Invention is Your Business Engine, Marketing is its Fuel

“If you build  it, he will come.”

So goes the old saying of "Field of Dreams" fame, dedicated to encouraging anyone and everyone with a vision to see it through and trust in the outcome. It's something that can be easily paraphrased for your business as well, "if you make it great, customers will come."

Unfortunately this overlooks a key part of the process, the marketing of the product you sell or the service you offer.

[caption id="attachment_2562" align="aligncenter" width="546"]Vanity phone number on truck To keep your business moving, the fuel of marketing is required.[/caption]

Invention is Only the First Step

Simply developing an outstanding product or service is rarely enough, even though it is the most important part of any success story. The idea that customers will immediately gather to buy and the business or creator will become rich is a romantic one but not really based in reality for most business owners. Marketing budgets are big for a reason, and that reason is that great marketing bridges the gap between potential and execution.

Marketing has taken on something of a negative meaning in some entrepreneurial circles perhaps it has always been so - but it's also always been an integral part of bringing a product or service to the people. Whether we loathe or love the idea of marketing, every business is fueled by the connections it makes with customers through any number of channels, from social media and advertising campaigns to good old fashioned word of mouth.

Peter Thiel takes on this concept in his recent book Zero to One, who points out that marketing isn’t about much more than used car salesmen and sellers of snake oil. Marketing is making people aware that you exist, honking your horn a bit, and helping them understand why what you sell is so great; how it can help them in their daily lives. This doesn’t excuse inferior products or service, in fact it means that your business must walk the walk as well as talk the talk if you expect serious, long-term success.

Quite simply marketing means that people must be made aware of a new product if they are going to use it. Remember the zen wisdom about the sound of a tree falling in the forest? Well, even the best product in the world has limited sales if no one hears about it!

Great Marketing Fuels Your Product's Fire

There are any number of examples of cases where great creative minds and businesses have been scuppered by the Achilles Heel of poor marketing.

Electronics contemporaries Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison, for example,  both were striking minds, geniuses who changed things for the better. The household name is Edison, though, who was a born marketer and businessman. Tesla has more recently received greater recognition, but this is late coming and, ironically, is somewhat shaped by the powerful word-of-mouth marketing propelled by the electric car company that adopted his name. Edison could  sell well and let the right people know about what he made.

Even Apple, the current king of desirable designer products and one of the world's biggest brands, saw a time when it's arguably superior computing achievements were overwhelmed by Microsoft, who got traction with the business market and got the Windows message through to so many people that it dominated for more than a decade. Despite a general malaise towards Microsoft, its marketing arm was a major factor in making the name synonymous with computing in the nineties.

Just like the market place, marketing itself keeps changing. There are more channels than ever to reach your customers but, if you can believe it, things are even more noisy out there and connecting with customers can be hard.

Having the right tools in your marketing tools in your kit helps a great deal, with memorable contact details, strong branding, and effective measurement all playing their part.  The rapid development of online analytics has made it possible to reach the exact people who will be most likely to buy in to your services. You can also understand what those people are doing with the content and marketing materials you put out there into the world, which helps to hone your message and deliver the best marketing message you can conjure up.

When it comes down to it, a great product with excellent customer service will always win the day. But the difference between having potential and winning with it comes down to great marketing, which is the fuel in the any successful company's engine.

So, What Are You Waiting For? Buy Vanity Phone Numbers Today

Boost your calls and sales with a memorable vanity phone number!

Toll-Free Numbers

A memorable vanity phone number that spells a word or phrase that will stick in the mind of your customers.

SHOP TOLL-FREE NUMBERS

Local Numbers

Get a local phone number in any area code so you can have a local presence in cities across the US and Canada.

SHOP Local NUMBERS
  • Written by: mike on June 9, 2014

    Why Local Vanity Numbers Get Your Phones Ringing

    On any given day, we’re exposed to an overwhelming amount of advertising. The majority of these ads don’t leave a lasting impression.
    Read more
  • Written by: mike on September 25, 2014

    Making Vanity Numbers a Part of Your Business Identity

    Driving a small business toward success takes more than hard work; a successful business must brand and market itself efficiently and effectively.
    Read more
  • Written by: mike on September 16, 2014

    Vanity Numbers at Work: One Marketing Tool to Rule Them All

    Marketing is an investment, and like everything else in your portfolio, you expect to see a return. Whether it's increased info on leads, more calls, or pure and simple sales, everything in your marketing tool kit must pull its weight (or be dumped in favor of something else that does). Compared to most marketing tools, vanity phone numbers work harder for you and
    Read more