Every organization needs to be marketed well in order to make any impact in its industry or target market. This applies to for-profit and nonprofit organizations alike. If part of your business model includes selling products or services, one of the most vital uses of your marketing is to increase sales of your various offerings. Here are four ways you can increase sales through marketing.
1. Direct Response Marketing
A direct response marketing campaign can be a useful tool for those who can benefit from continuously updating customers via email. If a regular email newsletter would be beneficial to or welcomed by your customers, you may do well to incorporate direct response marketing into your marketing toolbox. With this method, you send out a general email to existing customers, such as those who've provided their email addresses when making in-store purchases, with some information about a sale or new product and a call to action. Your email should pique customers' interest and compel them to respond to the call to action. Most calls to action include signing up for email rosters, joining groups or RSVPing to events. For example, an organization like USANA Health Sciences might structure its direct marketing campaign as an email campaign containing general health advice, with a call to action asking interested customers to opt into an email marketing list. Then, those who opt in can receive more personalized or in-depth health advice from the organization as well as information on various offerings USANA Health Sciences offers.
2. Identifying Ideal Customers
To market effectively, you need to know who your customers are. This includes conducting demographics research, checking product reviews and developing customer personas. Two types of customers to identify are the archetypal ideal customer and your actual top customers. The ideal customer isn't an actual customer, but rather a representation of your core or most profitable demographic. If, for example, you're running a makeup brand, your core demographic may be women aged twenty to forty and your ideal customer will represent that demographic.
This way, you have a fictional perfect customer that you can design a marketing campaign for. Developing marketing for a specific person rather than a nebulous demographic can help ensure the messaging is tighter and better targeted.
3. Consistency and Persistence
Sometimes, it can take your marketing some time to take off and spread. For example, if you're working on organic word-of-mouth campaigns, it can take longer for word to spread and for you to see the results of your campaign.
Whatever way you choose to market, make sure your campaign and branding are consistent and you stick to your schedule and plan. If you're focusing on social media marketing, for example, make sure whoever is running the campaign has a consistent schedule for posting and there are people available to interact with customers both on the spot and at scheduled times. Every marketing campaign should also have a standards guide so every ad you put out has the same quality and feel. If your tv spots and your newsletters make customers feel like they're looking at two different brands or are seeing ads for different products, something is wrong. The customers will be confused and your marketing campaign won't provide you with the results you're looking for.
4. Continuous Improvement
While you should ensure your branding and messaging are consistent, this doesn't mean you should allow them to grow stale. As much as brands need to be recognizable in their marketing, they should also continually improve their offerings and update their marketing and design to reflect current trends. Keep an eye on emerging trends and technologies in your industry that can improve your marketing, extend your reach or adopt helpful technologies.
Continuous improvement is essential for you to keep up with or surpass your competitors and to continue to reach customers as tastes and demographics shift over time.
These and other strategies can help you increase sales through marketing.
Related: 4 Ways to Boost Your Sales