The DELTA System

Here is a five stage marketing process:

1.   Discovery
2.  Engagement
3.  Learning
4.  Trading
5.  Advocacy

Or ‘DELTA’ for short.

1.  Discovery.  If your clients can’t find you, you can find them by using traditional sales techniques. However, my guess is that you probably don’t like the thought of cold calling. It is better for clients to find you and the first step is to create awareness.

You can create awareness by publishing new website content; engaging with social media; sending out e-newsletters; and holding events. My favourite from this list is website content. Google has said that this is a top ranking factor (out of circa 200 factors). In addition, I prefer it when clients come to me (i.e. via Google search), rather than the other way around.

A key issue is to decide the balance between paid for promotion and other activities which are based on using your time.

2.  Engagement.  In general, people don’t like to buy from businesses that they have never heard of. This is why companies pour so much money into building brands. A brand = a promise. This is a promise to deliver goods or services to a certain standard and in a certain way. People buy brands they recognise and trust. As a marketer, your mission is to build a brand.

3.  Learning.  Customer education is the magic bullet of online marketing. Prospective customers want to learn about the purchases they are about to make. They like enterprises which provide plentiful information. You don’t have to give away all of your trade secrets or Intellectual Property. You will be positioning yourself as customer-friendly, helpful and open. These are just the sort of qualities which drive successful businesses worldwide.

4.  Trading. The fourth step within the DELTA model is ‘trade with me’. Once someone has bought from you once, it is more likely that they will buy from you again.

5. Advocacy.  The last DELTA step is to do everything you can to turn your clients into advocates, using an advocacy system. The best way to do this is to offer outstanding service. First class service will get you talked about. Great service will turn one-off customers into regular clients. Fantastic service will create an army of advocates for your enterprise.

The DELTA System Copyright © Nigel Temple / The Marketing Compass