Are you struggling to find new customers? Do your marketing campaigns fall flat? Are you pouring a ton of money into advertising but getting very little bang for your buck?
Look, I get it—marketing is tricky, and it’s especially tricky in 2024. With so many different platforms, strategies, and ways to reach your audience, where do you even start?
Maybe it’s time to get back to basics.
Today, I’m going to share the secret sauce for a marketing campaign that brings in more customers and, more importantly, maximizes your customer lifetime value (CLV). The best part? It’s not rocket science! You can achieve this in five simple steps, regardless of your industry, your market, or the size of your business.
So, let’s dive in!
1. Answer THIS Crucial Question
Before you can weave all of your clever marketing materials and ideas into action, you’ve got to stop and take time to mull over the most important question in marketing:
“Out of all of the options the prospect has for solving their problem, including nothing, why should they buy from you?”
In other words, put yourself in your customer’s shoes. What does your business offer that they won’t be able to get somewhere else? What’s your unique selling proposition (USP)? What do you do better than any other business in your market?
Without an answer to this question, your marketing campaign is destined for mediocrity at best and failure at worst.
2. Determine Your Ideal Customer
Now that you know what separates you from your competition, it’s time to figure out which type of customer is most compatible with your business, products, and services.
You can craft a clear and detailed description of your ideal customer by asking and answering these four simple questions:
- What motivates them to buy?
- What problems are they trying to solve?
- What are they most worried about?
- What are their hopes and dreams, and how can your product help them reach them?
3. Figure Out How to Reach Your Ideal Customer
With a clear picture of who you’re trying to reach with your marketing campaign, start thinking about how you’re going to reach them.
The good news? It’s never been easier to communicate with your target audience than it is in 2024! Just think about all of the different ways we connect with people compared to 30 years ago.
Can you get a prospect’s cell phone number or address? What about their email address or one of their half-dozen social media handles?
4. Launch Your Marketing Campaign
Finally, it’s time to dive into the meat and potatoes of your marketing plan—your campaign!
Start planning all of the different elements you’ll need. Write the advertising copy, create the media that will accompany it, and determine the most effective and efficient method of reaching them.
Now that everything’s in place and you’re ready to launch make sure you commit to your campaign for six months. A half-baked marketing campaign isn’t much better than having no campaign at all.
While your campaign is running, track and measure your results. Then, test against your new benchmark and adjust your campaign as needed. Finally, automate this entire process so that your marketing strategy is constantly running in the background—even when you’re busy!
5. Plan Your Follow-Up Process
Last but definitely not least, let’s look at the most important step in your marketing process: following up.
The truth is that this is where the real money is made, yet it’s the step where so many business owners drop the ball.
It’s expensive to find a new customer. In fact, acquiring new customers will exhaust most, if not all, of your marketing budget and resources. But here’s the trick—once you have a new customer on board, your marketing costs drop dramatically. Now that you have established a relationship, built rapport, and have their contact information, it should be easy to connect with them and continue selling, upselling, and cross-selling to them.
Your goal should be for your first sale to be the first of many.
Now, the real work begins. Start building a system for following up with your new customers so that you can continue to sell to them and maximize their lifetime value!