Several people have already commented on our BGS Vault, the unique self-build marketing system now available for our clients to use.  The most asked question was 'how do you think I should advertise - direct mail, social media, yellow pages?'

Wrong question, or at least too early!  BGS walks you through a process so you get an optimal marketing outcome, that is, leads and prospects for your solution for their problem, whereas advertising is just the media in use to find the leads.  The media is irrelevant unless you have a clear understanding of who is your ideal customer and what the problems are which you are ideally placed to solve for them.  It is worth spending a few hours to get a highly effective result.

The process/ questions to work through (the key sections in BGS follow below) are these:

A) Who is the target customer for your offer?

That is, what is the niche you will focus on?  On BGS, there are questions that help you identify potential target markets (what do you do well, what product or service is the most profitable, who are the best customers and what do they have in common, etc.).

B) What value do they derive from your solution, and why is that valuable to them?

C) Why should people buy from you and not another supplier?  Hint - this is not "Our Service" (everybody will claim that) but it could be you deliver every order the same day.  (Then, you need to make sure you have a system that ensures that result every time).

D) Why don't they buy from you now?  (Many sales are to be made with the answer to this question.)

E) How can the customers be found (the media to use)?

These are all in BGS Vault , just log-in and click on:

"Creating Effective Marketing 1001"

Overview at 'Success Guide'

Either   1 for Success Guide - Products;  2 Success Guide - for Services; or 3 for Success Guide - Retail

- Consider your current marketing

6 Improving Existing Marketing Pieces

- Who is the target customer, or the niche in which you will operate?

13 Defining Your Target Market

- .Know who your Customer is, and understand your major Competitors

10 Customer Research

11 Competitor Research

(These will help when you get to Marketing Channels)

- Define your competitive advantage

16 Unique Perceived Benefit

- .Put together your Marketing offer

17 to 24   (as needed - especially Headlines )

- Select your Marketing Channels

Hint :  rarely just one or two will work well enough.  Once you know your customer is male, in his seventies and lives in a highrise unit with security access, how will you get your product (a brass-plated walking stick) in front of that customer?  It will need a combination of media.

27 Select Media Channels

Then, test the offers.  If direct mail, offer it under say 3 Headlines and Offers, send out 10 of each, and then decide which worked best (eg., most responses, best return, lowest cost per customer, etc.).

If you are really, really confused we are happy to critique your Plan for you.  If you are hopelessly lost, we include Marketing Planning in our Profit Improvement Program and can work out a Plan and arrangement for you.