In this post you are going to discover 8 strategies and tactics that professional internet marketers use to dominate markets and generate massive profits. While I’m sure you could write a series of books on this subject, I am going to list 8 strategies and tactics that I see the most successful marketers in the business use over and over again.
I have never been a big believer in reinventing the wheel. I believe that one of the best ways to short-cut your way to success is to study those who are successful and watch how they “work their business.”
With this in mind, here are some observations I have made on what I see successful online marketers doing in their business that the unsuccessful are simply not doing:
- Successful marketers identify the prospect’s hot buttons (i.e. wants and emotional desires) and they tailor their marketing message to those hot buttons. Let’s use the “weight loss” market as an example. Professional marketers will do their research and determine “WHY” an individual wants to lose weight before they even think of putting a marketing campaign together. And then they will tailor their message to that “why.” For example, if a woman wants to lose weight is it because her doctor told her to lose weight for health reasons or is it because she is suddenly single and she wants to get back into that size 2 so she can turn heads like she did 10 years ago? A marketing message that is centered on the health benefits of losing weight is not going to resonate with the recently divorced woman who wants to look good for future partner.
- Professional internet marketers understand that people buy on emotion and then they use logic to justify their purchase. This means that as a professional marketer your job is to sell on emotion and then give the customer a world-class experience “AFTER” the purchase to help them justify their decision to buy. A large part of this world-class experience is to deliver a product or service that exceeds the expectations of the buyer.
- Successful internet marketers are “List Builders.” Success in this business is all about generating traffic and leads (i.e. list building), and then monetizing those leads. The big boys (and girls) completely understand this. It has often been said that you do not have an online business if you do not have a list. Marketing legend Mark Joyner has stated that the list is “Oxygen” to an online business. It’s almost impossible to survive without it. And then there is marketing expert Andy Jenkins. Andy said that if he had to start over again from scratch, the one strategy he would focus on is list building. Andy is such a big advocate of list building he decided to create an entire training course on the subject. It’s called “Beginner’s Luck.”
- The most successful online marketers name their methods and their strategies. By naming their methods and business building strategies, these marketers able to increase the perceived value of their products and charge higher prices. For example, Eben Pagan does not sell product development strategies. He sells “Guru Product Blueprints.” Jeff Walker does not sell product launch tactics. He sells “Product Launch Formula.” And Frank Kern does not sell advanced marketing training. He sells “Mass Control.”
- Many top marketers attribute their success to “giving away their best stuff.” Eben Pagan, the creator of Accelerate High Growth Business Training & Coaching program, is the perfect example. Eben pioneered the concept of “moving the free line” where you take your best piece of content — your best strategy or idea — and you give it away. This strategy allows the marketer to reach a much larger audience and it allows him or her to build a higher level of trust and credibility with the audience. By giving away a great piece of content it also positions the marketer as an “Expert” and allows him (or her) to command higher prices. Andy Jenkins is another advocate of giving away great content. Recently, I was on a live call where Andy stated: “The biggest reason I am successful is not because I sell great products. The biggest reason I am successful is because I give away a lot of great stuff.”
- The top internet marketers are very adept at leveraging the relationship that other marketers and business owners have with people they want as customers. Smart and savvy marketers are continually asking the following types of questions: “Who else has gone through the effort to attract the customer that I want as a customer? Who has already done the work?” The best marketers find out who these marketers are and then they form joint ventures and strategic alliances with them. This is strategic marketing.
- The most successful online marketers are serious students of MARKETING!! Great marketing is the great equalizer. And the top people in the web business and internet marketing world know this. Marketing is a “high-value” activity and great marketing can transform a struggling business in record time. The best marketing minds in business do not invest their time in a low-value activity like learning technology. They outsource this stuff. They invest their time studying marketing and business growth strategies. Top marketers also study how other professional marketers promote their products and services. Marketing expert Mark Ling, the creator of the Affiloblueprint affiliate marketing course, has stated that studying other marketers is one of the primary ways he stays on the cutting-edge of internet marketing. Leading marketers like Mark Ling also study the legendary marketing and advertising men from the past. I’m talking about direct response marketing legends like Claude Hopkins, Robert Collier, John Caples and Eugene Schwartz to name a few.
- The online marketers who are at the elite level study human psychology. Eben Pagan and Dean Jackson are great examples of this. A big reason why these two men are elite-level marketers is because they have a deep understanding of human psychology, which helps them understand the basic human needs and motivations that trigger buying decisions. Eben has read dozens of books on the subject of human psychology — including work from PHD’s like Dr. Robert Cialdini and Dr. Wyatt Woodsmall. He is a serious student of both marketing and human psychology, which is major reason why he has been able to build a $100 million online business in the past 10 years.
As I look at my business and how I want to move forward, I will be investing less time studying and learning the technical aspects of running an online business and I will focus more of my time on “Marketing.”
What this means for you is that I will be posting more content on Web Business Research about strategies and breakthroughs I discover as I take my marketing education to another level. Be sure to subscribe to this blog so you can have immediate access to every post I make on this very important subject.
One of my top priorities for the rest of 2013 is to begin my study of the direct response marketing legends of the past. The first book on my list is “Scientific Advertising” by Claude Hopkins. Mr. Hopkins was a great advertising man in the first half of 20th century and his work is lauded by just about every great marketer that I know of.
I recently listened to the Jay Abraham interview on I Love Marketing where Jay stated: “Back in the 1920’s and 1930’s people like Claude Hopkins didn’t have the ability to use technology or sexuality or graphics (in their marketing). They had to understand pure unadulterated human psychology and enduring immutable facets of the human condition.”
I firmly believe that if you want to become an elite marketer you have to also understand human psychology. And that is exactly why I am going deep into the direct marketing classics of the past century — and study those great advertising men who had to learn human psychology in order to sell and market.
If you also want to take your marketing education to another level, a very good place to start is by listening to the excellent I Love Marketing podcast from Joe Polish and Dean Jackson. During the past few months I have listened to the majority of the more than 100 episodes that Joe and Dean have posted at ILoveMarketing.com. You can also access the podcast at iTunes. There is excellent stuff here and I highly recommend Joe and Dean’s podcast for anyone who wants a great marketing education that is free.
I also recommend that you start from the beginning and listen to the first 5 to 6 episodes first. In these first few episodes Joe and Dean go into detail on the basics of direct response marketing and it’s these “basics” that have laid the foundation for their great success as marketers. It’s no surprise that they two very smart marketers attribute much of their success to the great education they received by studying “legends” like Claude Hopkins, Eugene Schwartz, John Caples and others.
Have you noticed a familiar theme? It’s quite apparent that the great marketers of today have studied in detail the legendary marketers of the past. That is the path I am going to follow. And if you want to transform yourself into a professional marketer, I encourage you to do the same.
All the best,
Jon Poland
P.S. If you enjoyed this post I would be honored it you would share it on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. And I certainly welcome any comments and thoughts that you may have on the subject of “marketing.”
Speak Your Mind