All too often businesses embark on sales and marketing activity, both inbound and outbound, with one single goal – to reach and engage with the elusive ‘decision maker’.  And if you are lucky enough to reach and engage with an actual decision maker then that is a wonderful thing, but it’s unlikely to result in much of the way of business if you haven’t engaged with other people in the process.  Here are two good reasons why you should never obsess with the decision maker when you’re creating your sales and marketing strategy:

They’re not the person with the need

The person who can place an order may not be the person who has the ‘need’ you are trying to fulfil with your solution . . . meaning your marketing efforts are likely to fall on deaf ears.  For example, if your product or service helps businesses close sales more quickly, target those people who have the greatest need for this (e.g. sales managers).  If they are sold on what your product does then they will become your biggest asset when it comes to influencing decision makers.

Making decisions does not necessarily equal placing orders

Within most businesses there is rarely a single point of decision-making or a single budget holder.  Of course there will be somebody who physically places orders but they will do so based on the consensus of key stakeholders – ignore these at your peril.

A successful sales and marketing strategy needs to be built on clever targeting based on the answers to a few very simple questions.  Who are my stakeholders?  Where are they?  What do they need?  Understanding the answers to these questions can create all sorts of new opportunities for your business to engage with your customers.

If you’re reading this then I’m guessing you have a blog and are creating lots of content designed to interest and attract your target market over to your website.

However, it’s hard work coming up with ideas, and takes time to write a decent blog and share it across the relevant platforms.  It makes it all the more frustrating when, after all the blood, sweat and tears, no-one seems to be reacting to your blog.  It’s like nobody cares.

So what’s the one simple thing you can to generate more business from your blog?  Add a visual Call To Action.

A Call To Action is a clickable image which drives the reader to take additional action once they’ve read your blog.  They’re most traditionally associated with e-commerce (think the ‘buy now’ button you find on websites) but they should be used with all content marketing to drive the type of behaviour you want.

It’s important to think about what it is you’d like your readers to do after reading your blog post and this will depend on your type of business.  If your business offers services and consultancy then your Call To Action should encourage the reader to get in contact to discuss their requirements so you can make some recommendations on how to help.  If you sell software or solutions then perhaps your Call To Action could offer a free trial.

Once you’ve decided on your Call To Action all you need to do is create a nice visual image which clearly states your desired action and include it with every blog post.  Easy peasy eh??  Actually it is.  I created the Call To Action image below for my education consultancy using a powerpoint slide and a free stock photograph (if you’d like the template just get in touch and I’ll make it available).

Fancy a free 30-minute phone consultation?

The vast majority of my clients offer products and services, but visual Calls To Action such as the one above sound obvious but are often over-looked as a marketing tool.  The key is to make them clear, simple and highly visible; they’re fantastic for creating deeper engagement and make it easier for your potential customers to come to you.