In its simplest form, internet marketing is about finding your target market and communicating the benefits of your product or service to that market.

But, what happens if you find a product to promote, build a website, drive traffic to your website and no one is buying?

If no one wants to buy your product, then you need to take a closer at your target market, your product or your execution. Lack of sales is a signal that you don’t know your market as well as you thought you did, the product is not satisfying the market’s needs, or your execution is not good enough.

MARKET RESEARCH

You need to understand your target market if you want to be successful. For example, how can you expect to sell a software product to accountants if you don’t know anything about accountants?

Understand your target market from an objective point of view. What do they really want? Dig deep to find that answer. Understand how your market thinks, acts and speaks. When you understand your market you can use the same terms that they do. You can reference the emotions that they feel in your sales copy. You can promote the benefits that they’ll receive when they buy your product.

Be sure that you target a very focused market. In most cases, it’s better to define a very specific, narrow market for two reasons. First, the product will likely be much better because it’s focused on a specific type of person.

For example, let’s say accountants that work exclusively with small law firms is your market. If you create a product for this market, the product can include features specific to the problems they face and will be much higher quality than a general product created for all accountants.

The second reason you want to focus on a narrow market is because you will benefit from using scarcity. People want to be associated with products or services that are scarce. It makes people feel better about themselves.

Think about it – why do we buy brand names? Perhaps quality, but more likely because it makes us feel better about ourselves. Not everyone can afford top shelf brand names so we feel exclusive, or at least better than those that can’t afford brand names. It’s an emotional benefit.

A consequence of having a product or service tailored for a small market is that you can charge more. Because it’s made for a special group of people, and it’s scarce, you’ll be able to charge more.

Charging more money for a product also gives the impression of higher quality. If I told you that I have two cars for sale, one is priced at $14,000.00 and the other costs $300,000.00, which one would you think is higher quality, without knowing anything else?

The important thing to remember is know your market very well. The more research you do, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to offer them a product that they really want.

TOP QUALITY PRODUCT

Now that you know your market, you simply have to find or create a product that they really want or need. There might be a few people out there interested in buying a golf bag with a built-in radio/blender for making margaritas while on the golf course.

However, it would be much easier to sell a driver that uses a new technology that adds minimum 50 yards to your drive while minimizing slice and hook. If you had documented proof of the benefits from this golf club, do you think golfers would be interested in buying it?

The key to promoting a product or service that people will be happy to pay money for is listen to the market. If you go to the right sources, people will tell you what they want. They’ll tell you what they need.

If you have a website that’s getting traffic but no one is buying your product or service, it could be the product. If people aren’t saying – “This is awesome! It’s exactly what I need” – maybe you need to reconsider what you’re selling.

As an example, take a look at Bubble Wrap. Bubble Wrap was actually created as plastic wallpaper. The inventors could have said the product sucks, no one wants it, let’s give up. But they took a look at the product and the market they were targeting. It turned out the product was great as a packing material, so that’s what they focused on. Pretty good decision, I’d say.

Make sure your product is top quality and you’re targeting the right market. If you have to use “hard sell” tactics, you’re missing the point. Create a product that people want and the selling part is easy.

EXECUTION

Maybe you have a nice, narrow market, a great product but you’re still not converting visitors into sales. It could be poor execution.

Execution is everything. Execution is the way you present your product or service to the world. It’s the way you carry out your strategy. An idea without the proper execution is worthless.

For example, let’s look at domain names. Most people that think about buying a domain name might consider price, ease of use, reliability, and that’s about it. So, how did Go Daddy become so big in this field when most companies that sell domain names are very similar? Execution.

GoDaddy had an extensive marketing plan that went beyond the internet. They promoted their brand more than anyone else. It wasn’t that they were the cheapest or the best, it was the way they executed their ideas.

The same principle applies to affiliate marketers. If you’re promoting a product from Clickbank, when a hundred other people are promoting the same product, what can you do to get sales and make money?

The answer, of course, is you need to execute better than anyone else. You need to create a website that is designed to get people to take the action you want them to take. You need to create copy that tells them the benefits in a way that taps into their emotions and desires. You need to market your website and drive traffic. If you execute better than anyone else, that’s when you’ll get results better than anyone else.

Once you thoroughly know your market, their wants, needs, problems, etc, you create a product or service that satisfies those needs. Create a product that solves their problems and the product or service will sell itself.

Execution is everything. If your execution is average, then you’ll get average results. If you want to convert visitors to buyers, make sure that your market research, your product and your execution are all in sync.

What actions have you taken to turn your sales around?