11 Things to Mull Over While Planning Your Season

April 16, 2021

11 Things to Mull Over While Planning Your Season

Time for a brain dump. This past year I have seen some great ideas, some marginal ideas and some that are just downright bad. When we are trying to influence our customers what may sound like a great idea may turn out to be a lousy one. Or we may not deliver it in a way that reaches our goal.

Here are some of my thoughts on what and what not to do when marketing your business.

1. The thing that a lot of marketing campaigns forget is that the most important sale is not the first one. The most important sale you will make is your second one. Make the first sale so great that the customer not only will come back, but will also want to talk about your great service.
2. Some things just don’t change. We have always understood that we needed to get our message out repeatedly. What has changed is the frequency of the message. Old school marketing said the customer needed to see your ad at least 3 times. With the onslaught of digital marketing, the number is closer to 15 times. Think through your advertising and then plan for your exposure in that medium to last longer than a short 3 times. In other words, make your advertising consistent on a particular platform and don’t give up if you don’t see results within 3 weeks. Keep tweaking and getting your message out there.
3. The biggest mistakes and the most costly are not tracking each marketing campaign. Just measuring the number of people coming through the door, clicking on an ad or checking out the website isn’t enough. Diving deep into the campaign analytics and determining the why, where, when and how of a customer’s reaction is critical to success.
4. It costs close to five times as much to get a new customer as it does to keep an existing customer. Frequently we offer new customers great deals while ignoring our existing customer. Let’s make them feel like they are as special as the new customer.
5. Don’t ignore those nasty reviews online. This is the perfect opportunity to stand out in the crowd by acknowledging the issue, apologizing for any inconvenience and acting to repair a tarnished image.
6. Marketing isn’t something that an employee does. Marketing is what everyone in your business does. Make sure that everyone has been trained to market the business.
7. Exaggerated claims and photos will give customers inflated expectations. When they arrive and things don’t live up to those expectations we have a customer who is so disappointed that they will make sure to tell everyone about it.
8. Remember the adage that 20% of customers make up 80% of sales. Take care of the 20%. While taking care of that 20%, the 80% will notice and want to become a part of the 20%.
9. Don’t try to be Steve Jobs. He was famous for saying that the customer doesn’t know what they want. It worked for him but he is the exception. Sell what your guests want, the benefits that they are looking for and the solutions that will satisfy their perceived need.
10. Understand who your guest is, what motivates them and how they behave, but don’t get locked in to a single definition. Guests are going to change over time. Their wants, needs and motivations are going to change. What a Baby Boomer wants isn’t the same as what a Millennial wants. Be prepared to change with them or even better change ahead of them.
11. Social Media is here to stay. We can’t afford to say that our customer doesn’t use Social Media because they do. Learn what it is about, how and when to use it, and then make it a part of your marketing plan.

I’m sure that everyone has considered each one of these, but it doesn’t hurt to have a reminder. Being successful doesn’t happen overnight and staying successful is hard work.

What things trigger your cringe button?

Don’t have time to do everything? Give Pamela a call at 800-478-0516 and get back to doing the things you love about your business. Be sure to join her group on LinkedIn, “Social Media in the RV Industry.” Check out her blog at www.FocusedOnMgmt.com/blog for more articles. If you would like to reprint this article, please email pwright@FocusedWords.com with your request.