Good Marketing Questions
Ever wonder what are some good marketing questions to ask yourself if you want to generate new customers? I can't even remember where I found these but I came across some questions that really got me thinking. Here is a list of the questions with some additional ones added that I use on a regular basis.
1. What would my prospects need to believe that would make buying what I am selling a no brainer decision?
This is a great question to ask as it tells you exactly what you need to communicate in your advertising, marketing and sales materials. If you can get a prospective buyer to believe the right things to determine buying from you is a no brainer then sales will be very easy. Think about what would make the decision a no brainer if you were in their shoes and then work to convince them that this is true.
2. Why wouldn't my prospects buy what I'm offering
By answering this question you can work to correct the problems with your product or service that causes objections and rejections. Sometimes correcting these issues is hard to do but if you can correct them your closing rate and new customers generated will go through the roof. If it is not feasible to remove one of these reasons be sure you are prepared to know how to answer these objections when you get them.
3. Why do my prospects need to buy right now?
If you can figure out why or give your prospects a reason to why they need to buy right now your closing rate and new customers generated will increase. If there is no urgency it is just human nature for most people to push things off. If you can find a reason for immediate action that resonates with your prospects and remind them of this they will be more likely to take action.
4. What is the one thing I can do better then any of my competitors and that prospective customers highly value?
This is a core question to your marketing strategy. Basically the answer tells another critical message you need to communicate through your branding and all marketing/advertising initiatives. You want prospective customers to immediately understand what you stand for, what you do better then the competition and therefore why they might want to choose to buy from you and not the competition.
5. What is my competition doing to annoy their customer base?
If there is something your competition is doing to annoy their customer base this is an easy way to steal customers from them. To do this all you have to do is provide service or feature that alleviates this frustration and let prospective customers know you provide it. For example if you are a printer company and your competitor provides a web based support center despite the fact that their customers are annoyed by not being able to talk to someone live for support, all you need to do is provide a call in support line. In this example I am sure if the company let prospects know they provide the call in support service while their competition does not that they would see a large number of buyers switch from the competition to them.
6. Is my strategy to increase sales with existing customers, steal customers from your competition, bring new prospects to the market that currently don't use another supplier or some sort of mix of the three?
It is critical to know the answer to this question because depending on which it is you will probably want to use a different marketing message and marketing medium that delivers the right message to the right people.
7. What is the next big trend or innovation that I can do before and better then your competition?
If you can answer this question you will have a significant advantage. There are always large rewards for being the first to jump on the biggest trend or innovation in your industry. If you can consistently do this over time you will consistently outperform your competition. For example, as social media marketing continues to take off, get ahead of your competition by working with your marketing team to come up with innovative new social media strategies.
Looking for more marketing questions to ask yourself? Download our free marketing plan template. It is packed with great questions to get you thinking about how you can improve the marketing of your business.
I help various B2B small businesses in Waterloo and Kitchener generate new customers by developing and executing joint sales and marketing plans. If you are interested in keeping up to date on issues related to generating new customers for B2B small businesses subscribe to this blog by email below. Just enter your email in the box provided.
I find asking myself good marketing questions from time to time makes sure I really understand and fine tune my marketing strategies. I hope this article has been worth the time it took you to read. As always I love to get feedback from my readers. Feel free to send me a note letting me know what you think of this article or what you would like to see me write on.
