How to Convert $1 into $10 with your Marketing

I just finished reading an article on Medium about Influencer Marketing that claims, For Every $1 Spent on Influencer Marketing, A Brand Makes $6.50.

But they are wrong.

I’m not doubting the facts and figures they present, but I doubt that the return is what they say it is.

It’s too low.

But it’s impossible to accurately measure despite the rise in data collection and technology that links our lives and behaviors, there is still a missing link and that missing link is the human factor which makes it impossible to accurately tell us which piece of the marketing puzzle was the final one that inspired us to buy.

Truth be told, there are countless influences on each individual buying choice we make.

So instead of telling you which is the best form of advertising and marketing, I’m going to challenge you in a different direction with the purpose of  converting $1 into $10 with your marketing.

It boils down to what you do with a potential customer after they’ve heard/seen your ad. 

It’s about making the right connection with the follow through.

I’ll use an advertising partner of mine who will remain nameless today, but they are aware of what I’m going to share and I’m going to help them fix the problem.

This service oriented business was getting several phone calls from people that could have become customers but didn’t.

(I have access to some of their incoming phone calls and listened to a couple dozen of them recently.)

The service manager talked to a potential customer for 5 minutes without offering to schedule a service call to send a tech to diagnose the problem.  Instead he gave the person calling advice on what the problem could be and left it hanging…

Another call from a potential customer who was ready to book a service call but the scheduler led her down a different. complex path and again it was a lost sale.

That’s just two calls that I heard where the professionals in the business had potential customers call them and the result was not good.

It wasn’t good for the people who called because when they hung up the phone there was no plan to fix the problem they called about.

It wasn’t good for my advertising partner because they spent time on the phone and lost money (for the time) instead of earning money (by converting the call into a customer.)

This is not an isolated incident.

I dropped my insurance agent a few years ago, because he didn’t offer a solution to a problem.

Even the fast food minimum wagers are trained to ask if you want to make that burger a full meal.

Your job as a business is to offer a solution to people who are asking for help.

Most people will pay you for that solution.

You spend money to invite those folks to contact you.

Now you need to follow through and with those people who walk in your store, call your office or connect online.  Solve their problem, and they will pay you. They will also tell others about how well you took care of them.

You’ve already spent the money to get them to connect.  Earn that money back and you can start seeing a 10 to 1 return on your advertising and marketing.