Most advertising is set up for failure from the beginning. This is due to the mindset of the advertiser which is, “How do I sell?” I’ve seen this critical mistake made from amateurs to so-called experts for as long as I can remember. The profound question that must be asked isn’t, “How do I sell?” but instead, “Why do people buy?”
The fact is that your customers absolutely LOVE to buy, but don’t want to be sold. The psychology behind this is that we BUY for desire of gain, which is a positive emotion. But when we’re sold the perception is that it could be something we don’t really want or need. Therefore, we have a fear of loss, because we bought something we didn’t need and have now made a ‘losing’ investment (side note: this is also why salespeople often have unwarranted negative images).
Big dumb companies will actually spend millions of dollars investing in teaching sales people “how to sell” and launching “salesy” ad campaigns without ever even asking the “why do they buy” question, which is all that really matters.
Additionally, many dealers have been taught that the purpose of advertising is branding: to get your name out there, build your brand, and create top of mind awareness. While this may be effective if you’re a mega consumer brand like Nike, Bud Light, or Ford with millions of dollars to throw at mass media, it’s simply not the most effective way for small to medium size businesses to invest. Branding, as in your logo front and center as the primary message of your marketing, definitely doesn’t answer the “why they buy” question.
However, it does take consistency to create a responsive list. Most dealers don’t understand that a list that hasn’t been marketed to will usually be a very cold list, meaning it will not generate a good response. Consider this, if you receive a communication from a business that you’ve done business with in the past, but they’ve never marketed to you before you can be caught off guard. Especially if the message is, “Hey! Wanna buy a new bike?” (even though you’re likely not in the market).
Compare that with the feelings you have when you receive marketing from a business that you’ve had a relationship with and they reach out to you with friendly, beneficial messages on a regular basis. In this case, the list goes from cold, to warm, to warmer, to even hot.
We recently had a dealer who had been in business for 50 years but didn’t even have a customer list. No emails, no physical addresses, no phone numbers. This was a huge red flag and a clear indicator that his customers never heard from him. As I’ve said in this newsletter for the last 5 years, and I will continue to do so until I’m blue in the face, your customer list is the biggest asset you have.
Why do your customers buy from you? As you’ve likely heard, people buy from people that they know, like, and trust. In fact, years ago the University of Wisconsin did a study and found that 50% of sales are due to feelings of friendship.
As Jeffery Gitomer says, “If you make a sale, you can earn a commission. If you make a friend, you can earn a fortune.”
For these reasons, here at Powersports Marketing we believe strongly in one-to-one, relationship-building, direct marketing from a real human being, to a real human being, with a relevant and compelling message inviting your customers to your dealership.
The way we construct our Sharp Shooter marketing campaigns are so that even if your customers can’t take you up on your offer at this time, they feel a sense of gratitude that you’ve reached out to them. They appreciate hearing from you, and therefore as time passes and consistency happens, your list gets warmer and warmer, with responses increasing consistently over time.
So with Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas quickly approaching (three great excuses to reach out to your customers), don’t ignore your customers, they want to hear from you. They LOVE to buy from you, but don’t want to be sold. So, contact us today for a FREE market analysis and we’ll show you exactly how to execute a 3-step “Hallow-Thanks-Mas” marketing campaign that will warm your list right up without the hard sell! 877.242.4472
The true purpose of your advertising shouldn’t be branding or to get your name out there, but rather direct response marketing to get your customers to visit your store, your website, or pick up the phone and call you. When you do this the right way, branding is a happy byproduct. And when you do this the right way, you create affinity with your list; they begin to like you and trust you even if they haven’t actually met you in person. This affinity is also a happy byproduct of a proper direct response campaign.
However, it does take consistency to create a responsive list. Most dealers don’t understand that a list that hasn’t been marketed to will usually be a very cold list, meaning it will not generate a good response. Consider this, if you receive a communication from a business that you’ve done business with in the past, but they’ve never marketed to you before you can be caught off guard. Especially if the message is, “Hey! Wanna buy a new bike?” (even though you’re likely not in the market).
Compare that with the feelings you have when you receive marketing from a business that you’ve had a relationship with and they reach out to you with friendly, beneficial messages on a regular basis. In this case, the list goes from cold, to warm, to warmer, to even hot.
We recently had a dealer who had been in business for 50 years but didn’t even have a customer list. No emails, no physical addresses, no phone numbers. This was a huge red flag and a clear indicator that his customers never heard from him. As I’ve said in this newsletter for the last 5 years, and I will continue to do so until I’m blue in the face, your customer list is the biggest asset you have.
Why do your customers buy from you? As you’ve likely heard, people buy from people that they know, like, and trust. In fact, years ago the University of Wisconsin did a study and found that 50% of sales are due to feelings of friendship.
As Jeffery Gitomer says, “If you make a sale, you can earn a commission. If you make a friend, you can earn a fortune.”
For these reasons, here at Powersports Marketing we believe strongly in one-to-one, relationship-building, direct marketing from a real human being, to a real human being, with a relevant and compelling message inviting your customers to your dealership.
The way we construct our Sharp Shooter marketing campaigns are so that even if your customers can’t take you up on your offer at this time, they feel a sense of gratitude that you’ve reached out to them. They appreciate hearing from you, and therefore as time passes and consistency happens, your list gets warmer and warmer, with responses increasing consistently over time.
So with Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas quickly approaching (three great excuses to reach out to your customers), don’t ignore your customers, they want to hear from you. They LOVE to buy from you, but don’t want to be sold. So, contact us today for a FREE market analysis and we’ll show you exactly how to execute a 3-step “Hallow-Thanks-Mas” marketing campaign that will warm your list right up without the hard sell! 877.242.4472
