Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Good morning, Tahir

Firstly having a high price is no disadvantage. It demonstrates quality, and to those who want quality, need quality and deliver quality the price they pay you will be well worth spending that little extra on. There's an old saying here in Holland "Goedkoop is duurkoop" - buying cheap costs you in the end.

So your job is to find the kind of people who are confident in their business and the quality it delivers - and you'll have no problems with price. They'll appreciate the extra dimensions of service you offer. Since you're a global organization means you can aim at a super-refined niche.

The kinds of strategies I come up with are usually tailored directly to your business, and what your customers most need of you. This can get a little unsettling when I start probing the "how you do it" because most businessmen haven't the self confidence to stand up and start demonstrating their abilities.

Having said that, as a general conceptual structure I would suggest

1) The Foundation. A Google display network campaign. This is essentially for raw leads and information on who they are. The flexibility of this network is its strength and can yield valuable info on who your best customers are - and from this you can develop a real character profile of them. This can be used for all subsequent levels in your marketing strategy. You can also use this to extend your display network campaigns into territory nobody else would touch - for example I advertise my marketing services using a keyword "Louis Armstrong". Why? Well that's because I've found out what they like and why! It's a very low profile campaign, and I'd not expect it otherwise - it does use an expertise that few marketers know about, let alone use.

This is the widest part of your funnel.

2) Adwords - for those who are looking for what you're doing. Again this uses info from (1) because you need super-fine targeting to be truly effective.

3) Email autoresponders - will define who you are and can also weed out the rotten apples (customers who do "good" business but cost you money). Email lists will also keep the interest going.

4) Social media is also a useful lead generator, each needs handling in their own way and needs to connect to those who need/like how you do business. You can visit https://isfb4me.com to see if Facebook would be effective for you.

5) Direct mail, Magazine ads, TV ads - are all expensive options. These should only be used for pre-qualified leads. That is to say, they're a good match within your refined niche. If you have emails or actual addresses of real people then take the time to write them something. Literally write it for them and them alone. It doesn't take long and you'll know what to say because their character will be like your best customers - and you can tailor this to their immediate needs (middle eastern bakers have different needs to one in Germany for example). The inspirations you get by going through this can feed back to your display network campaigns in step 1.

All of the above is to eliminate poor customers and get you good ones. The ones who come back time and time again. So: what have returning customers told you about their motivations in choosing you? What have those coming to by referral told you they'd been told about your business? This kind of thing is gold dust for a high-quality company.

Security of income in the real world is having enough returning customers to cover all your immediate costs. That is the best guarantee in the world.

Why?

Because they trust you to deliver, they trust you to help them stay in business. It's a virtuous circle that will withstand economic ups and downs. Expansion happens when another good client comes on board - and by the time you've got a few good clients you'll know what they're like just by the way they speak to you on the phone.

Does this help? More info on your business and I can get more specific.

I'd start by better understanding who is buying from you. Where are they located? Why did they select your offering (over the competition)? How often do they buy from you? Your marketing mission is twofold: find more people like your existing customers (worldwide) and find people who'd care about your offering (i.e., they are unsatisfied by their choices for their needs). This requires good research (you need to ask a number of key questions to better understand the problems/outcomes they have/seek) and then an understanding of how to reach more of these people (Internet advertising? Magazine? Newsletter? Trade show? Direct mail? Phone?). You'll need to pick the right tools to reach people once you better understand who they are and how they are "connected".

Jay is right. You need to really understand what makes the buyers in your market tick and why some are customers and others not. Every time I am tempted to skip this critical research I remind myself about the way companies undermine their own marketing efforts by saving a few dollars (or Euros, or whatever) on market research and then paying it back many times over for years.

Customer research is one of the best investments a company can make. You just have to be sure you are asking the right questions of the right people in the right way. If you are not expert at this, hire a market research professional for a few hours to guide you.

I would also underlne Jay's commment. It'a most important to know who - and why - buys from you. There is quite a little work to be done analyzing this an elbaoratin the right strategy.

Whatever you do without that would simply be a costly 'shot in the dark', also with adword-campaigns and such.

I have been busy in all 5 continets, i. e. you also have to understand the mentality in each part of the world !!

However I don't like to give 'general' ideas, I prefer to first look into the product and then give a more 'founded' reply.

If interested (Material removed per guidelines).

Your service quality and prices are irrelvant. If I'm a baker in a five star restaurant, how likely am I to want to make my cakes and pasries with a mix? What is it that you and only you offer that buyers truly value? What key attributes do they look for? Do NOT guess at this: ask them. Then use what you learn to reframe and focus your messages.

Do five star hotels and restaurants really buy pre-mixed ingredients?

If so, as Gary so wisely suggests above, ask the customers you already have, why they buy from you. Five "whys" should get you to the root cause or core reason for their purchase. Come back here with that info and we can help you some more.