Low-Budget Marketing Technique #2
In our previous article, A List of Awards Your Security Alarm Business Needs, we discussed how awards can be a powerful differentiator and how easy they can be to achieve. Basically, it comes down to applying for as many as possible each year and waiting for the results to come in. This next low-budget marketing technique has to do with joining industry associations and how they help your company stand apart from the competition.
Building Authority
Demonstrating your participation with industry associations has a unique power in the minds of consumers. As Patrick Hull noted in his Forbes Article, “I’m surprised by the lack of people who belong to associations.” The truth is, joining an industry association is time consuming and often costs money. And going to meetings takes you away from the desk and customers’ homes, resulting in less revenue, right? Not necessarily.
Participating in associations can result in many different types of returns, monetary and otherwise. While the bill to belong can be a turn off for many, it is a badge of honor than can be leveraged when your customers are on the brink of making a buying decision. If Joe Schmo from your competitor’s company has all the best sales verbiage and a shiny smile, he still won’t have a third party endorsement. And that’s exactly what your membership is.
Buyer Psychology And Third Party Endorsements
Before you discount the idea of joining an association or two, first consider how you make a purchase decision on a site like Amazon where there are a thousand options available. You first enter the general item you want to buy–“Kitchen Knife.” About 100 pages of results appear. You scroll through the results, noticing there are different knife styles, uses and brands.
Upon narrowing down your final options, the final test you perform is examining user reviews. What you notice in this final decision-making stage, is the knife with a cool shape and style has terrible reviews. You’re devastated, but your second choice is has five stars after 1000 reviews. Tell me you honestly chose the first option and I’ll retract this article.
The reason why you go with the second option is simple. Even though your first choice seemed really appealing, your instinct to trust others’ opinions is powerful. According to YouGov.com, consumers rely on user reviews, even though they don’t trust them.
A Quick List To Get You Started
- False Alarm Reduction Association (FARA)
- American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS)
- Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)
- National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
- Electronic Security Association (ESA)
- Security Industry Association (SIA)
This is not a comprehensive list. You should do your own research to find the right national and local associations to join.
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