At yesterday’s small business marketing workshop, we looked at some basic building blocks for a strong marketing foundation. They are all based on the premise that marketing is more than a set of long definitions regurgitated out of textbook onto an exam. Marketing, as defined perfectly by John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing , is:
Getting people with a specific need to KNOW, LIKE and TRUST you.
(Wow, John, here’s a link that goes back to ’04 when you talked about this!!)
KNOW – this is the efforts you make to bring awareness and education to your target marketing. Letting them get to know you, your values, your products/services. Knowledge.
LIKE – this happens either pre-sale or after repeated experiences. But this LIKE factor is strengthened by things you do, things you say or values that are communicated in person, on your blog, in a video, etc… While not completely emotional, when a prospect or customer LIKES doing business with you, you’re half-way there!
TRUST – this is the treasure! When you’ve build trust – most of the time from many repeated experiences – you’ve got 2 things going for you. One, that TRUST breeds loyalty. Customers come back because they wouldn’t imagine going anywhere else. You no longer have to compete with your competition on price (as much) when you have a trust relationship. Another thing that happens in this TRUST area: referrals!
Speaking of loyalty – found this good article from Training Marketer (also scroll down to watch the video on the lazy web site!)
and
Speaking of referrals – did you notice the new badge in the upper right corner? MakeAReferralWeek.com is an exciting promotion brought to you by some of the world’s best marketing minds! More on this in the days to come . . . as a Duct Tape Marketing Coach , I am eager to introduce this to you further and show you how you can participate!
-Randy
* If you are in the Fort Worth area, come join us this coming Tuesday, 2/24, at Noon for a Small Business Marketing workshop !