MARKETING IS AN INVESTMENT – NOT A COST I want to introduce you to the guerrilla marketing techniques. Guerrilla marketing is the type of marketing you must use as a small to medium size business, so you can compete with the “big boys” when you have to. I refer to the “big boys” as industry giants like IBM, HP, Nike, Coca Cola, P&G, etc. Whether you are in the same marketplace as them or not, you cannot compete with their marketing budget. So, you need to find other ways and methods to get your message out. And the good news is – there are about 90 ways you can get your message to your prospects and customers. But first let’s examine the most important thing an executive – and especially an owner – of a small to medium size business must realize. Marketing is an investment, not an expense. In fact, it is the best investment you can ever make in your business. Why do you think the above named giants of industry still keep spending millions of dollars a year on advertising and marketing? Let’s exam, a little more closely, why it is the best investment you can make in your business. Let’s assume a customer is worth $100,000 in revenue a year, to your business. You have to ask yourself, “How much is it worth to me to obtain that customer?”. Let’s suppose it costs your business $100,000 to get that customer. Is that worth it? I am going to tell you that it is well worth it to you. The only time it is not worth it to you is if that is the only customer you will ever get, and that is the only time you will ever do business with that customer. Why is this investment worth it? Because if you spend $100,000 on marketing to get one customer, then you can bet that your second customer will cost a small fraction of that $100K, and your third customer will cost a fraction of what your second customer cost you, and so on down the line. Again, why is this? Because if you implement a sound marketing program, with multiple marketing processes, you will gain a large number of customers with that $100K of marketing, or whatever the number is. And if you look at the Life Time Value (LTV) of that customer, then $100K is a meager amount to spend to get that customer. You also must take into account that this initial investment was to gain “new” customers. And as you know, it takes five to eight times the effort and investment to gain a new customer, as it does to resell to an existing customer. So, if it took five times the investment, then all you have to invest to resell this customer is $20K, and you make $100K, or five times your new marketing investment. If you think of marketing as a cost, you will never grow your business the way you can grow it. Think of it as an investment, and you will end up making five times to fifty times your investment back. What other investment will give you that kind of return? None that I know of. Treat your marketing as the most important investment in your business, and watch that investment multiply. You must however invest your money in the right marketing programs. |
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