people in your store at the same time. How likely are your prospects to shop at the same time? Marketing to employees in the same workplace can be efficient. Employees of the same business may get to your store soon after their shift ends. Even if you have enough stock, your crowd could exceed the number allowed by the local fire code. You &/or your staff could be overwhelmed & stressed. Consumers may leave frustrated. Frustrating a few people may seem minor but remember people are more apt to complain to relatives & friends. They may gripe to anybody who will listen. You should consider how many members are in their networks. Six degrees of separation can work against you, too. If everyone is an average of 6 steps away from each person on Earth, complaints about your out-of-stock can spread quickly. You can substitute complaint in the place of lie in the following quotes. The main difference between a cat and a lie is that a cat only has nine lives. Mark Twain A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. Charles Spurgeon That shows how serious complaints can be. Though nobody is apt to prevent all complaints, preventing reasons for complaints is critical. None of us will ever be perfect every time, limiting mistakes is essential for developing trust. Fixing mistakes affects trust, too. Dennis S. Vogel thrivingbusiness@email.com What is separating from your optimal level of success? When you use information in this blog/discussion forum & my free information web site, you can close the gap. You can find the right consumers & offer them the best value you can. http://www.lakefield.net/~thrivingbusiness/ http://www.voy.com/31049/ [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
|
Forum timezone: GMT-6 VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB: Before posting please read our privacy policy. VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems. Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved. |