BUSINESS
Marketing Tips for People Who Are Afraid of Marketing
If you’re like me, the word marketing sends your heart galloping. Your palms get sweaty. You get a headache. Confusion…where to start? What to do? Sadly, if you are in any kind of trade for goods or services, you can’t avoid marketing. Whether you are selling cardboard boxes or legal services, you have to do some form of marketing to keep the income side of your business accounts healthy. Lately, I’ve been doing more legal services marketing work than actual legal work and I have to admit that I am beginning to love it. I know, I can’t explain it. It’s a new found love of selling. Maybe it’s because I love the product I am selling. But I think it’s beyond that. It’s more about understanding and keying into the fundamentals of marketing. Look, I don’t claim to be a marketing guru, but I’ve got good experience to draw from.
What is Marketing?
Marketing is simply everything that you do to promote and sell goods and services. Marketing includes research to understand your customers’ needs and wants. Packaging your product in a way that is attractive and appealing to your potential customers. Placing your goods or services at a vantage position in the marketplace. Advertising your goods or services through different channels. Essentially, getting your product seen by customers and getting customers interested enough to part with their money in exchange for your product.
Marketing Lessons From the Fish Sellers From My Childhood
By the time I met my grandparents, they were well into their sixties and had settled into semi-retirement in Port Harcourt. My grandfather was a retired school administrator, using his administrative skills to support my grandmother in her maternity home/birth centre. Just behind the street that we lived on was a river where fish traders met with fishermen to get their catch of the day. My grandmother’s maternity home was at the corner of the street and so, naturally, they would pass by before heading to the market. So here are a few things that I learnt.
You Have to Tell Customers What You are Selling
Customers can’t buy if they don’t know what you are selling. Every morning, street hawkers would call out their merchandise as they walked through the streets. They didn’t just say what they were selling, they asked for the sale. “Buy bread. Buy your sweet bread here.” “Njima e, Naira e (fish here, fish here)”. Some fish sellers were specific. “Songu ma e, songuma e.” I don’t know the English name for songu, but they look like baby herrings. We bought them for my grandfather’s cat. Yes, his cats were pampered like that. They were served fish and Peak (name brand) milk.
Anyway, street traders carrying their goods would always call out what it was they were selling so that potential customers were aware that they were in the vicinity. In fact, pretty soon, if they kept the same route, their voices became their trademark.
It works the same for our formal businesses. You have to show up where your customers are and tell them what you are selling. If they are on Facebook, then you meet them on Facebook. You can use sponsored posts, engagements in their Facebook communities, or activity on your own Facebook page using the keywords that will bring them to you. The ultimate goal is to be where they are, get their attention, and tell them what you are selling. Do you have a service? Do you have a product? You have to tell them. This is what I have to sell.
Customers Must Be Able to Find You
Fish traders got their fish from other fish markets. There were as many meeting points for fish traders and fishermen as there were streams and rivers in and around Port Harcourt. If we needed some fish and hadn’t been visited by our regular fish traders, we knew where to find them in the market. When you show up on social media, do people who might be interested in your goods and services know where to find you? Are your DMs accessible? Do you have your website address or contact details positioned so that they are easy to find? Are you responsive to messages and inquiries sent to you? There is no point having contact details available if you are not going to respond to valid inquiries.
You Have to be Visible in the Market When You Start
When you have something to sell in the market, your goods must be on display. In the fish market, those who sold shrimps had a selection of shrimps on a tray for display. Those who had fish did the same. If they sold live fish, the fish would be in a large basin, visible to customers. The more visible your stall, the more likely your goods will be seen.
When you establish a reputation and have formed a strong relationship with your customers they will seek you out. It doesn’t matter whether your stall is the first one they encounter at the entrance of the market, or it is located at the end of a maze of muddy ground. If they have a good relationship with you, they like your goods and the way you treat them, your customers will find you wherever you are in the market. They will describe your location, even draw a map, for others who want to buy what you sell. They’ll emphasize to their friends and family not to buy from the stall next to yours unless you are out of stock. Customers are loyal like that when they like what you sell and you treat them well.
Today, there are some people offering services that they don’t need to advertise. They have satisfied enough customers that the customers keep coming back and bringing new customers along with them.
You Have to Know Your Customer
What do they like? What do they want? What do they need? The fish sellers my grandmother patronized knew that there were certain types of fish that she didn’t buy. When all they had were those types of fish, they wouldn’t just walk by the house. They would still acknowledge my grandmother and say, “Ma, today I no get your type o.” An acknowledgment of your customer’s desires goes a long way. You may not make the sale that day, but you strengthen the customer relationship. You can’t satisfy your customer if you do not know them – what they like, what they want, what they need.
You Must Understand That Sometimes NO Simply Means Not Today
There were times when the fish sellers came by and my grandmother did not buy anything. It didn’t mean that they stopped coming by. Because a “no” one day could simply mean that today is just not a good day for me to buy something. I still have a freezer full of fish from the last 50 kg fish I bought from you. Or, what’s in my wallet will not support buying this fish and the other pressing needs I have to satisfy for the household. Or, this is one of those types of fish that this family doesn’t eat. Today is just not the day. So, for today, it’s a no.
If you’re like me, the first no probably shuts you down. I have already admitted how I feel about marketing. But there is no escaping it. If you want to sell your goods and services, you cannot stop at the first no. You have to probe and determine if the no means, not today, or if it means not ever, before you give up.
Going the Extra Mile Can Get You the Sale
My grandparents were in their sixties when I met them. They were not doing much in the kitchen as far as I can remember. Sometimes, if there was no help around the house, the thought of who would gut and clean the fish almost came between the fish seller and their sale. To complete the sale, most times, they would clean the fish at no extra charge.
You have to understand what is holding your customer back from buying what you are offering. Is there something a little extra that they want that would make their lives just a little easier? Can you provide it? Do you sell complimentary goods and services that make you more attractive than your competitor? How much value can you add to keep the customer happy and coming back for more? If it’s not going to put you out of business, do it. Give the customer that added bonus that will keep your business at the top of their mind. If you don’t offer the goods or service to make it possible, you could partner with another business that does.
Going the extra mile means more sales, positive reviews, and referrals.
I am not an expert at marketing, but framing the process within this experience has been helpful for me. I hope some of this is helpful to you as well.
Tell me, if you’re like me and you are not keen on marketing, how do you approach marketing yourself and your business? Are you at the stage where you can hire professionals to take care of that aspect of your business? Or have you found a way to overcome your fears around marketing?
