Marketing 101 for the shy
By: Daniel Otero
Nobody is born knowing everything. Therefore, with one quick boot into the a marketing experience, do the following to make it into a complete success. Beyond the technical factors noted on how to sell a product. There’s an approach method which most miss and it’s time tested. Now, anybody can give a presentation, but not everybody can make it standout. Therefore, practice makes perfect according to the crowd the marketeer approaches. There is only a slight tunnel of opportunity in making an impression. This opportunity is often lost in the numbers, which will bore people to death! That tunnel is the first five to 15 minutes of the presentation. Then, if the time of the essence isn’t captured, we have lost all opportunity in making an impact; moreover, we will put the crowd to sleep!
There is a way in doing this to avoid any catastrophe in the matter. Since the first five minutes we want to dress casually, to make the approach standout. Walking around, smiling, shaking hands with as many people as possible. Pretend for a moment you’re a rock star or a politician searching for the approval of the people. Always be clean, smell good and do your best!
Depending on the crowd the marketeer is approaching, begin with a popular song applicable to that age group. Remember you want to ask about how the song makes a person feel and what do they think about when answering. This song must be age appropriate and nothing vulgar. The theme of the song itself must fit in with the presentation. Keep in mind, it is what marketers are here to do, inspire!
I use the Queen song, ‘We will rock you!’ With this tune I usually get the crowd standing-up, dancing and signing with me. You see, I already woke them up from a literally-long and boring concept; while getting their blood pumping with fun!
If the theme is education, it’s then a marketing plan to recruit students for a school. Walk around and ask five-basic questions: “Where to you plan to be in five to 10 years? What’s your dream school? What’s your dream job? What will make you happy? How can we help you get there?” Here the marketeer is putting herself/himself in the hot-seat! Know your stuff, sell it well; furthermore, inspire them to make the transition. “If it is to learn better English, that is not an impossible goal to achieve! We can make it happen with our program,” etc. Sell it and believe in what you sell!
Already 10-minutes have transpired. Pick two volunteers from the crowd. To make it fair or depending on the crowd, a boy or girl. If the crowd is all females, then the oldest and youngest of the people there. The same goes for males. Never ask a person’s age, just pick the best possible people to participate according to your judgment. Have them do a guessing game with two basic questions. This is tied into the marketing plan. For example and if the presentation is about export goods. A question can be asked like this, “Who is the biggest exporter to the United States?”, another question can be followed with, “Who is the President of China or the United States?” The person who answers first can get a key chain from the company being promoted. There’s a small investment into key chains from doing these presentations. Never go overboard on the investment of products or too much panache. It’s a waste of money, there’s more done with less! Use creativity.
Here is the point to begin the presentation with 15-minutes into this game plan. The company ought to use somebody whom is well dressed and attractive. This will depend on the crowd, if the ratio is more female than male; then an attractive male and if it’s the other way around, an attractive female. On the PowerPoint, only five minutes should be wasted in demonstrating with quality what the company has to offer. The person doing the PowerPoint can throw in a couple of jokes. Keep the jokes clean, fun and time tested to make people laugh. Enjoy and always, the presenter ought to have a sense of humor to poke fun at his or herself.
By the end of the presentation, the supervisor or corporate boss should say a couple of words to close off in two to three minutes tops.
And like this article, it should be as short and sweet as possible, and not extending the presentation beyond 25-minutes. Clearly, from this point, this marketing plan ought to be winner!
