What strategy are you following to grow your MLM business? Who are you targeting? What do they want? Where can they be found? What pitches will appeal to them? Long term success in the MLM industry is predicated on knowing the answers to these questions inside and out.
Non-targeted methods of talking with family, coworkers and friends will allow you to build a modest business. However, this tactic alone will not create a downline of thousands unless a certain amount of luck comes your way. Why would anyone entrust their future to luck when they can grab control of it. To take control you need a specific MLM marketing strategy just like all other businesses on the planet.
Always Craft a Marketing Strategy Before a Marketing Plan
A marketing strategy must come before a marketing plan. First establish the WHAT (strategizing), then work on the HOW (planning). Take, for example, the case of telecommunications sales. You could choose to target customers of a certain carrier with bad service in the area. That is the WHAT – the marketing strategy. In order to reach them, you might design a web page using your city name and the carrier’s name as keywords and include a ”send me info on reducing my bill” opt-in box. That is the HOW – the marketing plan. The plan will guide your day-to-day activities. The strategy should guide ALL your activities taken as a whole.
Is targeted Marketing a necessary component of MLM Success?
In a word – YES.
Marketing is the art of creating desire for a product or service. To do this, you must connect to a goal the prospect wants to achieve. If they truly care about fixing an issue and they can clearly see how your solution addresses the issue, you’ll be able to close them unimpeded.
1. What issues do people care about?
Notice that all of your marketing activity must flow backwards from the problems people care about. Have you ever made a list of the problems each of your products solves? Do they slow downthe aging process? Do they provide income protection in the event of a disability? Do they lower cholesterol? Do they get rid of wrinkles? Do they save money on telecommunications services people purchase anyway? Do they teach search engine optimization. Remember, it has to be an issue people care about. And, they must care enough about the problem to take action. Someone whose doctor has just told them they have high cholesterol is generally ready to take action. Someone that paid $50 in overage fees last month is generally ready to take action. Someone whose brother just got injured and cannot work is probably ready to act. A network marketer struggling to generate leads in the cold market is generally ready to take action.
2. Which issues should your marketing strategy target?
After you list all the issues that your products and services can solve, get specific about which you will target. Choose only one to three problems to target. numerous factors go into making this decision. The main factors you’ll want to evaluate are:
1) The number of people with the issue. How big is the market?
2) The enormity of the problem. How badly do people want to solve the problem?
3) The competitive intensity. How many alternative solutions are there for this issue?
4) Your distinctive skills and expertise.
No one answer is right for every person. A small market with highly motivated people where you have unique expertise could easily outperform a large market with low motivational factors. This last sentance describes most network marketers making them one of your best target markets in most cases.
3. Where are the people with this issue?
At this point you are still developing strategy, not planning how to market, but you need to ascertain if you can reach people with the problem in groups or not. If yes, where would you find a group so that you aren’t stuck marketing to individuals?
The Internet is one of several answers to this question and for most network marketers it is the most compelling answer. On the Internet you can watch and access niche audiences that are signaling that they have a problem and a need. Use Google’s free External Keyword Research Tool or the paid Wordtracker application to study the niches. Learn how many people are searching for “eliminate” or “save for college” or “greater energy” or “free long distance calling”. After you know what is being searched, examine how competitive the search is.
So many Internet marketing newcomers squander huge amounts of money and time on web pages with zero visitors because they didn’t take the time to learn. Please don’t begin until you understand the basics of searching. It is possible to be on the first page of Google, but it requires a focused niche strategy to do it.
