Welcome to Q4 of 2020! The fact that we all made it here is, at some level, quite an accomplishment.
I have some tips to share with you today that solve some significant issues businesses are currently facing right now. COVID changed the landscape for many of our businesses. On top of that, we were already struggling to keep the attention of our customers. We live in a time where merely mentioning something out loud will result in an ad displayed the next time you look at your phone.
How do we stay engaged with our customers and continue to reach new ones with things moving so fast? I want to provide a few ideas and solutions in my email today. Here’s an outline:
- Keeping Customers Engaged
- Reaching New Customers with Reviews
- Proactive, Not Reactive
- Our Plan to Help
Keeping Customers Engaged
The biggest challenge for a business is keeping a customer. After you make the sale, how do you get them back when they have new needs? I have failed in this area myself. A website doesn’t do much on its own. It needs traffic driven to it. That requires engagement.
I have always utilized email marketing, but last year I started automating that process. I knew that people with needs visited my website, but they were not taking the next step. That either meant they were not ready to buy, or they were still shopping. I had to offer them something that allowed me to get their email address to send them a series of emails, warming them up to the idea of doing business with me. I had been implementing this strategy for some of our clients for years. It was time I did it for myself.
That means creating emails that include information that a person in that stage would find interesting and useful. The email should be 98% information and 2% call to action (sales). Most emails I receive from other businesses are 98% sales focused and 2% information. Does your company have a lead magnet that draws in potential customers?
Every email I have sent to educate and inform my customers or customers in my pipeline has generated new business.
Some of my clients have implemented this mentality into their lead generation methods and have experienced significant growth. When people have a need, they want an answer, not a sales pitch. If you can answer their question, they will more likely trust you to provide a solution.
Reaching New Customers With Reviews
Online reviews are among the most important things new customers consider when deciding to hire a business. Google prominently places reviews in Google Maps results. Facebook and Yelp prominently place user-generated reviews. It’s essential to have a strategy in place for growing user-generated reviews online.
It’s tough to get customers to leave reviews. They get busy and often forget, leaving only the angry customers with enough motivation to post a review. Most businesses are afraid to promote leaving reviews because they are afraid of the occasional negative review.
I’m going to assume you run a profitable business and leave more customers happy than upset. If you are engaging satisfied customers to leave reviews, you will build up many online reviews to help new potential customers choose your business.
We have rolled out an Online Review Request Strategy for several of our clients, resulting in a 92% response rate. Almost every customer asked, produced a review. That will add up fast! Watch the video on how we did it:
Online reviews are just a piece of a successful Customer Growth Strategy. To discuss what this looks like for your business, reply to this email to start the conversation.
Proactive, Not Reactive
Marketing never stops. Doing nothing is saying nothing. Information moves fast, and people make decisions quickly. It’s good to be in the moment, but consistency is essential.
Most companies inadvertently have a reactionary approach to marketing. Sales are slow; they turn on marketing. It’s hard to project the future when in that mindset and even harder to avoid tragedy. A Proactive Approach to marketing means you are deploying a strategy, and using that data to plan your next move, keeping you ahead of the curve.
How We Help
Earlier I spoke of informational emails. We are going to send these more often. I want to make sure you are informed to make the best digital marketing choices for your business possible. I am also revising several of my older courses on digital marketing strategies, such as Marketing Your Business on Facebook.
We would love to assist you in this process, but if you prefer to do it yourself, I want you to have information from a source you can trust.
Closing Thoughts
Communication is key. With so much change, we have to keep customers informed, and we must make sure they succeed in their endeavors. I believe this to the extent that I prefer to give away as much information as possible to assure my clients and customers are educated. What can you give away that helps educate and inform your customers? What can you teach me about your business? Please reply to this email and let me know.
P.S. I realize I fell a bit deep down the stock photography rabbit hole, but if it got you to the bottom of this email, I guess it worked 😉
