The Most Powerful Marketing Strategy You Will Ever Use

First, allow me to preface this by stating that I am not the bragging type. I am, however, very confident that I do know my subject. My subject is, of course, marketing.

Since 1977, I have personally built 3 service businesses in the 'real world' from nothing; all very successful. I spent no money whatsoever on advertising or marketing. I have consulted with hundreds of businesses and have helped them build those businesses. I have been there and I have done that. What I am about to show you will, if implemented and used consistently, allow you to build whatever business you own faster and more efficiently than you dreamed possible. Not only can you do this; anyone can do this.

This technique lies at the very core of many of the successful business ventures I have been involved in since the beginning. Let us begin by considering:

The Key Factor

Every successful marketing professional knows that referral marketing is the most effective method to use when marketing a product or service.

If someone gets a referral to some product or service from one of their friends, they will pass by every other form of advertising offered them and knock themselves out to seek out and find what their friend has recommended. If a friend recommends a website, they will go there. If a friend tells them a particular book is quite good, they will spend the money to check it out without hesitation. (Did you see yourself there for a moment?)

This is because most people believe their friends will not lie to them, jerk them around, yell at them, blink at them, try to trick them into hitting a buy button or use any other slick marketing tactic on them. If their friend tells them something is worthwhile and relevant, they will often seek it out immediately in absolute trust and will most likely purchase it. Those of us in the marketing game know that a referral is like pure gold, for a referral is pre-sold. It is often money in the bank. The credibility that lies at the heart of successfully marketing anything is inherent in the referral process.

However, referrals are sometimes hard to come by. We often forget to ask. The referrals you get most likely come sporadically. We would love to have a mailbox full of referrals every day, wouldn't we? But that seldom happens (for most of us). Most of us treat referrals as a hit or miss proposition. Wrong.

Be aware that there is a method that can create an ongoing, unlimited stream of referrals. This method outperforms any other method I have come across in 30 years of creating marketing and publicity plans for my clients. That method is to use gifting to create publicity, awareness and, most importantly, referrals. In a nutshell, here is how it works.

The Method

* You, as owner, offer a gift of real and lasting value at no charge
* You allow the gift to be passed to others
* You brand the gift
* You then publicize the gift itself

The end result is that your gift can go ‘viral’ and create a massive amount of free publicity for your practice or business, a huge amount of awareness and a virtual landslide of new referrals. Done properly, it works every time. It almost never fails. However you will find many people who don’t experience success.

I Tried That! It Didn't Work!

I have found that there are two broad reasons why this methods does not work for some people.

a. Many marketing companies and professionals use gifting. However in my opinion, it is used in the wrong way. A gift should be just that - a gift. It should have no strings attached. Giving a coupon or discount as a gift creates precisely the opposite effect you might wish to achieve by using a gift. It is an advertisement disguised as a gift. Trust is essential in the marketing process. If you are perceived to using any form of trickery or dishonesty, you will be quite dead in the proverbial water.

The minute you do this, your potential buyer sees right through the tactic. A REAL gift, given without any strings attached or any forced action, is greatly appreciated. Don't dress up an advertisement as a gift and expect any real results. You might as well give away those silly branded pens or calendars with your name on them.

b. Another primary reason most gifting strategies fail lies in the perceived VALUE of the gift itself. Hey, who needs another book about social security? Or a free report about gold? These gifts most likely generate some names, but really provide no value whatsoever. That information is available everywhere, always and at no charge. Do these types of 'gifts' provide any real value? Is this something people will knock themselves out to pass along to their friends?

People who use these types of strategies are collectors of names, not marketers. They are playing numbers. Marketers want the names of those who have a real interest in their product or service. Don't fool yourself into thinking you are experiencing success if you are collecting names. You can get names from a phone book. Very few of those names in the phone book will be interested specifically in your product or service. This is why advertising to the masses pulls such low numbers in regards to actual results.

What Will Work For Me?

The gifting strategy will work every time, but only if the gift meets the following test. The gift:

* must provide REAL value,
* must be something that is not generally or widely available elsewhere
* there must be a PERSONAL CONTACT involved in the exchange of the branded gift.

If your gift meets those three simple criteria, you mostly likely will be successful.

Hopefully, you have done the research to understand your potential client or customer. You know who they are, you know where they are, you know how many there are and you know how they prefer to receive their information. Most importantly, you need to know what they want, and you need to give it to them in the way they prefer.

If you know what they want, give them a gift that satisfies their own perception of their needs. Give it freely. Give it without obligation. Brand the daylights out of it and encourage them at every step to pass the thing along.

Then publicize the gift.

The end result is the best anyone marketing a product or service can hope for. The gift opens the door in such a way as to create good will. It sets the stage for allowing your potential buyers to see that you do have their best interests at heart - that you are not trying to trick them into buying something or signing up for something. You are providing something of real value at no cost.

Publicizing the gift itself is what makes this work, as this plays on the desire to obtain something of real value at no charge. If the gift truly helps the receiver solve a real problem, the ‘PR value’ is enormous.

How Does This Method Work?

a. You, as owner, give a gift, (a gift of real value, with no strings attached). Brand that gift with your own unique brand. Once the potential buyer sees there are no strings attached, no tricks involved, they WILL pass that gift along. The fact that the gift has your brand attached is not a from of coercion or trickery. Your message goes with the gift, and brings into play all that referral marketing offers.

b. You then publicize the fact that the gift is available only from you. You do this using the media, the Internet, your clients lists – any way you have available to you.

It is ridiculously simple. It is extremely effective.

What Is The ‘Downside’ To Using This Strategy?

The downside, if there is one, is that the gift may not lead directly to new client. That, I suppose we could say, is a downside. But to that I say, so what? Your message has gotten into the hands of another potential client in a very favorable, non intrusive manner, you have created good will, you have shown yourself to be mega professional and you have created the opportunity for that impression to be passed along to many other people. Your primary goal here is to position yourself as someone who has the best interests of others at heart, and to demonstrate your willingness to help others.

The gifting concept incorporates all of the best marketing stragies one can use, rolled up into one neat little package. It creates awareness, very positive publicity and allow your message to perhaps go viral. It is the best of all worlds.

For more visit www.freepublicitygroup.com

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