Knowing Or Not Knowing How To Market A Product Online Will Be Make Or Break For Your Business
Your business must sell your products and services to survive so you must know how to market a product online to attract your ideal customers.
The process of starting your business has many elements that you must put in place for everything to work. It starts with an idea, a seed that is planted in your mind which then creates a vision. You can see what life could be like when this becomes to reality, but it still seems a long way off.
Your business must have a plan in place which you can follow and then implement each step to move forward. Your ideas must be developed, tested to ensure that they work before you can even start to think about marketing.
That is why the process of my Build Your AU program works so well time and time again. I help you define who you are so you can present yourself from a place of authenticity. Then we work together on defining what your natural talents and gifts are to establish your authority.
These two steps are huge and will have massive impact on the marketing of your products and services. I say this because the first two steps are focused on you and your story and these will form your marketing plan.
When learning how to market a product online you must follow a simple formula which I am going to share today. As I go through the formula it will become apparent why it is so intricately linked to your authenticity and authority. This will give you the foundations to launch any marketing campaign online and have a greater potential to succeed. So, let’s get started!
Knowing How To Market A Product Online Relies On Defining Who Your Ideal Customer Is
What you must gain clarity on is what your ideal customers looks like, an avatar in other words. This is a real person and not just a virtual or imaginary being which some business owners forget. They are not just a credit or debit card or a transaction that you see in your sales ledger.
You must look at the products and services that you provide and work out who they are tailored for. Who is going to benefit from purchasing from you and create that person who you can then target?
Look at age, gender, marital status, what job they do, have they got kids, income, expenditure and lifestyle. Define what they are passionate about and what their goals dreams and desires are.
Then pick a name for that person and write it down because this is the person that you want to serve. It also pays to look at men and women because your products and services could fit both. It may sound silly but even go the lengths of grabbing an image online for each and putting them on your white board. These will be the people you speak to in your marketing message.
When you look at what you come up with you will find that they have many similarities to you. Sometimes looking in the mirror will help you come up with these profiles. This is what the first pillar of the Build Your AU program focus on by defining you as a person.
Where Do They Hang Out Online?
You have now got a visual representation of who your ideal customers are, now you must go and locate them online. The internet is a massive environment, but you will be surprised just how easy it is to find your ideal customers. Unlike the days before the internet where you were restricted to locality and the means to communicate.
It is highly likely that your products and services fall into what are referred to as niches. In simple terms a niche is a topic or interest that a specific group of people are interested in. So, it makes sense that there are areas or pockets online where people who are interested in the same thing, hang out.
Now you may be wondering just how you find these niches online so here are a few ideas to get you going. Again, your own habits will help you with this. You can start with identifying the top websites that you ideal customers visit.
Then there are online forums, message boards and then the powerhouse which is social media. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and sites such as LinkedIn are places where groups are available for you to join to follow influencers.
Video hosting sites such a YouTube & Vimeo are a massive hangout for people online. Look at the channels and subscribe to the ones that are appropriate and relevant to your niche.
Time to think out of the box and look at podcasting platforms and sign up to specific channels around your niche. Then we go a bit more traditional with a modern twist to look at what they are reading. There are many ezines, which are electronic magazines, and blogs you can follow.
All these platforms can be leveraged to market your products and services.
Hook Them In Through Advertising
It is then time to get your fishing rod out, but you don’t need to get wet sitting by the end of the pond. You will start to dangle hooks within your advertising in the hope that people will bite and take the bait.
When I say hope I mean that loosely because there is a science to creating the right hook. This comes down to your story and how you use it. Your hook must grab attention, but it must also be backed up. Now one likes false promises so behind your hook (headline) then must be substance which is your social proof. To emphasise the importance of creating great hooks I published a post on this topic recently which you can read here.
To many times you see sensationalism within advertising which draws people in only then to drive them away. The upshot is that they then never come back so you have wasted your time, effort and money.
So, come up with a headline grabbing hook that is true. Then behind that your story will market you and your business to the point of them making the person an offer. Your story is designed to build a rapport and relationship with the person who has clicked on your ad.
It is also designed to break down any false beliefs or barriers that they may put up. You will find that individuals will do anything they can to talk themselves out of buying something. If they can see proof within your story, then it is easier for them to remove those barriers and then start to believe. Then you can make your offer.
Your Offer Defines What’s In It for Them
When you have made your offer don’t just let it sit idle. Back up your offer by telling the person the unique result that you can create for them. Don’t focus on the product itself, focus more on the lasting experience that you can provide to that person.
When you do this the only barrier that may have been in place would be price. When that person can see all the benefits, the result you are promising and the experience they will have, price is no longer a roadblock.
You will then have them in the palm of your hand, but you still need to do one more thing. That is tell them what to do and where to do it. This is called a Call To Action (CTA) and the place where the transaction takes place.
It may be a “Buy Now” button on your page, it may be a link to click that takes them to the order page. Whatever facility you have set up to take their credit card details you must tell them what to do.
This process must be smooth and a great experience also. It is a big commitment they are making to rust you with their money so make sure your payment processor works.
Fulfilling Your Promise
If it’s a digital product that you are providing, make sure that your system delivers access without any hitches.
The last thing you want is your customer not getting access information delivered to their inbox. It causes unnecessary stress and doubt in you as a businessperson. They then must email you and wait for your reply, and during his time they are left hanging. Prevention is better than cure so make sure your communication is spot on.
If it is a physical product, make sure that you have it in stock and your picking, packing and shipment process works. Give clear information on when their products have been shipped and the necessary tracking information. This saves you and the customer any stress because both parties can see the progress of the delivery stage until completion.
Buying and selling should be an enjoyable experience for the customer and the vendor. This is how to market a product online and then fulfil the promise that you make to your ideal customer. It is a lot easier to sell to an existing customer than constantly trying to acquire new ones. If you get this process right, then they will come back time and time again!
Helping you build your authenticity, authority and audience.
Trish Davies
Build Your AU
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