Will it be You?How Todays Customers Choose

Who to Buy From By Andrew Wood

Consumer decision making has rapidly and dramatically changed

• This has left many companies in dire straights even without the added effects of the recession

• What worked four years ago is no longer even relevant

• If you have not realized how buying behavior has dramatically shifted you are at a huge disadvantage in your market!

For hundreds of years companies built their brand, generated leads & sales with advertising

• Print ads• Direct mail• TV and radio • Public relations• Billboards • Brochures• Trade shows and events

Companies enjoyed a virtual monopoly of what the public read about their products & services!

There were few contrary opinions or other sources of available information

Other than a handful of magazines

This advertising created a positive idea in the consumers mind

Consumers typically choose the heavily advertised brands first

Brands could charge a premium price

Customers stayed loyal to a brand for a long time!

This has gone the way of the Dodo in all but a small handful of industries

Advertising is no longer the main source of consumer information

Advertising is no longer a trusted source of consumer information

Now consumers go online and get pricing, peer reviews and customer feedback directly from Trip Advisor

Golf Now

Amazon

Trip Advisor, Hotels.com Yelp and hundreds of other sites

Customers get their ideas and perceptions about your business before they even call from;

• Search engine results• Websites• Blogs• Forums• Linkedin• Facebook• Twitter • And 100’s more review sites

These sources are far more credible to the consumer than advertising

Purchasing decisions are often made before customers call or walk in

The pre-sale marketing process has become self- service with the consumer in control!

They can easily find all kinds of information about you or a competitor in seconds

So you’d better be influencing the results they are see by being part of the conversation

Show up 1st when they search Google

Collect data on their 1st visit it may be your only chance to follow up!

Make a full sales pitch on your website it may be the only chance you get!

Very few companies do this and lose out big time!

• Bullet points are not a sales pitch• Customers will not fill in the presentation

blanks for you• Or necessarily draw the same conclusions you

want them to from bullet points• Let the customer decide what’s too much

information • Don’t under inform them about the benefits of

your products and service!

Your photos should be of high quality, again, it may be the only chance you get!

Check your social reputation regularly on review sites and groups

Use video and Youtube to show case you products, services and expertise

,

Comment in groups, blogs and on forums so you are seen and heard!

Offer lots of FREE, high content information on your website, Linkedin & Facebook

Offer comparisons

Use lots of Testimonials

Showcase awards

Share feedback from existing customers on other sites

Dominate your social media space

Competition is fierce

• People know what your competition charges • So you better be able to demonstrate your

unique strengths! (USP)

• You’d better have an orchestrated sales system to maximize every lead

Once sold you must stay connected to your customer so they are not lured away

In the past your client list was safe

• Now your competitors can easily find your member’s, customer’s and client’s on Facebook, Linkedin and others.

• They will traget them and their friends specifically and relentlessly with pay per click and remarking efforts

• You must engage educate and entertain your customers at every turn so you move them from customers to clients to partners!

The speed of this change has left many baffled and floundering

In just 4 years 100 years of marketing strategy was destroyed.

• Most companies now find their marketing efforts more ineffective than ever!

• Most agencies have not been able to make the change, it’s just not how they are set up to bill or function!

• You need expert help to negotiate the mine field and not only survive but thrive in the NEW, Consumer DRIVEN economy!

For marketing strategies that work in the new economy …

C Contact Andrew @

Andrew@LegendaryMarketing.com1-352-266-2099WWW.LegendaryMarketing.comWWW.AndrewWoodInc.com

Other Resources:

http://golfmarketingbible.comhttp://cunninglyclevermarketing.comhttp://andrewwoodinc.com/#consulting