What's All the Fuss About Attraction Marketing?

Introduction
Who is doing all the work when it comes to gaining new prospects and leads for your business? How much time does that normally take out of your day? Would you rather focus more time on providing your products and services and less time on the continual hunt for new customers? If these questions resonate with your own thinking then it is time to consider what a new concept called attraction marketing is all about and what it can do for you.

What is Attraction Marketing?
To understand what attraction marketing is, let's first define traditional marketing and then show how these two terms are vastly different in approach.

Traditional marketing (also known as outbound or push marketing) is an outbound activity in which we seek to allure prospective customers to look at our products and services.

Now, compare that to attraction marketing (also known as inbound or pull marketing), which is an inbound activity in which prospective customers already know about the products and services on offer. It is the customer that chases the marketer. The customer has already made the decision to purchase the products or services, and the marketer is the one they immediately go to to get them. The marketer has generated this interest on a subconscious level in the minds of the customer trough the use of non-traditional means.

How is This Beneficial?
Think about it. Instead of you hunting for new customers and trying to sell to them, they seek you out instead and have already sold themselves.

So, ask yourself which is more profitable: one person trying to sell to 100 people and meeting sales resistance most of the time, or 100 people wanting to buy from one person with zero resistance because the customer initiated the exchange?

Let's put some numbers to this. Let's say you have a widget that you sell on your website for $10 and through traditional marketing (outbound) methods, you might generate an average of one to two percent of all visitors actually buying. That will net you only $10 - $20 per 100 visitors on your website. Now, compare that with a 100% success rate with attraction marketing, and you made $1000 instead. So, which is better for your business? $10 - $20 or $1000? It's a no-brainer!

Aside from the raw sales numbers, think about the cost of advertising and how much of that has been wasted for just a measly one to two percent conversion rate. Considering the cost of advertising, how much profit did you really make? Odds are, it is not quite as high as you had hoped.

How Do We Set This Up?
First and foremost: stop selling! People hate being sold to. There are so many sales messages everywhere and people are bombarded by these messages on all sides, every day. They are fed up and are more or less immune to traditional methods because it is everywhere. If you follow the same methods that other businesses employ, there is really nothing to distinguish your method from the rest of your competition-even if your products are far superior, you will have a tough time piercing through the anti-sales forcefields the customers have cloaked themselves in. The typical sales tactics, phrases and approaches are nothing more than unwelcomed noise and they bounce right off of them.

To be effective, you cannot push your sales messages out to your prospective customers, you must instead pull them in so they can see for themselves and learn at their own pace about what you are offering. Then they can make their own decisions.

How do you do this? Educate them, without the expectation of an immediate sale. Give to them first without expecting anything in return. Gee, there's a concept! Why do you think people do not trust salespeople? It's because they know the salesperson has something to gain and they expect that the message is tainted because of this. Instead, just provide information and do not try to sell anything to them.

It is widely known that when people get some valuable information from someone about a particular subject, it is usually those very same information providers who those people come back to when they are ready to make a purchase. They do this willingly and without feeling pressure when they realise that your sole purpose is not to take their money, but to actually help them first and foremost. In short, you must be perceived as adding value to them and their lives and not motivated solely by your own selfish desire for profits.

This completely reverses the tables, disarms their anti-sales forcefields and makes them willing patrons-with a smile. They feel as if they are in charge and that the decision was theirs completely, and with zero sales pressure. This generates far more sales, with less effort and expense.

There are many methods for adding value and providing education to your prospective customers. It only takes a little research, experimentation and open-mindedness to uncover these methods and start to make them work for you. One thing is certain: it will revolutionise your business and grow your effectiveness exponentially.

Summary
So with all the time and expense associated with traditional marketing, it is about time the savvy business owner wakes up and instead of spending more and increasing the pace of these traditional methods, they focus on a better way. Traditionally, we think that doing more of the same overdone and trite methods will generate more revenue-sure, but we have also increased our expenses accordingly with not much of a difference in profit. It is really no great secret that the average consumers are generally resistant to traditional marketing approaches, so the prudent marketers of products and services had better take heed-there is a far more cost-effective and efficient method to generate sales and virtually eliminate sales resistance. Attraction marketing is that method.

Here's to your success!