BY DOUG AND POLLY WHITE Special Correspondents
QUESTION: I’ve been spinning my wheels trying to market my small consulting practice. I’ve run a few AdWords and Facebook campaigns with little return on investment. The world of SEO has become far more complex than I can understand or have time for. Do you have any recommendations for marketing my business online?
ANSWER: First, we suggest that you don’t jump to the conclusion that Facebook or SEO (Search Engine Optimization – improving the chances of your website appearing when someone searches for selected keywords) will do you any good. In fact, before you spend more time or money on marketing, we suggest you take a step back and answer the first three questions every business needs to answer. These questions are:
1. Why should a potential customer buy your product or service instead of a competitor?
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In your case, why should a potential client hire you to advise them instead of using another advisor or hiring no advisor at all? This may seem like a simple question. Trust us. it is not But if you can’t clearly and concisely explain why someone should hire you, you don’t expect prospective clients to be able to answer the question either.
While this can be a difficult question to answer, the good news is that there are only two possible answers: because your offer costs less, or because your offer is different from your competitors’ offers. In your particular situation, we doubt that the best way to follow a low-cost approach is the best. Of course, your rates need to be reasonable, but a marketing message that says “Hire me to help you with the biggest problems in your life because I’m cheap” doesn’t sound like a winning strategy to us.
We believe that you should position your offer in a way that makes it clear why you are uniquely qualified to help people. This probably means focusing your practice. Maybe you’ll focus on marriage counseling or working with emotionally troubled teens. Once you’ve chosen an approach, you need to be able to articulate the ways in which your offering is different and better. Why are you more qualified than other counselors in your chosen narrow area?
2. Is there a segment of the market that values the things that make your offering different and is it large enough to support your business?
Once you’ve identified what makes your offering different, you need to determine if there’s a market for the things that differentiate your offering. Let’s use the silly example that you could market a skunk-flavored popsicle. It would be different. There is nothing like it in supermarkets. However, we don’t think there would be a big enough market for the new Popsicle to justify producing such a thing. Confirm that a segment of the market values what differentiates your offering. Next, check that the segment is large enough to support your business.
3. How will you reach your target market segment with your message?
The final step is to determine the most cost-effective way to inform your target market segment about what makes your offering unique—what that segment values. Maybe social media, SEO, or an email campaign is the best way to reach your market, but maybe not. You will only know if you answer the first two questions that all businesses must answer.
It might be Marketing 101, but we’ve seen too many people waste money on Internet-based marketing schemes that weren’t right for them. The internet is sexy. It can also be a colossal waste of money if it’s not the right channel for your business. Answering the three questions above will ensure you get a positive return on your marketing investment.
Doug and Polly White have a large stake in Gather, a company that designs, builds and operates collaborative workspaces. Polly focuses on human resources, people management and human systems. Doug’s areas of expertise are business strategy, operations and finance.
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