The Purpose of Marketing
First, let's talk about the purposes of marketing. Knowing which goal you want for your marketing will help you choose the proper technique. There are thousands of books and websites on marketing, and by distilling them down to their core essence, we discover there are four primary purposes for marketing:
- Brand Awareness - Helping your target audience to become aware of you and want to learn more about your services and products.
- Lead Generation - Getting your target audience to request information and/or a sales conversation with you; also, for building a pre-sales relationship.
- Brand Consideration - Your target audience is considering buying from you or at least has included you in their short list of possibilities, along with your competitors.
- Direct Sales - Getting your target audience to purchase directly from you.
For example, you might use search engine advertising, like Google Adwords, for lead generation purposes, but it may be a poor choice for direct sales, especially if your target audience doesn't purchase that way.
Your Target Audience
That leads to the next thing to consider: Which techniques does your target audience pay attention to and respond to? This all depends on how well you have identified your target audience. Some audiences will not purchase directly from a business without first getting to know them (brand awareness, relationship building). If your audience buys services this way, then use one marketing tactic for brand awareness (such as public speaking), another for lead generation (such as SEO or your free offer), and a third technique for direct sales (like an email marketing).
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