People do business with, unless they are contractually bound, people who
they know, like and trust. It takes repetitive marketing to build that trust.
Most people have to receive a minimum of 7 to 10 marketing touches before they
will consider doing business with you. To understand how important repetition
is we first have to understand why it is important. Here are five reasons why
you need to tell your target audience, tell them again and tell them that you
told them.
Need drives the buy
First, whatever it is you are selling, your target may not need it right
now. Maybe they just got a brand new pair of diabetic shoes. Maybe they do not
have any patients who need a
microprocessor knee at the moment. However, that does not mean
that need won’t change over time.
Build and keep trust
Second, if you reach out to someone with whom you’ve never
conducted bus iness before, you might have to work to build a certain level of
trust before business transactions resume. It might take some time before
people or companies want to start doing business with you or start doing
business with you again.
Money is tight
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| © 2010 iStockphoto.com/Rich Yasick |
Third, it is all about the money. Someone might need a new pair of
diabetic shoes but can’t afford to buy them. The insurance company
won’t cover another pair for 6 months. Plain and simple, They just
don’t have the money … right now. Keep sending the message out and
when the money is available, it is more likely to flow back your way than if
you stopped sending out the message.
Too busy for business
The fourth reason to remind your audience, they are busy. It’s the
end of the year and each practice is trying to finish prostheses and get them
delivered and billed. They don’t have time to learn about the latest
device or software coming down the line. Remind them and once things slow down,
they will reply.
Ignorance is bliss
Fifth, they have no idea what you are talking about. Maybe the sales
representative never came by with the new knee. Maybe he or she came by three
times but the practitioner was never available so he or she never saw the new
product.
Repetition is key
I don’t want to beat a dead horse about how important it is to
repeat your marketing message … or do I? Of course I do.
It’s too boring you say? Well, “marketing message” does
not have to mean that you are sending out the same postcard over and over and
over again. Although, there’s nothing wrong with that, just ask Geico.
People have short attention spans so you might have to use a combination
of tactics — postcard,
facebook, sales representative, e-mail newsletter, regular
snail mail letter, trade show or inservice. The important thing to remember is
that you need to repeat the message.
You can not just send out one letter or one postcard. You can not just
have the sales representative stop by one time. You can not just send out one
e-mail newsletter. You can not just attend one trade show or conduct one
inservice. Sure, I know it may sound boring but repetition is the key to sales.
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