Marketing Your Business Just Got Easier With These 7 Tips

Marketing Your Business Just Got Easier with These 7 Tips

1. Raise Your Price Point

Many people are inclined to under-price their products or services. So, as an experiment try increasing your prices and see what happens. You might be pleasantly surprised by the results. Many times, when people see a higher priced product or service, they perceive it to be of higher quality. This can actually encourage them to buy. A bonus to increasing your prices is that you’ll make more money per sale, thus increasing your profit margin.

For example, let’s say you run a mentoring program for businesses. You’d usually charge $200 an hour for your time and expertise. Test this by increasing your rates to $1000. With this perceived higher quality and value in your program you could aim to sign up businesses with higher incomes. As opposed to those who are struggling and wouldn’t have the money in their budgets to join your program. So, if you followed this strategy one new client would be worth 5 of your previous clients. Not only have you increased your hourly rate, but you’ve also significantly lessened the amount of time and work you have to do in order to achieve the same income.

Remember: Experiment with increasing your prices and look at targeting customers who have more money to spend on your products or services.

2. Use a 7, .97, 5, or .95 at the End of Your Prices

This is a really clever tactic. When pricing your product try charging $9.97 instead of $10. Even though this price is only a few cents less, it appears a lot cheaper to people in their heads. On higher ticket products or services, the exact same strategy can be applied, and it can work seriously well. Car dealers use this ploy all the time to draw in customers. For example, they wouldn’t advertise a car for $30,000, instead they’d price it at $29,995. Incredibly some people would think the car is $29,000, even though logically they know it’s $30,000.

Many marketers have ended their prices in 9 or .99 in the past. However, lately the trend seems to be moving towards 7, .97, 5, or .95. Products or services with their prices ending in these numbers seem to grab people’s attention even more and appear less expensive. This may seem unbelievable, but it truly works. After all, you’re not going to miss those few cents after seeing an increase in your conversion rate.

Remember: Make your prices seem cheaper by modifying them to end in 7, .97, 5, or .95. Doing this will help boost your conversions.

3. Next to Your Sales Price Refer to the “Normal” Price and Have a Reason for a Deal

It goes without saying that people love a bargain. When potential buyers see the variation between your normal price and your sales price, it impacts their buying decision. So, by listing your “normal” price alongside your sales price it suggests that they’re getting a super deal. In addition, they’re getting all this value for a lot less than usual.

For example, when you display your price write it as, “Normally $197 — Only $97 Today!”

You can give explanations as to why your product or service is discounted. For example, you could be running a holiday special, a manager’s special, an end of season discount and so on. Specify the reason for the discount next to the discounted price. This reinforces the validity of the offer and encourages them to take advantage of it.

Remember: Don’t forget people love a bargain. By listing your “normal” price next to your sales price you’re creating the perception of a super deal (e.g. “Normally $197 — Only $97 Today!”). Devise names for discounts around special occasions such as New Year, Halloween, manager’s special and so on.

4. Create a Valuable Giveaway (and Monetise The Backend)

It’s a fact that everybody loves to get something for free. Is there something that you sell just now that you could offer for free? If so, think about how you can monetise the back end of that. If you can offer something that others charge for then you’re at an advantage already.

For example, if you have a window cleaning service that specialises in office buildings you could offer your first window clean for free. It’s important to get feedback from your customer to see if they were satisfied with your service and would they like to continue. This works well to get new customers to try out your service. They don’t have to pay anything so there’s no risk for them. If they’re happy with your work, then they’ll probably want to employ your services on a regular basis. You’re also establishing trust here.

The principle of reciprocity comes into action here, in that you’ve given something of value to them and chances are they’ll want to pay back.

Another example of this type of strategy is if you have physical products you could create “free plus postage & packing” funnels. So, here you’d offer a freebie on the front-end and the customer would pay a nominal p&p cost (normally under $5). If they believe the value is $20+, they’ll think they’re getting a great deal and will go for it even if they wouldn’t consider buying it right there and then.

However, it’s absolutely crucial to have a strong set of upsells and a great backend to really monetise it. So, you could set up a continuity offer (such as a membership program), a low to medium priced offer and ideally a high-end offer in the upsell path. It’s difficult to make money from the freebie and p&p offer but there’s real money to be made in the upsell path.

The bonus of this type of approach is you acquire a good amount of quality buyer leads (worth far more than non-buyer leads) and you won’t have to pay a lot in advertising costs to get them. The result of which is that you can market more offers to them in the future and make even more money from these buyer leads.

Remember: Find or create something valuable that you can give away for free and then work on how you can monetise the back end. It can be a sample of your service or a physical product and is more beneficial if it’s something that others are typically charging for.

5. Create a “Package Deal” by Bundling Your Products or Services

Think of ways you can create a “package deal” by bundling your products or services together. This method can be extremely profitable and adds value for your customers. This is the perfect way to engage your customers as they’ll realise that they’re paying less than they would if they were buying all the items separately. It’s a win win situation. They get a great deal and feel happy and satisfied. You get the benefit of a higher sale per transaction.

Another way to capitilise on bundling is that you can use it to shift slow-moving products. Also use it as an upsell to offer to customers who may have been looking to buy only one thing.

For example: a hotel could offer a package deal where their customers get upgraded accommodation, all meals, free cocktails, and a spa treatment. Or a gym could offer a package which includes use of the gym, the pool, all aerobic classes, racquet sports and a session with a personal trainer. Now a customer might have been thinking about buying into one or more of these but if a great deal is offered to them, they might be convinced to buy into the entire package.

Remember: Bundling your products or services together is a great way of engaging customers and offering them a package deal with a considerable perceived value drives more sales whilst also shifting slower-moving items. It also gives you the opportunity to upsell and increase your value per sale. Everyone’s a winner!

6. Create a Loyalty Program

A valuable way to encourage customers to keep buying from you is to create a loyalty program. With this you can make them feel special and reward and thank them for their continued business. The majority of loyalty programs reward those customers who buy on a regular basis or who buy a certain amount by giving them either free products or discounted future purchases.

For example: local coffee shops are prime examples of this. You’ll receive a loyalty card and get it stamped each time you buy a coffee. After buying 8 coffees you get your 9th for free. This is a worthwhile strategy for the coffee shop because it encourages people to keep coming back with the knowledge that they will eventually get a free coffee and more often than not people will buy something to eat with that free coffee. People love to get something for free.

Remember: A loyalty program can be hugely beneficial to a business because it fosters loyal customers. Rewarding customers and thanking them for their continued support by offering them free products or services or discounts for future purchases is building your relationship with these people.

7. Send a “We Haven’t Seen You In A While” With a Thank You and an Incentive

Many businesses can be guilty of ignoring their prospects and even their most valued customers. This can be extremely detrimental in the long-run and result in huge losses when it comes to future sales.

A good way to prompt prospects and customers is to send either an e-mail or a card via snail mail, containing a thank you and an incentive to take some further action. For example, presenting them with a freebie leading into a sales offer or a discount voucher.

So, if you have leads who haven’t actually bought anything from you but have perhaps shown an interest in some of your products or services in the past you can contact them to say you haven’t seen them in a while, want to thank them for their previous contact and then tell them about a freebie you’re currently offering (that ultimately leads to a sales offer), or a discount or other deal you have running. This can result in a resurgence of old leads and turn them into active buyers.

Similarly, if you have customers who have bought from you in the past but haven’t been active since, you can send them a thank you for being a loyal customer along with a similar freebie or special discount/offer exclusively for these existing customers. This can be a lucrative way of making sales without having to do much work. It’s easier to sell to an existing customer than it is to sell to a new one.

Remember: The importance of reconnecting with old leads and previous customers. Sending a “we haven’t seen you in a while” message, thank you note and so on, along with an opportunity for them to receive a freebie or a special discount will make them feel valued and appreciated and drive more sales to your products or services.

To Your Success!