Small Business Articles from Make-it-Fly®

Is Lack of Consistency Killing Your Sales?
Don’t Underestimate the Power of Repetition in Marketing

By Victoria Munro

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Lack of repetition could be sabotaging sales and costing you a fortune. Your message needs to be seen and heard over and over again. It is generally accepted that it takes six to eight “touches” to get your name, service, brand or product to the point of achieving top-of-mind awareness with your prospects and customers. Whatever forms of marketing you use, once or twice won’t be effective. Consistency is key, so if you’re just going to try it once or twice, save your money!

Keep in Touch with Clients and Prospects Regularly
Direct mailings to current clients and prospects should be delivered on a consistent basis, at least six times a year. These could include: newsletters or ezines, postcards, letters, invitations, announcements, coupons, etc. Taking time to clip and send useful articles and information when you’re not asking for a sale can build a bond of trust.

Build relationships by setting up a system to call clients and prospects on a regular basis. Don’t make all calls sales calls; give a referral, mention a helpful resource or just ask how things are going. Be ready with a clear, appealing message if you get their voice mail, and if the call isn’t returned, put the name back into the system to call again in a couple of months. Voice mail isn’t a waste: every time someone hears your company name, you’re branding the business.

Make Marketing a Habit
Commit to doing at least two to three marketing activities every day. This may seem challenging initially, but after a few weeks it will have become an easy and profitable habit.

Keep Your Company Message Consistent Across all Forms of Communication
Establish a consistent message that everyone in your organization, from the receptionist to the delivery driver, is familiar with and always aims to communicate. Your stationery, invoices, all printed marketing materials, website, signs, vehicles and ads should carry the identical message and reflect the same familiar “look.”

Communicate with the Media
Send press releases regularly detailing a newsworthy event, recent achievement or the latest developments in your business. Ideally, send these once a month to editors of industry publications and local newspapers.

Project a Consistent Image
What message do you want to communicate? If you want to be known for top-notch quality, then everything must reflect the highest quality: printed materials, electronic communication, phone conversations, etc. Failure to do so will send a mixed message and undermine credibility. Printing your brochure on the old ink-jet printer probably won’t convey the message you intended. If you claim to be an exceptionally innovative designer, then everything you produce must communicate unusual creativity. If you want your company to be known as the friendly dry cleaners, then your store must be welcoming, and everyone who has contact with the public must be friendly.

Consistently Track Activities, Costs and Results
Measure your success! Design a system to effectively track the results of each marketing activity. Without this in place, you’ll never know if you’ve won or lost, which methods were great investments and which you should abandon. Some strategies, like an ad campaign, can yield immediate results; on the other hand, PR takes longer to build and track.

	Use a reference number in every print ad
	Keep a spreadsheet to track phone calls, what was said, actions to take and the ultimate results
	Call on or email networking contacts
	Follow up on responses to mailings

Repetition and consistency in marketing builds strong awareness and credibility. As you consider your marketing plan for the coming year, consider ways to build both repetition and consistency into the plan, and make next year a record year!

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About the Author: Victoria Munro is co-founder (along with husband Dave Block) of Make-it-Fly® LLC, a company dedicated to creating success for small-business owners through creatively designed programs and tools. Victoria has started and run nine different businesses. To receive FREE business success articles with tips to help you with your business, sign up for their award-winning ezine, “In-Flight Refueling,” at: www.Make-it-Fly.com, and receive a free copy of the eBook, Get More Done in Less Time: 101 Quick and Easy Time Tactics & Tips.

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