| |
| |
|
Marketing Information |
|
|
|
Rules of Thumb for Marketing to Your Past Customers
Keeping in touch can dramatically increase business, when done properly. It's a fact that your customers are your best leads. This means that the most likely people to purchase your products and/or services are the ones who have paid for them before. It's also a fact that it costs far less money to keep a customer than it does to go out and get a new one. These are the two reasons that using direct mail to keep in touch with your customer database is a must. There are a few principles to follow when marketing to contacts in your company database that can maximize your bottom line. Rule #1 - Collect all of their information. It sounds like a no-brainer but you would be surprised. The more information that you have on your customers, the more likely it is that you will be able to get in touch with them to let them know about specials or to remind them it's time for their next service. Also, don't neglect to ask for your customers' email addresses, most everyone has one and most will give it up pretty easily. Rule #2 - Don't treat your customers like prospects. Make sure when you collect the information in your database you differentiate between people who have placed an order in the past and people who have not. Customers want to feel like you are paying attention to them and when they have placed a few orders with you and are still getting your "10% for First Time Buyers" postcards they tend to feel unappreciated. Bottom line, if they don't qualify for an offer you are sending out, don't send it to them. Rule #3 - Don't let your designs get stagnant. When you are mailing to databases of people that you have never spoken to before, it is OK to send them the same postcard multiple times. It helps to increase recognition and will eventually increase your response rate. Dealing with customers and prospects that you have already spoken to (meaning they already know most or all of the details of your business) you need to mix things up a bit. Your mailings should be attention getting and informative. If you have started offering a new service recently, a piece designed to let your database know about it would be a smart move. The main point is to keep your company in the front of their mind and to keep them reading your promotion. Being great at what you do is not always enough to keep the customers that you have earned. With all of the competition out there today you need to be constantly reminding your customers that you are the best at what you do. Direct mail is the best way to give them that reminder. Always remember to keep mailings that you send to your database informative, attractive and most of all current. Personalize everything that you can and make sure that what you are sending to a past client actually pertains to them or their company. Anything less and your customer may start to drift, and the only people that are going to be happy when that happens are your competitors. Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania in 1998; her only assets a computer and a phone. In 2004 the company did close to $9 million in sales and employs over 60 persons. She attributes her explosive growth to her ability to choose incredible staff and her innate marketing savvy. Now she's sharing her marketing secrets to others. For more free marketing advice, visit her website at http://www.postcardmania.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Help! What Happened? Let's be honest, when you're writing sales material for a product, there are a frightening number of things that can go wrong, aren't there?Remember Murphy's Law: what can go wrong will, and at the worst possible moment. Well, we're going to try to gain some control over events and the best way to gain control is to know what makes things tick . Creating Assets: Spark Your Thinking With These 16 Comprehensive Questions Here are some questions to get your thoughts and cash flow moving that will also keep your product creating aligned and focused. Find your gold mine in your surroundings by looking at any promotional literature you have created, audio or video tapes you have produced, press releases or articles about or by you, your product catalog or list and even your business card. The Future of Marketing Part 1 It used to be if you were a small business, you were at a distinct disadvantage with your marketing compared to the bigger companies.No more. Marketings Nuclear Weapon Three seconds. That's what you have to convey your message. How to Turn Your Promotional Products Expense Into a Profit Center If you use promotional products you probably already know the power of giving away freebies. You may use them to thank current customers, or to give incentives to potential customers. Celebrity Product Placement: A Primer With more and more companies wanting to integrate their products into the lives of celebrities, now seems like a good time to take a closer look at Celebrity Product Placement, describe three common approaches, and outline what steps can be taken to guarantee results.The term "Celebrity Product Placement" is used to describe several related techniques, but its definition applies to each: free products are distributed to celebrities in expectation of a promotional benefit. Creating Customer Value The purpose of business is to create and retain a customer.Much has been written about customer orientation, customer relationship management (CRM), Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) metrics, Customer Centric organization models, customer retention, customer care?add any high sounding word with 'customer' preceding or succeeding that word and you have a new model, a new theory. Marketing: Can I Trust You? We live in an unprecedented era of communication. Because of this, your prospects are literally bombarded from all directions with marketing messages. Growing Your Brand Assets Okay. Raise your hand if you think brand management is just for BIG companies (like Target, McDonalds or Ford. Effective Marketing for Small Businesses Effective marketing for the small business begins with market researchIf you don't know who your customers are, how on earth are you going to reach them? The most effective small business marketing strategies are the most highly targeted ones: the ones which are based on a clear understanding of who their target audience is. What's your target age group and income bracket? What publications do they read? What do they do for fun? For it to be truly successful, your marketing should try to address an issue your target market deal with, fulfil a need or answer a problem. Top 5 Ways to Generate Qualified Leads for Your Small Business Do you ever wonder if you could be doing a better job marketing your small business or professional service firm? Successfully marketing a small business is hard work. There are several key skills required to consistently develop new business that you, as a small business owner, must master in order to succeed. Metaphysical Marketing The foundation of success is in your mind. You do not need to struggle, seek and strive to build your business. How To Achieve Success With Your Own Money Making Newsletter Writing and publishing a successful newsletter is perhaps the most competitive of all the different areas of mail order and direct marketing. You can still publish newsletter through regular mail. Produce More Sales from your Email Promotions Five Ways - Part 1 Do sales come from your ezine regularly? How many well-written articles do you submit per week to opt-in online ezines? How often do you send thank you's and follow up messages to your different email groups? If you answered not many, then you need to re-evaluate. The answer to online success is the same as traditional success--promotion, promotion, promotion. Can Message Board Marketing Work For You? One of the things that makes the Internet fun is all the message boards and forums. You can sound off about nearly anything, get and give advice, and even build a relationship or two. 10 Important Steps to Mail Order Success There are a number of difficulties a beginning entrepreneur may encounter that can "torpedo" his business almost before he knows it. But the wise mail order dealer can sidestep some of the pitfalls of operating his own business by recognizing and avoiding the following common mistakes. 2 Great, Free Techniques to Get Customers to Come to You, Not the Other Way Around Here is a powerful tip on how to substantially increase the traffic to your business weather it's online or bricks & mortar. The best news is that it's totally free! You will get more targeted traffic to your website and more customers through your front door. Top Five Tips for Marketing that Gets Results When marketing your practice, as well as designing your brochure, website, business card, flier, advertisement, or other marketing effort, I recommend investing the time and effort needed to effectively address the following:Tip #1: MARKET FOR YOUR DESIRED PROSPECTS, NOT YOURSELFWhat looks good to you is not necessarily effective for your desired audience. Do your market research and test your strategies on your target market. Is Your Company A Member Of The Community? One particularly hot south Texas day, I was making a routine sales call to a family Mexican restaurant. Angela, with whom I had an appointment, is a real "hands on" lady. Guerrilla Marketing in Action Guerrilla Marketing is using time, energy and imagination to market a product, business or person without spending massive amounts of hard earned profit dollars. It also has been defined as non-traditional marketing, something unusual, unexpected and designed to be noticed.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
