Henry Ford was once quoted saying “A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time.” Whether you’re in marketing or not, it makes total sense.
The only reason anybody would spend money with your business, is if they are aware of who you are, what you do and why you’re good at it. This goes for products, services, consumer-focused and business-focused businesses all the same.
Now I understand that being efficient with your marketing dollars is incredibly important, but by not investing in your company’s brand, you risk being irrelevant to your potential customer.
In 2016, the majority of our world is engulfed in the “Connected Age”. Virtually everyone has access to virtually everything via the Internet. And if a company thinks that they will survive without knowing how to use the Internet to build their business, they will eventually die. Yes, even you manufacturing companies.
Business systems, platforms, and virtually everything we use for day-to-day business is becoming more and more connected, and more and more reliant on the Internet – which means more people will be spending time on these various digital platforms. I mean think about it, we already login to most of our platforms using our Facebook, Google, Twitter or email accounts. Now we are starting to login using our cell phone numbers. My point is that as we are all becoming more connected, there are more opportunities for companies to use these connections to influence their potential customers.
[bctt tweet=”If there’s one thing we know, it’s that influence is the precursor to revenue.” username=”johnnytimbo”]People will not spend a single dollar until they are influenced to do so. This influence might look like a logo on a website that they recognize. For instance if you’re thinking of doing business with the company, and they have also done business with Nike, that proves to you that if Nike trusted them you should too. This influence might also appear as your best friend telling you that they used a lawyer to close on their new house, and they were great, and when you close on your next house you should give them a shot.
Sometimes this influence comes in the form of a great marketing campaign. A good example is Dollar Shave Club. They released a single YouTube video that influenced millions of people to sign up for their monthly razor subscription service. Another example might be a great sales strategy. Sales as a profession, is one of the oldest and most reliable sources of influence. But be careful, in our connected age, people are becoming sensitive to being “sold” something. You need to earn their trust by showing them you know what you’re doing – and this often comes in the form of great content and relationships cultivated over time.
These examples are merely pieces of hay in an infinite hey stack of ways to influence your audience and gradually increase sales. But if you’re stuck in a meeting about trying to increase revenue, then influence better be part of the conversation.
Because at the end of the day, it’s the only way you will make any money.
