“It’s amazing what you don’t know about something you’ve been aware of or involved with much of your life.”
That quote is my paraphrase of what a baseball legend said about his profession. That quote applies to everyone, in every profession – but it is truer for manufactured housing than most realize. Here’s another pensée to ponder.
“Learn the basics, do the basics, and teach others the basics. Doing the basics honestly, well, and consistently will put you ahead of most of your competitors.”
Among the communication basics we believe in is that stating the obvious can bring amazing clarity and insights to an issue.
Here’s the obvious clarity. What matters to a business is reaching their target market. There are lots of ways to do that, please let me share an example we know well.
Example
In marketing, a big chunk of success is a result of repetition – how many touches – which means you want to be where your target audience is.
We looked at our industry with fresh eyes – approaching 8 years ago – before we launched what we now call MHProNews. We continue to step back from time-to-time and take a fresh look, and we adjust or recreate ourselves in the light of those discoveries.
Be Honest With Yourself, Then Be Compelling with Your Market
We all have strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT).
Almost 8 years ago, we saw that there was no consistent or easy way to get and stay in front of the manufactured housing professional audience. There were only 2 ‘full’ trade shows, and one partial one, and then smaller events. These – while useful – are not routine enough or profitable enough on their own for a year-round B2B marketing campaigns.
That problem was an opportunity in disguise. It motivated us to create MHProNews.com.
Seeing the big gap, we began to fill it by launching MHProNews.com. By creating “Daily Business News” – stories that no one else in the industry was doing – plus numerous other features – and later MHLivingNews – we’d feed the needs of thousands of professionals.
That also is an obvious way of giving businesses trying to reach other MH Professionals a way to engage them every time they logged on.
We rapidly became and remain number 1 as a result of doing the basics.
In April 2017, in the tiny manufactured housing industry, we averaged over 7,400 visits a day. Nothing else like us even comes close. Think about it! Thousands of professionals, logging on daily! That’s more than many other like platforms – as good as they may be – touch in one or more months.
Are Emails Enough?
“But Tony, our business has a great email list.” If so, Terrific!
- But what are you doing to reach those not on your list?
- What are you doing to get those who may receive your email – but rarely if ever open it – to discover who it is sending them that message?
“It’s amazing what you don’t know about something you’ve been aware of or involved with much of your life.”
People you know, and who you think know you, may not realize something you want them to.
So, your operation has to “step in front of them.” Often! Daily, if possible!
That means, you have to be where they are already looking, because they want to look there. B2B, that best place is MHProNews – thousands of readers just like you, from the industry’s billionaires and billion-dollar operations, to the mid-sized companies or the mom-and-pop businesses.
This same principle applies to those businesses selling products and services to consumers (B2C).
So back to the top. Marketing and Sales 101. Get and stay in front of your target audience. Do so in ways that your target audience will
- a) want to find you and
- b) will keep coming back, because they want to come back.
Why are we more successful than others that have come and – mostly – gone? Because we KNOW the retailing, production, communities, lending and other services that go along with manufactured housing. We know the professional audience and the public too.
We have the tee shirts, because we’ve sold the homes, knocked on the doors, walked the lines, been under the homes, know the firnancial services and what makes them tick, etc. etc.
Everything else are details and commentary.
Check back next week for more Marketing and Sales basics.
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And if you need specialized products or services – call or email us, first or last – but call us. Odds are we can do more for your budget than anyone else. Because we know, live and love the manufactured home business! We know and have your target audiences! ##
L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach MHLivingNews.com| MHProNews.com| Office 863-213-4090 | Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
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Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right. – Henry Ford