Why Generic Marketing Programs Don’t Work

Or how to recognize what really works in marketing

You see them all the time.

They promise extraordinary results.

They do all the work for you-all you need to do is click a few times and… voila, (!)  you have a zillion new clients and a gazillion dollars in your bank account.

You aren’t the only one… I’ve been sucked in before as well.

When someone promotes a product that guarantees that the email subject lines that they share with you and the content of the emails they share, will be opened by more readers than you can count… I’m interested.  I’m skeptical, but I’m interested.  Sound familiar?

A few years back, I had a product promotion already scheduled, so I decided to try out the new way of doing things. With a lot of additional effort, I revised a campaign that I already had scheduled to go out and used the “new and improved”  subject line and  email content, tweaking it slightly to fit my product.  From the beginning I felt uncomfortable about the whole thing.  Why?  Because although it was promoted as being generic and effective, the emphasis on the cost of the program, the deep discount being offered and the lack of focus on benefits and results, rubbed me the wrong way. It seemed to me that it wasn’t properly connecting with clients or marketing the product. Would it rub my peeps the wrong way as well?  Well, I can’t say if it rubbed them the wrong way but I can say it definitely did not engage them.  I had less opens and fewer inquiries than ever.

Lesson learned.

Note to self:  the next time I get sucked into some super duper marketing program that shows up in my email, first, review the following reminders about marketing that works:

Get you know your ideal clients really well.  Know their dreams, desires and downfalls.  Know the mistakes they make and the successes they celebrate.  Speak their language in everything that you do.  A generic program that you buy off the internet can’t replicate that connection or that relationship with a quick system that applies to everyone on the planet.

Trust your gut.  When you find yourself adjusting your program or your product to fit someone else’s plan, check in with your wise inner voice. You will have a sense of whether or not this is something that will resonate with your peeps.   More importantly, you will know if it is in their best interest and your goal as a business owner is to look out for their best interest by providing great value.

Know your voice and use it, not someone else’s.  As Oscar Wilde said, “Be yourself.  Everyone else is already taken”.  In everything that you do, speak from your heart, with your voice, into the world of your client.  The benefit of this is that you will develop a real relationship with them.

It turns out that your mother was right…products and programs that sound too good to be true, usually are.  Don’t let them suck you in.  Know your clients.  Know yourself.  Trust your gut and you will connect with your clients in a genuine way.

You were meant to make a difference in the world.

Your business matters.

Let’s get the message out to the people who need to hear it

I can help.