In the past 2 decades of working with clients from start-ups to multinationals like Standard Chartered Bank, and Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels and Resorts (now Marriott), I have heard the above reason a lot, and I totally get it.
And because time is money, let me save you some and let’s get straight to the point.
You are having cash flow challenges in your business, and usually, they are caused by one of 2 things:
- Lack of Leads and therefore Sales;
- Your Cost of production is higher than your revenue.
We can’t with reducing production cost, but we can all agree that driving up the sales in your business will go some way to help with the cash flow of your business.
To get more sales, you know need to market your business, products or services more. But with limited resources, you want to make sure that whatever you get the best bang for your buck
I totally understand.
You have read, watched, or heard so many opinions about how to create a marketing strategy, and sales plans, and each one has different costs associated, and everyone claims to be able to improve your marketing and conversion. So which one do you pick?
Let’s tackle this with a simple question: Why do customers buy from you?
Take a minute to really think about it.
Why did your last 2 or 3 customers buy from you? I have asked myself this question when setting up Fantestimonial, and my answer is similar to what I believe what almost every marketing book will tell you:
- You have build a good relationship with your customer and/or they have recommended you to someone else;
- Your customers bought from you because I had the best prices.
And that is the general truth: people buy from other people they trust or like; and after that they will buy on price. The big caveat here is that they purchase not necessarily at the lowest price point, but the amount they value your credibility, trustworthiness, and relationship.
That is, when a person chooses to buy something, they will buy from people, brands, businesses they like and pay what they believe that brand, product, or relationship is worth. Think of how Apple, Sony, or Mercedes are constantly able to charge a premium on their products.
In other words, you want to build a marketing strategy that generates is good will, credibility and trust in your business, Product or Service.
Trust and credibility have been cultivated through relationship building with your existing clients. But what about new leads or potential customers who have not worked with you or bought from you before?
One of the most effective ways of gaining trust and credibility with potential customers is through testimonies and reviews provided by other customers of your products. That is why Google, Amazon, and many major business and organisations have build in such a robust “review” system either through their Google Reviews or Amazon Reviews; and add testimonials from the clients and customers logos onto their website and social platforms to show credibility.
After all, if a big company like Nike has hired you to do something, then obviously you and your business must be worth your weight.
This is called Social Proof.
People who have never used your product or service rely on these reviews or testimonials to gauge if they can trust your business…. AND a big bonus for them is if they can see the product or service in action from real customers.
The more they believe that your product or service can solve their issues, because other people have already tried it, and said that it works, then lowers the buying anxiety.
So, circling back to the start of this story, where you are having cash flow issues but you know you need to bang for buck marketing your business, product or service more in order to get more sales because that will help with the cash flow issues.
You need a marketing plan that includes collaterals to showcase your brand, product or service’s trustworthiness, and credibility.
My money would be placed it a marketing tool that helps new customers see that my business can solve their problems, and is trustworthy, and credible; and you know that because other happy customers have said so.
But here’s the kicker, a great Case Study Testimonial video is not just a one trick pony. A great Case Study can be split into many smaller videos that you can use to drive potential customers in different stages of their purchase journey.
So talk about bang for buck… Making one marketing video gives you 2 to 5 more additional ones you can use!
If you want to know more or want to talk to us about how this works, Contact Us for a no obligation session.
