Marketing Conversion Strategy Series: A Common Sense Approach to Turning Prospects into Paying Customers

By Dean Mercado

"I have learned to imagine an invisible sign around each person's neck that says, 'Make me feel important!'" -- Mary Kay Ash (1918-2001) American businessperson, founder of Mary Kay Inc.

It’s one thing to attract an abundance of leads or prospects to your business, it’s quite another to be able to convert those prospects into paying customers. It takes some trial and error… it takes patience… it takes persistence… it takes practice… lots of it to really get good at it.

Fortunately for us, many of the core skills required for successful conversions can be classified as what some may deem as common sense. One such core skill is nurturing. Nurture your vegetable garden and it will grow. Nurture your children and they will flourish. Nurture your target market and they will buy. Your ability to nurture effectively starts with your clarity in understanding exactly what it is your target market both wants and needs to not only survive but thrive. One such want that we’ll discuss in this conversation is to feel important… to feel needed… to feel wanted… to feel special… to feel that they matter.

So let me ask you a point blank question. Does your marketing make your target market feel important? Try asking some of your existing customers whether or not your marketing had this effect on them. You just may be surprised with what you hear.

So how exactly do you go about making your target market feel important? Well here are three steps to doing just that:

First… in order to do this, you must clearly understand who you target market really is. Who are you really serving? Continue to drill down on the specifics of who your target market really is until you get a very clear picture in your head of someone who best represents the perfect customer… your perfect customer. This is who you target.

Second… you must know a bit about what makes them tick… study them… get to know them… hang around them… what’s important to them? What are their emotional triggers that you can pull to get them to buy? This will give you the ammunition you need to be able to connect with your target market on a deeper more genuine level.

Third… consistently communicate your clear understanding of what’s important to them in your marketing messages; Showing them that you’ve taken the time to really understand what’s important to them will go a long way. In their eyes, this puts you in a different class than much of the competition vying for their attention. And it’s that respect that will make them pay attention to YOU.

So in closing, understand your target market and pay them proper attention and they will respond. Don’t be afraid to show signs of kindness, compassion, and empathy as they will help fill that void in your target market to feel important. You know why? You know why you should do this? Because they deserve it! Don’t we all? We all deserve to feel important because we are! Practice that and I guarantee you will see results!

© 2008 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then check out Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal' at http://www.MotivationalMarketer.com. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.