Generate Interest
Tornadoes are powerful forces of nature. They dip down to earth with surprising speed and force. Create a series of options for prospective clients and you can turn that speed and force into success for your business.
Marketing Tornado
Your journey starts high up in the clouds. You don’t know yet where the tornado will occur. Your goal here is to let people know that you exist and to get them to take a look at what you have to offer. Advertising and social networking are the tools you want to use here. Traditional advertising, like print ads and direct mail, may be just what’s needed. Many more options are available online. Create social network accounts. Make your profile as appealing as you possibly can. Look into keyword advertising. Your goal here is to get your marketing messages working automatically for you. Give people a way to find you and to discover more about you.
People interested in your initial message will help you begin to create your tornado. They may not be ready to buy yet, but they are willing to give you some of their time. And they will often give you permission to continue contacting them. Make it easy and inexpensive for them to stay in touch.
When people are interested, give them something that will help them get more strongly connected with you.
Consider offering:
- A Newsletter – Newsletters are great because you automatically have permission to continue contacting prospective clients. Make it easy to sign up. Most people ask only for an email address and maybe a name. Make your newsletter interesting with valuable content and people will continue to listen to you.
- A Free Webinar – One of the best ways to do this is to interview someone who has information the audience will find useful. Often experts will do this for free because it gives them exposure as well. Look for a free or low-cost online conference service. Give people a simple way to register for the call. Record the call so you can make it available to those who missed the live session. Offer your experts copies of their sessions to use as they wish. Treat them very well and you will generate great relationships and repeat business.
- Reports or Small Ebooks – Write something useful and interesting that people can download. Many people offer a free report or ebook as a bonus to get people to sign up for their newsletter. Don’t like to write? Consider paying a freelance writer to create your document.
Now that people have been attracted and you have given them a taste of what you offer, it’s time to help them decide to buy something from you. Part 2 of this article discusses how to move prospective customers from being interested to making a purchase.
