Trigger Marketing

What is your business known for? Is it what you want it to be known for?

The bigger question is, are you sure that’s what you’re known for? You see what a customer perceives is what is reality.

If you believe you are the highest quality producer, but your customers think of you as medium quality but a low price, that’s what you are.

What the customer thinks is what matters.

Let’s take a test. Get a piece of paper and write down your answers to these questions.

1. The safest car made
2. The ultimate driving machine
3. Toughest truck

Now because this is in writing you may have cheated and looked at the answers below, but each of these companies have developed a marketing strategy to become known as the statements above. They didn’t leave it up to chance.

If you don’t have a clear and distinct difference, your customers will do one of two things:

A. Assign you a label based on their experience with your company – could be good/could be bad

B. Ignore you because you are a “me-too” company and therefore irrelevant

Look at GM and Chrysler. They’re both in trouble and they’re brands don’t mean anything anymore. What is a Pontiac?

The sad thing is that most small businesses are me-too companies and are doomed to a life of struggling for sales, competing almost exclusively on price and diminishing margins.

Companies that take the time to develop a truly distinct marketing strategy have the ability to “own” that space in the customer’s mind. When someone wants the safest car made, they automatically think of Volvo.

So how do you develop this distinct marketing strategy? Start by answering these questions:

1. What are the most important criteria for your customers when they buy what you sell?
2. Of those what do your competitors already own?
3. Of those that are left what can you deliver on better than your competitors?
4. Create a company wide strategy to deliver on that singular strategy

Remember its all about what is in the mind of the customer. You must first truly understand what is important to your customers and then determine what you can own.

A key to owning a particular position is ability to deliver. Make sure you have the ability and credentials to own that position. The next step is to clearly and consistently communicate it to your customers and prospects. Don’t get sucked into trying to be all things to all people, there is no such thing and all you will do is lose.

Answers to the above:

1. Volvo
2. BMW
3. Ford

To learn more, download our free eBook "Seat of your pants marketing - The 10 biggest mistakes small businesses make and what to do about it"

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