Having an on-line business is great but it only has value if you have site visitors who turn into customers.

I was looking back over my posts from the past few weeks and realised that I jumped straight into ‘The Steps to On-line Marketing’ without providing the required context to ‘On-line Business’.

The reality is that there are millions of internet/on-line businesses out there and I am certain the owners of each of these businesses think what they have is the best, and it may very well be.  It is however absolutely useless is no one knows about it.

I was going to use the local shop down the street as the opposite to an on-line business as it doesn’t require marketing but I will stop short as the shop down the street has a bigger problem as an on-line business.  The marketing of the shop down the street is the shop front.  You drive past it.  You ride past it.  You walk past it.  You shop next door.  You know it is there and you have an idea of the type of products they sell just because of its presence, which is a form of marketing.  Limited but it is marketing.

Imagine if the shop down the street didn’t have a sign and the windows were blacked out.  You would think it was closed and wouldn’t go in, nor would you know what it was and what it sold even if the world’s greatest product was just inside the door.

In addition, the shop down the street can only serve those that are in that area.

An on-line business is [uniquely] identified by an internet address known as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator), made up of any unique combination of letters, numbers and characters.

An on-line business doesn’t have a physical location so no one can drive past. Potential customers can’t ride past.   They can’t walk past.  They could be shopping right next door and not even have an idea you were doing so.

Unlike the physical constraints of location, the local shop has an on-line business can serve anyone on the internet regardless of where they are.  Next door, around the corner, in the next suburb, in the next state, in the country next door or completely on the other side of the planet.  In fact, you could serve an astronaut who is on his way to Mars if he can access the internet.  I know that the last point is a bit of a stretch but you get the point.

None of this possibly though if they don’t know you and/or your product exist.

How do they get to know you exist: Marketing.

Let’s change gear for a minute and address the question “what is marketing?”

According to Google: Marketing is the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.

In simple terms Marketing is 3 things:

1. Right Message
2. to the Right Person
3. at the Right Time

You will hear more complex descriptions or definitions but effectively it is about sending a message (Right Message) that appeals to the target person (Right Person) so that it appeals and evokes action  (Right Time).

With this in mind, you need to know what it is you are marketing (see Step One) the who it is you are marketing to (see Step Two) before you can send a message that appeals to them and makes them compelled to do something.

This does not mean that your excellent product or service will suit everyone, nor does it mean that it will suit today, or that your message will appeal every time someone reads it.

Marketing is about timing; not your timing but the intersection of your customers’ needs at their stage in life, or because of a compelling event, and your message getting to them so that they connect because it speaks to them and their situation.

Define the Target Customer

So you have followed Step One and now have a clear and simple description of what it is you are selling.  Well done.  Just remember to keep refining this description and don’t start anything else until you have completed step one.

Step Two is to Define the Target Customer, specific to the newly described product or service.  In other words, you need to be able to describe the sort of customer that will see value in your product or service and therefore be willing to part with their hard earned money.  This is where the importance of knowing in clear simple terms what you are selling starts to kick it.

A good way to start this is to start from the end and look back.

Start by imagining your product or service in the hands of a customer who has paid good money for it and are receiving a lot of value.  Now note your thoughts around things like:

• What do they look like?
• Are they Female or Male?
• How old are they?
• Where do they live?
• What do they do for a job?
• What are they using the product or service for?
• What value are they getting from your excellent product?

For some people, the answers to these questions on the first attempt may be rather generic, especially if you are selling a consumer product or service, or in other words, a product that everyone uses e.g. a mobile phone.  Generic is a good start but like Step One keep refining the description of your target customer until it is clear.

Idea:  Describe yourself using the product or service assuming you would buy the product.

Now take this description, without the description of your product or service, and give it to a friend and ask them to tell you what they see in their mind after reading the description.  If they describe excatly what you picture then well done.  If they describe something a little different then keep working on the description until you completely agree you are aligned.

A word of caution.  As you talk to your friend about your target customer they will start to understand from your discussion which may not be reflected in your written description.  This is a great start as it certainly will help you with a picture of your target customer.  What you need to do now is to get this written down.   Test it on someone else to make sure it is clear.

What if I have different target customers?

If you are asking that question then well done you are thinking about it correctly.   What you do not want to do is create a single description that is so generic that it does not identify the differences between the potential audience (customers).  Knowing each target customer is the key.  If you need multiple descriptions then do just that as it will pay dividends (pay off) in the long term as it will allow you to target your marketing message.

Marketing is an iterative process, that is it continues to change and develop as your thinking and clarity develop.  Don’t be hard on yourself if it takes a few goes to get it right as that is exactly what everyone needs to do (even the professional marketeers).

In the next step, we will build on this and start to look at what unique value or benefit your product or service provides to a customer.  If it is not unique and you can’t describe it then why would they buy from you?

“It’s great, it does what you want and it looks good, so you should buy it”

Just imagine if that was the description you gave to your product or service and how many people would actually buy it.  I think you would agree that the number of people that would buy your product or service based on that description would be zero (0).

So we agree your description of your product or service needs to be complete, accurate and capture the attention of the buyer.

The hard part here is actually being able to define what it is you are selling.  Not just the physical product or service but you also get when you buy from you or your site.

With this in mind, you need to spend as much time as required to be able to clearly articulate (describe) what it is you are selling before you move forward.

No don’t say to yourself it’s ok I’ll come back to it.  You have to get this right upfront before you start to ‘market’.

If you sell widgets,  are they electronic?  Do they belong to a group of like products?  Is your value that you are selling them at the cheapest price (be careful as this strategy is not likely to last)? Do you have experience in the use of the product? Is it Big or is it Small? Is Red or is it Green?  Is it Round or is it Square?

Use a tool such as Evernote to jot down your thoughts as they come to mind.

Keep refining your ‘What is it I sell’ story until you can say it in less than 2 sentences.

“If you can’t explain it in simple terms you don’t understand it”

If you don’t understand it neither will anyone else.

Marketing 101

Marketing is the process of letting the right people know about your product or service with the aim to have them order it.

It’s pretty basic but it’s the truth.

There are few basic things you need to understand before you start:

1.  What is it you are selling?
2. Why would someone want to lay down their hard earned cash to buy it?
3. What does the ideal customer look like, or in other words the attributes of the person?
4. What makes your product better than others i.e. what value do you and your product offer?

Over the next few posts, I aim to help yo understand each of these points to allow you to start the process of successfully marketing your product or service.