Have you taken a trip to New York City and attended a Broadway Show?
There is a lot of marketing done for each show. There are numerous reviews by the critics. Many people in general will gladly offer their opinion, including any friends of yours who have seen a show on Broadway. The day arrives and you enter the theater to enjoy the show. Up until this exact point you have some level of expectation of what you are about to experience.
Let’s stop right here.
This is the stage you want to set for your potential customer or client. They have an idea of what to expect before having worked with you, or purchased a product from you. You want to set the bar high in your marketing. You must exceed this expectation every single time.
This is true regardless of what your business type is. Whether it is a service based, retail, or product sale type of business you must exceed the table you have set. The marketing message must be clear and focus on the results. Inside of the marketing there must be enough emotional pull to engage the potential customer or client. This all must be based upon and wrapped around the real experience and what will take place after the purchase.
Consider for a moment the movement, Occupy Wall Street. For the last few weeks there has been quite a bit of press, TV coverage, etc. Now there are other groups forming across the United States and in other countries. The problem? What exactly and specifically is the agenda? Other than to protest, are there solutions, transformations, or suggestions for changes to be implemented? At the present time (and in actual fact), no there are none.
This is unfortunate. Right now there are supporters sending money and goods such as clothes, food, etc. Unless a few people step forward into leadership positions and define the solutions they seek as a movement, what lasting change or purpose will be accomplished?
The point to take from this example is for you to think through your marketing plan. What are you seeking to achieve? Place yourself in the role of your client or consumer and play the – if this – then this – game with all of the options you are able to conjure up. All of your marketing should have a strategy and a plan behind it.
If you are ready for CPR on your marketing, and an experienced second set of eyes for your marketing plan and materials, contact expert Mitch Tublin here www.thementorguy.com today.
Very wise article Mitch! Setting the marketing stage ahead of time seems so influential on the outcome. Apple did this so well!
Sheila,
This is the goal of marketing and having a marketing plan isn’t it?
Mitch
Mitch I love how use the analogy of setting a stage (of expectation) with our marketing efforts and remind us that we really do have to exceed expectations every time. It makes me step back and take a look at my marketing message and whether I am “setting the stage” appropriately for the transformation my clients actually receive. Great article! ~Aloha
Yvonne,
You should write out the transformation as if you were your ideal client who has been working with you. Try this process a few times and then read aloud what you wrote. Then take these and place them alongside your marketing materials and see where the gaps are.
Mitch
Setting the stage and thinking that through from your customer’s eyes is the gold standard for marketing programs. Great example and explanation, Mitch.
Sue,
The point of view of your customer is key! Absolutely! When I want my oil changed I do not go to the barber shop. Even if the barber shop started to advertise and write about oil changes, I wouldn’t go there for an oil change. If someone is in a niche, they need to work it, stay in it and be the expert. You cannot be everything to everyone.
Mitch
It’s sad that many biz owners run their marketing plan like “Occupy Wall Street”! Thanks Mitch!
Kiyla Fenell
Kiyla,
As you describe in your hiring course, just practice these specific techniques over and over again and you will see fantastic results in your hiring practices. The same advice works for creating your marketing plan or anything else we do as a business owner.
Mitch
Great way to relate a marketing topic to current events. OWS feels so vague because there are so many ideas but no real centralized expression. You can have all the best business ideas in the world, but if you don’t have some way to focus your marketing strategy, it’s just a whole lot of noise and random murmurs.
Steve, One food for thought someone mentioned is to “allow them do their thing as that is how real change will happen, the solutions will evolve, the solutions do not need to exist when you begin. This is a movement so they do not know the answers yet. ” What do you think of that way of thinking?
Mitch,
It’s all about the plan, the execution and following through on promises made. Great article.
Write on!~
Lisa
Lisa,
You are correct. Of course it goes much deeper. Much of this is about creating the right habits. The habit to plan, the habit to check yourself against the plan, the habit to course correct as needed.
Mitch
Mitch you are always spot on! Setting expectations and making a promise with your brand is critical … but so is having a desired outcome clearly defined. If you don’t know what you hope to achieve with your actions, how can you measure whether or not it was successful?
Jennifer,
Why thanks. It is one of those things – when you are the person in the business, doing the thing, you just don’t see that you are acting this way and you are going off into the weeds, leaving the highway, getting off-track.
When the experienced second set of eyes takes a peek at your business and how you are operating, we see it right away.
Mitch