The hardest part about being a teacher seller is that we are teachers, not marketers.
For most of us, that means that when we try to market our products, we end up trying a bunch of individual strategies that we’ve heard about (*cough*socialmedia*cough*), but they don’t really work together. There’s no real marketing plan.
The key to creating an effective marketing plan is understanding the customer journey
Truth bomb: Your customers do not just wake up one day and say to themselves “I think I’ll buy some stuff today.” Customers buy our products because they have a problem that needs to be solved.
Customers shop on TPT or other teaching materials websites because they have an urgent need. They aren’t feeling well and need last minute sub plans. They have to teach a new grade or subject and don’t know where to start.
By understanding what your customer is thinking, you can get their attention
Think about the different ways that your customers are likely to interact with your store and products. For example:
- looking at (or buying) individual product they find during a search
- browsing your storefront
- purchasing a large bundle
- reading a blog post
- receiving an email from your mailing list (or signing up for that mailing list)
- clicking a pin or post on social media
- following your store on TPT or social media
How much do your customers trust you?
These different actions have different levels of trust associated with them. A customer doesn’t need to know anything about your brand to click on a pinterest pin (if they find it interesting enough) but they will likely want to be a lot more familiar with your work before they trust you enough to buy a large bundle.
How do you GET customers to trust you?
By understanding what your customer needs and wants, you can talk to them about the right things at the right time.
Think about those different ways that a customer might interact with your brand (everyone’s list will be a little bit different depending on what strategies you are currently using). Now put that list in order, with those requiring the least trust at the bottom to the most at the top.
Think of this as your “customer trust ladder”
Now, think about how a customer would get to know your brand. It’s unlikely that they’ll just jump right to the top of the ladder and buy all the things, right? So you have to start at the bottom and help your customer move further up that ladder.
For example, If someone visits your blog, you might offer an incentive to get them to join your mailing list.
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