Marketing without Spending a CENT! Learn the 10 Techniques without Advertising.

Marketing without

Spending a CENT!

Learn the 10 Techniques without

Advertising

J.D. Rockefeller

“Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing.”

#1: Focus on Email Marketing to

Reach Your Audience FirstEmail marketing is all about using email to reach out to your target audience.

When our clients have access to an email list, we find that email marketing is the most effective (cheapest and best) way to reach their target customers.

Think of email marketing as the prime way that potential customers can get to know your company better. This could mean hitting the Reply button to make an enquiry, or visiting your website to find out more.

It works like Google or Facebook to provide quality traffic to your website; but better.

Google or Facebook can change their rankings or algorithms as they wish. But when you own an email list, you have control over your reach to your target audience. No one can take that away from you.

“Email is almost 40x better at acquiring newcustomers than Facebook and Twitter“- McKinsey & Company (2014)

WHAT


Reach Your Audience First

Your email inbox is one of your most private and closest possessions. How many times have you checked your email inbox so far today?

Compared to noticing messages in advertisements, we are much more likely to notice the email that hits our inbox.

If you send them something that is valuable, fresh and entertaining (non-boring), your target audience will pay attention to your emails. Sometimes they may even look forward to receiving and opening your emails.

WHY



First, set up a way to collect email addresses on your website. This can be in the form of:

1. Box on a side column2. Pop-up on the page3. Form on the page

HOW



To entice people to leave their email addresses, you would want to offer something valuable for it. We cover this idea in #2.

What should you send them after collecting those emails?

We cover the email content in #3.

HOW

#2: Give Away Something

Valuable to Collect Emails

You need to build an email list for your marketing efforts.

But an email address is something personal that people hold close to. Why would someone give you their email to add to your list? What is in it for them?

Think about something valuable that you can offer in exchange for that email address. This could be in the form of a:

PDF ebook

Video content

Free trial of your product

WHAT



Firstly, there is always a draw towards FREE things, especially when it has a perceived value to your target audience.

And if your freebie contains some really good ideas or content, it is a further chance to cement in your prospect’s mind that you are an expert in your industry or niche.

WHY



• A good freebie should do 2 things for your prospect: - It should have good content that is valuable to the prospect- It should soft sell and point the prospect towards your product

Along with the freebie, you need to use good copywriting to get someone interested enough to download it. Just because it is FREE does not mean you do not have to ‘sell’ the freebie.

HOW



Your freebie can have the best content in the world but only you know that. You created the freebie and you are aware of its value, but your potential customer does not.

Use good copywriting to build up its value, and give them good reasons to leave their email with you to get the freebie.

HOW

Note: If you are in the B2C (business-to-consumer) market, be sure to include a disclaimer that mentions the purpose of collecting these emails (future marketing updates) and that you assume consent to send these updates in the future.

#3: Set up an Email Marketing

Sequence

Once you have built up your email list, you will need to know what to send. You have put in effort to build this list so what you do next is important. Create a nurturing system where you pump out good content to this list.

WHAT


Sequence

This tactic works because you are building a relationship with a potential client base (your email list) over time. As you send good content, you will have more chances to soft sell your product.

You can also fix your product’s positioning and your value proposition (why they should buy your product or service) in their minds.

At any one time, only a small percentage of your market are ready to buy your type of product (less than 5%).

This is your chance to maintain a relationship with them when they switch to buying mode.

WHY


Sequence

• Plan a series of emails using content or information related to your product. There are many ways to do this. Here is one example of the potential sequence of emails:

HOW


Sequence

You can mix up the flow of the emails as you wish. If you are out of ideas for email content, find a relevant article that your audience find helpful and add in your opinion. Professional insights are considered valuable content too.

Remember to always start with your target audience in mind when writing these emails. There has to be a clear benefit to reading your emails, otherwise the recipients will stop opening

them after awhile.

HOW

“By creating and publishing remarkable content in the form that educates, informs, inspires and entertains, marketers can begin to build relationships with prospects early on in the buying cycle.“

- Jonathan Lister (VP Sales Marketing Solutions at LinkedIn)

#4: Make Full Use of Your

Email Signatures

You probably send 20 business emails a day on average. These emails go to many people: potential customers, vendors, and friends.

It is a good idea to make use of this and put details of your company in your email signature.

WHAT


Email Signatures

Emails are one of your company’s most read materials.

Many times your emails get forwarded to other recipients, further increasing your reach.

Each email eventually reaches more people than you think.

It is the perfect chance for you to reach someone new and introduce your product to them.

WHY


Email Signatures

• Email signatures are a chance for you to introduce your product, but avoid writing a lengthy paragraph.

• Ideally, you should use a tagline that explains the unique selling proposition of your product in one or two sentences.

• Your value proposition is how your product is different from your competitors’.

HOW

#5: Use Trust Factors

People really want to buy products that can solve their daily problems or make their lives better.

But they are wary.

They are wary as they risk being scammed or making a bad purchase, especially if they are a first time customer.

While they are interested in your product, they may be hesitant to contact you to find out more due to the lack of trust.

You can reduce this occurrence by putting trust factors on your website or marketing materials.

WHAT


Trust factors make you look more credible in the eyes of your target audience. Their skepticism is reduced when you use trust factors to establish yourself as a credible business.

WHY


• If your company has been featured in the media, you can include a line on your website listing the media that you have been featured in.

• You can also add your phone number to the top right corner of your website, your physical office address on the front page, etc. This helps to make you look like a legitimate company that really exists.

• Many eCommerce sites place their telephone number or physical address in less visible places. This can make the visitors nervous when they have to submit credit card or personal details when making an online enquiry or purchase.

HOW


• Also, consider adding a human face on your website. Ideally, this should be a face that directly looks at the visitor of the website. This gives them someone to relate to. (Refer to screenshot on the next page)

• Lastly, you should use any customer testimonials that you have to boost the confidence of your target audience.

• Establishing the trust factors above can boost a person's trust and willingness to buy from you. Reduce the barrier for them to do so.

HOW

#6: Do Not Display Pricing

Before Value Is Properly

ConveyedUnless you run an eCommerce website, you may not want to list your prices online. This is particularly true for a high priced product (above $500).

This is because you may not have had the chance to fully explain the value proposition of your product yet.

WHAT



ConveyedWithout creating a price focus at the beginning, you are in a better position to explain the value and benefits of your product to prospects.

This gives you a better chance to capture their attention and drum up interest, while demonstrating your product's value.

The more interested prospects are in your product and the more they understand it’s value, the more likely they are to make a purchase late

WHY



ConveyedUnless you run an eCommerce website, remove any form of pricing from your website where possible.

An exception is if your product’s price is your unique selling point. For example, when it has a lower price than your competitor’s for the same features.

Another exception is when your website has great copywriting to build up the perceived value of your product before the sale. (E.g. By explaining the benefits of your product and how it directly improves the life of your prospect.)

HOW



ConveyedIn this case you may be able to slip in your product price at the end of your copywriting because you have built up the product’s value.

This is also a good reason why copywriting is important. Good copywriting builds up the desire for your product or service. Once that desire is strong enough, the price point matters less.

So when should you introduce the price of your product?

Pricing should only be mentioned after you’ve fully introduced the value and benefits of your product. This applies to the end of face-to-face meetings, phone conversations, or an email conversations with the prospect.

HOW



ConveyedAnother way to introduce price is during the email sequence in Tactic 3. For example, you can set up the first 5 emails to explain the value of your product and finally introducing the price in email number 6. .

HOW

#7: Use Case Studies As

Proof

When going through your website, your target audience is always looking for proof that your product can really solve their problems or make their lives better. By using case studies, you are increasing their confidence and trust in you.

WHAT


Proof

Case studies show your target audience how you already have achieved results for your existing clients.

They also help your target audience to imagine a better future for themselves after using your product.

WHY


ProofThere is no fixed way to write a case study. Outlined below is a suggested format you can use when you write a case study on a successful client:

BackgroundWhat industry was your customer in?

ChallengeWhat problem or challenge did your customer have?

ApproachSpecifically how did your product solve this problem?

ResultsWhat was the outcome after your product was applied to this problem? Did it improve their situation by 70%, 100%, 150%?

HOW

#8: Use Landing Pages

Instead of Websites A landing page is a more tactical and concise approach compared to a website.

If your main aim is to get your online visitors to perform a certain action, landing pages will give you better results.

Believe us when we say that landing pages are the way to go. We’ve created more than 200 of them.

When it comes to getting the visitor to perform a certain action, we have found that a landing page beats a website’s performance.

Every. Single. Time.

Landing pages are especially crucial when you are running advertising or promotional campaigns.

WHAT


Instead of Websites

Websites today look like corporate brochures. All the information is spread across a few pages.

A landing page has all the essential information about your product

concentrated on one page for maximum impact.

A landing page can also lay out your sales pitch in the best possible sequence so that you can build value (Tactic 6) before you sell your product to your customer.

WHY


Instead of Websites Think about your value proposition to your target audience and write persuasive copywriting to cover these points.

Think about the logical flow of your target customer’s thinking. Position your pointers in the best possible sequence to get them to complete your desired action (E.g. make an enquiry, sign up for your event or purchase your product)

If you are running a promotional campaign in advertisements, drive them to your landing page. Include the same information at the top of your landing page where it will not be overlooked.

If you would like to harness our expertise in this area, clickTRUE offers landing page creation services (check with last page for contact details).

HOW

#9: Put Your Tagline or USP

On The Top Fold on Your

Website Your product most likely has competitors in the market.

A prospect that visits your website would want to quickly understand the essence of your product.

WHAT



WebsiteYou have an average of 8 seconds to catch your web visitor’s attention* from the moment they land on your website.

If you are unable convey your value proposition fast enough, the visitor will exit your site and visit your competitors' sites instead.

Often the difference between a sale for you or losing a sale to your competitor is a poorly designed top fold.

The top fold is the first part your website that a visitor sees when he or she lands on your site.

WHY



WebsiteThink about your product’s value proposition:

What value does it provide to your customers?

How is it better than your competitor’s product?

Can you explain the value proposition in a simple and concise manner (in a sentence or two)?

Place your product’s unique selling point in a prominent place to capture your visitor’s attention. This is likely to be top part of your website when a visitor first loads your website.

The rest of your website could be awesome, but if your audience leaves before they scroll down, it would not matter.

HOW

#10: Use Email Sharing

Functions Make use of social sharing widgets or email sharing to spread your brand efficiently. Word of mouth is the marketing method that’s the easiest on the pocket.

Remember the freebie that we talked about in Tactic 2 to collect emails?If it’s good enough, people would want to share information about it. This tactic is about

leveraging on that effect to spread your brand

WHAT


Functions

Think about it, why would someone want to share something? They would like to be seen as someone credible who provides value to others.

If your content is valuable, novel, and interesting, they would would want to share it with their friends or colleagues.

Also, your ideal customer profile is made up of a certain set of characteristics.

Since similar people share the same social circle, a sharing mechanism could spread word of your product around your target customer base very quickly.

WHY


FunctionsMake it easy for people to share information on your product. Install sharing functions on your website.

The best time to get someone to share is after they have indicated their interest in your product or free content. Once they have exchanged their details to download free content from your website, direct them to page where they can share it. E.g. social media or email. It is the best time to get them to spread that interest to their friends.

What’s more, their recommendation helps increases credibility and trust in your product too.

HOW

“Social media will help you build up loyalty of your current customers to the point that they will willingly, and for free, tell others about you.” - Bonnie Sainsbury (2013 Forbes Top Women Social Media Power Influencers)

Recap

1. Focus on Email Marketing to Reach Your Target Audience First

2. Give Away Something Valuable to Collect Emails

3. Set up an Email Marketing Sequence

4. Make Full Use of Your Email Signatures

5. Use Trust Factors

“Social media will help you build up loyalty of your current customers to the point that they will willingly, and for free, tell others about you.” - Bonnie Sainsbury (2013 Forbes Top Women Social Media Power Influencers)

6. Do not Display Pricing Before Value Is Properly Conveyed

7. Use Case Studies As Proof

8. Use Landing Pages Instead of Websites

9. Put Your Tagline or USP On The Top Fold on Your Website

10. Use Email Sharing Functions

Marketing without Spending a CENT! Learn the 10 Techniques without Advertising.

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