They were expecting much more and are extremely disappointed.  Take an honest look at how you are promoting your product or service.  Is your marketing exciting and satisfying, or do your potential customers walk away unimpressed?

Spices offer a creative way to view marketing.  The new trend in nutrition is to add more spices to foods–for example, adding chipotle to chocolate–not just for the taste, but for increased health and improved well-being. Did you know that chipotle, a smoke-dried jalapeno pepper, is proving  to be a weapon against certain cancers, diabetes and heart disease?

If this makes you seriously consider adding spices to your diet, then you should also explore how spicing up your marketing could change the way customers you are targeting respond to your advertising. There is a three-fold parallel that marketers should act upon. Just as spices add Heat, Health and Happiness to eating pleasure, smart marketing can do the same for your business.

• Heat:  This is the pleasurable “kick” that your taste buds experience when just the right spices are blended into your food.  You come away from that meal with memories that linger and, most likely, you will want that meal again.  Marketing that has a pleasurable “kick” will make your prospects enthusiastic about what you are selling.  It will prep them to buy, and could have them coming back for more.
• Health:  Spices produce amazing health benefits, such as lowering blood pressure, reducing the risk of heart attack and improving digestion.  If your product or service can make people’s lives better, more comfortable or more productive, then your marketing needs to express that boldly and clearly.  Once customers realise that what you are offering can make a positive difference in their lives, they will get excited and respond to your calls to action.
• Happiness:  A meal prepared with tantalising spices leaves diners not only full but satisfied.  Moreover, they are happy with their experience.  When your marketing meets a specific need that your prospect is trying to fill, you not only satisfy him in the short run, but pave the way for that prospect to become a happy and loyal customer.

How can you “Spice Up” your Marketing?

Too often, businesses attempt to copy advertising that is already out there.  You might want to take this strategy with a grain of salt–no pun intended.  Copying the methods of other companies often results in bland, ineffectual marketing.  Customers grow weary from being approached the same way over and over again.  They tend to tune out these ads.  Hence, the expense that you invest in imitating what everyone else is doing will probably not get you the ROI you were anticipating.

Instead, brainstorm with your team to see how you can “spice up” your marketing.  This does not mean having “in your face” hard sell ads or trashing competitors.  It does mean keeping the “Three H’s” in mind.

Heat.

Start by integrating compelling action verbs, creative imagery and memorable phrases into your marketing to describe what your company’s product or service can do for your customers.  Highly visual and interactive web marketing “heats up” their senses.  YouTube videos and mini webinars are great venues for your marketing arsenal.  Use them to demonstrate how one of your products works or simply to provide free helpful information to potential customers.  By doing so, you immediately activate their thinking on multiple levels;

1. You demonstrate that you care about their particular situation.
2. You prove that you can solve a problem that they might have.
3. You introduce your company/product/service in an intriguing and engaging way.
4. You start building their trust by being straightforward and honest about your services.

The more senses and emotions that you trigger with your marketing, the more likely prospects will make the decision to buy.  One caution, however:  The purpose of marketing with “heat” is far more than simply trying to grab customer attention.  Rather, like spices, your marketing should create an irresistible joy in your prospects that prompts them to respond enthusiastically to what you are offering.

Health.

It is critical that you focus on knowing your potential customer’s needs and explain through your marketing how you can meet those needs.  In order to accomplish this, you must first find a way to get them to talk about the problem they need solved.  If your marketing is interactive, you can probe with key questions and get honest feedback from your prospects.  Assuming that you have isolated the demographics of your target customers, start reaching out to them personally with online questionnaires, email queries or phone and post card surveys.  Encourage their cooperation by offering a sample or coupon upon submission of their responses.  Your investment of time and money into this is well worth it because the answers you receive will enable you to fine-tune your marketing to meet the specific needs that they have expressed.

Businesses that pay close attention this way to the “health” of their prospects are rewarded with repeat customers and positive referrals.

Happiness.

Happiness is a state of mind that stems  from reduced anxiety and increased self-esteem.  It is a sign of contentment and well-being. How do you reduce prospect anxiety about trying your product or service?  Offer both emotional and logical reasons to trust your company.  Reduce purchasing anxiety by providing stellar customer service from your very first contact with your target customers.  Create marketing that opens your prospects’ eyes to your top-quality merchandise and personalised service, share testimonies from satisfied clients, give your prospects iron-clad money-back guarantees, and, through specials and coupons, allow them to experience what you are offering.  As prospects interact with your marketing and your company, at some point they will realize that they have enough information to  make an informed decision.  The more control they feel they have, the higher their self-esteem, and the more likely they will buy. They experience happiness when they purchase your product and discover that it is exactly what they were looking for.

By spicing up your marketing with these “Three H’s,” you will get the attention of your prospective buyers by immediately involving them through their senses.  This makes them more receptive as you demonstrate how you are the “go to” company to solve their problem.  Best of all, “spiced up” marketing tends to motivate prospects to buy, resulting in a base of happy customers who keep coming back for more.

References:
organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/health-benefits-of-chipotle.html
nutrition-and-you.com/healthy_spices.html

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Know your crowd
Every product/service has a target audience. Now design your website for your target audience and not for yourself or the web designer. Your visitors should be able to relate to the website if they want to buy your products.

Clarity and brevity
They usually go hand in hand to make understanding easier. Your links should state exactly where they are taking the visitor. Nobody likes running around in circles. Pause and think like your user at every page and link. If you feel the user ‘should be able to figure it out’, then changes are probably in order. Brevity is the key to keeping your visitor’s attention, so avoid rambling descriptions of your product and stick to the essentials.

Make payment easier in every way
You’ve been quite successful in your design if you got the customer to make it to the counter. But many websites manage to lose their customer even there. It simply goes to prove that most customers would like to move on fast. So avoid gathering pages of personal information and feedback and get right to the point. You can offer various modes of payment as well to encourage customers who are not comfortable using their credit cards.

More information
Knowing more about you will help your customer trust you. Providing an office address instead of a P.O. box number can certainly gain their trust. A phone number for enquiries will also help. Make sure you list your timings as well to avoid disappointing any callers.

Be honest
Answer enquiries via emails and telephone calls honestly and directly instead of hiding behind company policies and offering murky explanations. If you do not have sufficient stock for a large order, then say so. Do not assure your customer that he can get the rest after a week’s time if it is not possible.

Offer unique experiences
Is there something novel about your services that could keep your customers coming back for more? For instance, you can show a selection of gift wrapping options if your customer wants to have a gift delivered. It’s is simply no good to have a website that just looks great and is equipped with latest shopping cart, it has to sell and make buying seem easy. If you get your conversion right, your website could show a better turnover than your store.

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This is the real question: who developed these products in the first place?  Who first discovered their potential?  Who first made money from them?  How and why?  The real jewel is in discovering the psychology behind why these things work for some business owners and not for others.  Even having a Facebook following in the four or five digits is no guarantee you will make money on anything.  There are as many ‘looky loos’ ready to copy you as there are potential clients. The key isn’t in copying, it is in converting.

Make the Main Message the Main Message

One thing that doesn’t change is, if you have a product to launch or a service to supply, you will need to get the message out there to those who need to hear it.  That means looking for ways to have your message cross paths with your potential supporters.  Don’t fall into the trap of following the list of rules others will sell you though.  What works for one product, service or entrepreneur will not necessarily work for another in exactly the same way.  Today “unique” is in style.  If you are creative, don’t let any supposed marketing expert tell you that you need to conform to a list of dos and don’ts.  If you have fresh new ideas about how to get your message across, go for it!  The world is waiting for the next great discovery which may seem a little weird, whacky or difficult to understand on the surface, but just might raise a ruckus worth noting.

Focus on Your Solution

As always, focus on how your product or service will provide a solution to a need a person with a little cash on hand has.  Don’t focus on how wonderful you and your business degrees and years of experience are.  People rarely care about that at first glance.  They are more interested to hear how they will enjoy what you are about to offer.  They want to know how what you’re selling will relieve them of a problem they have or prevent them from having a problem in the future.

Sell Your Expertise

Another group of people you might profit from aren’t necessarily looking for a solution to a big problem.  They’re looking for an affiliation.  These individuals might desire to be seen as peers rather than expect you to be some mentor that towers over them.  They may want to rely less on your counsel than they do on your applause.  Maybe their problem is more in the lines of needing momentum or inspiration.  Sometimes they are just looking for someone, something or some group that they can bond with that will help them achieve their own goals.  Simply put, they might merely want to rub shoulders with you and pay you to do so.

Some people may feel their own reputation will be given a boost if they can ride on your notoriety.  People try to do it all the time for free.  Are there ways they can pay you for that pleasure?  If not, is there something they can do for you in fair exchange like mention you in their blog or refer customers to you?

Package Your Skills

These types of affiliations offer new potential everywhere, but you won’t have time to be friends with or mentor everybody who shows interest.  Today is an information hungry age, however.  This information sharing niche provides new ways to grow a business both vertically and horizontally.  For instance, perhaps you’ve been doing well in selling to customers for years and have ongoing new product launches.  Outsiders want to know how you’ve done it.   Selling your products is vertical growth, but teaching your peers how you’ve done it is horizontal growth.  Why not package your skills and experience into seminars or create and sell online downloadable products that will teach and inspire others?

Sure, you can use all the traditional methods to get your message out there in order to grow you business, but don’t limit yourself.  Don’t spend valuable time working on something you know will have little results.  Let your creativity out.  Be bold and try new things.  Even falling on your face is a lesson someone will want to know about and is valuable information (remember they want to buy things that will prevent them from having a problem in the future).  Be creative and try something new and see if you can’t become the latest trendsetter.

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That’s how the process works but in reality, it’s not as simple as it seems. There are many factors involved that could end up with you sending the wrong kind of message. You need to consistently evaluate the system you use to make sure you’re communicating your company’s message to full effect.

All businesses nowadays want to build a strong brand, because it is after all what helps to produce sales and gain a loyal customer base. But sometimes companies often fail to realize that  a brand is an avenue to showcase the business mission. Some businesses who don’t do this may experience some level of success, but those who give the correct attention to utilizing their brand as a way to deliver their mission will be able to withstand any challenges or downturns within their particular industry.

A Brands Purpose
There is always the strong temptation to force effort into the creation of a logo, name, or design for your company, but the essence behind them is what is more important in every business branding system. It’s not just one of these elements but a combination of them all. How will the market be able to create that distinction about your brand against other brands if you can’t foster it to deliver a message?

Brand holds immense control over your business as it is what customers use to create a perception about the company which the brand represents. So branding is not something that is restricted to larger companies to give serious attention to, but for all levels of businesses.

A Brands Strategy
If you want a cost efficient strategy, get into the mind of your potential customers when doing your market research. Get as much information about your target customer demographics that you can use in the development of your brand. But don’t just settle for that; moreover learn about what things would encourage them or prompt them to act on impulse to take notice of the the projected message. This is the part where you need to tailor your message based on what appeals to the emotional and physical needs of the consumers.

‘Word of mouth’ is the most cost effective advertising tool that you can use within your company. Gather ideas on how you can produce a brand that will get people talking about it to others and respond to the brand message.

Whatever kind of brand strategy you engage, you should focus on being consistent with the overall vision and objectives of the company. This also helps gain trust among your clients about the reputation of your company.

A brand is a lot more than just a logo, it’s a message. Whilst the logo itself should project the message clearly and be enticing or professional enough to be taken seriously, a logo is not a brand, your message is.

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