How Many Marketing Touches Does It Take To Close the Sale?

 There's an underlying principle in marketing that you need to have multiple "touches" with your prospective client before you become top of mind.

I've been researching to see what the latest statistics are...(I've heard anywhere between 7 and 23!) and not surprisingly, there is little agreement among marketing professionals on what the magic number is.

Anywhere you are, we are all assaulted by advertising and marketing messages. Think about it: there are Zappo's ads in the shoe bins at the TSA security checkpoints at airports. Ads on the sides of a bus, bus benches, billboards, bumper stickers, radio, TV, in the trailers before you get to see the feature film at the movies. Online--it's even worse. Facebook has a whole sidebar full of targeted ads every time you log in, even more TV-style spots directly assaulting you when you play one of those addictive Facebook games.

As small business owners, you need to figure out how your message can break through that noise to get you noticed by your best prospects. In order for some one to want to purchase from you, you need to move them along the familiar Know-->Like--->Trust spectrum.

How Lawyers Can Use Marketing To Identify And Sift Out Hot Prospects

One reason why many lawyers don't like marketing or think it is not worth the effort is because they have not done it properly in the past.

This could be for a whole lot of reasons, but more often than not it is because of a lack of time and expertise.

There is also the confusion many lawyers have about marketing and sales - i.e. should marketing result in new clients signing up immediately or should it be separated totally from the sales function?

I want to answer these questions by focusing on what marketing should be...

Marketing should help lawyers identify prospects that are looking for specific legal services and have the money to pay to achieve their desired goals.

Given this, any marketing by law firms should focus on sifting out hot prospects as soon as possible so that the appropriate communications and resources are directed to them.

Identify YOUR Target Market With This Strategy - Create an Avatar

In my coaching efforts with small business owners, I find that one of the most overlooked items when designing a marketing campaign is also one of the most important and should never be skipped: identifying your target population. It sounds so basic, yet it is so regularly skipped. Most of the business owners I coach cast too wide a net and therefore don't find their response rates or opt-in rates nearly as high as they would like. They aren't able to get clients on the phone or to return phone calls; get them to respond to e-mails; visit their website; answer direct mails; or anything. Their bosses or some sales strategies tell them it's a numbers game, just keep trying.

If you want to attract more of YOUR target population, then you must identify them with laser-like proficiency. One of the best ways to do this is to be able to visualize your target market. I recommend using an Avatar approach. This way you can envision exactly what your target looks like. Once you can see them in your minds eye, it's much easier to attract them.

If you are selling weight loss products for instance, who exactly are you trying to attract?? I hear often from the people I coach: "anyone who is overweight". That is just way too broad a spectrum of people to effectively attract. You must get much more specific as to who they are. I've heard very similar answers from financial planners, real estate brokers, mortgage brokers, automobile salespeople, and many others. The lesson here is to be more specific and don't try to attract absolutely everyone. As the old story goes "He who chases two rabbits catches none".