Tag: client retention

Time For A Website Facelift?

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update your website

Does your website still matter?

Maybe it’s time for a facelift…

Gone are the days of publishing a website and then forgetting about it except for updates.

Your site visitors need to be engaged.

And by that, we mean that they must find the information on your site interesting enough to keep them there – and keep them coming back.

Our Marketing In A Minute video today talks about why and when you should review and update your website.

Please join us now, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you won’t miss any of our upcoming tips.

Watch our video now, or watch on YouTube.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

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What’s Your Story?

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what's your story

Well? What is your story?

Understanding what it is you are trying to communicate with your audience is a critical first step.

Today, our tip is about the importance of defining your story.

How you communicate with your community, and how clear you are within yourself, is the foundation upon which all other marketing functions will be built.  Therefore, be sure that you have absolute clarity.

Our Marketing In A Minute video series continues today. Please join us now, and consider subscribing to our channel so you won’t miss any new tips.

Watch our video now, or watch on YouTube:

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

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How To Evaluate Email Campaigns

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email campaign

Are you still measuring your success by open and click through rates and the size of your email subscriber list?

Yes, these metrics do still matter.

But measurement and evaluation of email campaigns has become much more sophisticated as email marketing has become more sophisticated.

Once upon a time, it was cause for celebration and doing the happy dance if your measurement tools showed that most of your emails were being opened and clicked through, and that your subscriber base was growing. As the saying goes in e-commerce, the money is in the list. This will never change. After all, sales is a numbers game and the more people who see your offerings, the more sales you will get.

But times have changed. More and more business happens online, and this avenue only continues to grow. Therefore, it is important to ensure that your email campaigns are following a specific strategy. And it just like any other marketing strategy, be sure that you are starting by defining the goals of your email campaign.

When determining your goal, use the following blueprint to help define it:

1. Be specific. If your message is unclear, you risk confusing your audience. In a confused recipient is unlikely to become a buyer.

2. Make sure your campaign is measurable. Regardless of what type of marketing campaign you are running, if you can’t measure your results you are simply wasting your time and your money. Make sure that you are using qualitative and quantitative goals within your measurement format.

3. Make your goal achievable. You have to do this for a number of reasons, but most importantly if you set goals that are outside of your scope, you risk running out of resources or facing dramatic disappointment, potentially tainting your outlook for future campaigns.

4. Set a time for your campaign to run. Deadlines are important. If you do not set a deadline, you are missing one of the most critical elements for measuring the success of your campaign.

5. Make sure that your campaign is relevant. Yes, it’s important to communicate with your subscribers on a regular basis and to ensure that you are providing them with opportunities. But if these offers and opportunities are not relevant to your audience, they will lose interest and unsubscribe.

Now that you have structured the blueprint for your email campaign, be sure that you are clear on your goals. Back to measuring the success of your campaign, being clear on the purpose of the email campaign will greatly affect the outlook.

The main reasons why people send email campaigns are:

1. To increase conversions. This is an important goal regardless of whether you are just starting out in business or whether you have a well-founded online presence. It’s not enough just to lead subscribers to your site. If visitors are not making purchases, something in your sales funnel is working set a goal to turn visitors into buyers.

2. Building loyalty. It takes a while for your e-commerce brand to mature. But when it does, you’ll learn that not all subscribers are created equally. Do you know how to differentiate between your subscribers who are high-value buyers and those who are “window shopping”? When looking at your high-value buyers, think of them not only in terms of the immediate value they bring to your business, but also of their reach and influence for referral business and social media promotion.

3. Obtain subscribers who are engaged. Let’s talk about that old, original metric of getting subscribers. This is a must. Email subscriber lists fluctuate; it’s just the nature of the beast. But the ultimate goal here is to acquire engaged subscribers. What is your objective to increase your opt in list, extending your reach? If you keep your subscribers interested in engaged, you are not only more likely to keep them subscribed, but will also benefit from of their extended reach helping you build your list and grow your revenue.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

Improve Your Email Open Rates – Part 2

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writing engaging copy

Learn the secrets to writing engaging copy.

In our last post, we talked about the important role that the subject line plays in your email open rates.

But getting the subject line right is really only half the battle. It’s really just a few words, acting as a headline, to draw the attention of your audience. Now you have to provide interesting and engaging copy to your audience.  And that can be a lot more difficult!

Review these seven tips to help write engaging copy for your audience:

1. Be sure to keep your copy short. After all, this is an email, not an article or an e-book. If your engagement is suffering, heavily edit your copy. Less is more.

2. Write as though you are writing to a friend. Make your email personal and don’t be afraid to add some humor, if appropriate. Your readers want to interact with a human, after all.

3. Write your email as though you are writing directly to another person. Use the word “you”; it provides a powerful personal connection to your reader. Remember, your email should come across as a two-way conversation.

4. Write your email quickly. When you let the words flow, it helps your email come across as more natural and inviting. You can always edit once you have your ideas and your content written.

5. Don’t to follow a script. If you use the same technique with every email, your content comes across as staid and boring. Spice it up, and use emotive words.

6. Use different greetings. Write whatever comes naturally. Call people by their name, or use “hi” or “howdy”. Friendly greetings will create an immediate response from your reader. Avoid being mechanical.

7. Occasionally, write longer copy when you feel like it. It’s good practice and can help improve your sales. But remember, only do this open occasionally. Changing it up keeps your audience wondering what you’re going to offer next.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

5 Ways To Improve Client Rentention

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client retention

Do you have loyal customers?

It’s one thing to obtain a client; it something else to keep that client.

There have been statistics as long as there have been sales. Depending on your industry, the rates might vary slightly, but overwhelmingly the statistics support the case for keeping your customers happy.

It costs a significant amount more, both in time and actual cash, to obtain a new client. However, once you have obtained that new customer, the costs to service and maintain that customer are markedly less. Therefore, doesn’t it make sense to ensure that you are retaining your customers?

Ask yourself the following five questions to see if you can improve your client retention rates:

1. How do your customers currently use your products or services? It makes sense that the more your clients are using your products or services, the more likely you are to retain them. Keeping your clients informed and engaged is a key element of client retention.

2. Do your clients know about all of the features products and services that you offer? Be sure that you are communicating with your customers on a regular basis, keeping them informed of the full scope of your offerings. If they don’t know that you can provide them with an additional service or benefit that they need, they may look elsewhere.

3. What’s the likelihood that your client would recommend your company to a friend? It’s true; referrals and testimonials are the best form of flattery. If your customer is happy with your services and would be willing to tell a friend about you, you are likely to retain the client – at least as long as you continue to provide them with the quality of service that they have come to expect from you.

4. Is there anything that would make your customers stop doing business with you? Communication with your clients is not only important as a means to keep them engaged with you, but is also an essential part of making sure that you are providing the services and products that will keep your customers loyal to you. Ask your customers if they are happy with your services. Find out if you are meeting all of their needs and expectations, or if there’s anything else that you can do to help them.

5. What, if anything, would your clients change about your company? Again, communicate, communicate, communicate! Phone your clients. Email them. Send out surveys. Ask questions, even if you’re not sure that you want to know the answers. If you are not meeting the needs and expectations of your customers, you can be guaranteed that they’ll find what they need somewhere else.

A happy customer is a loyal customer. And a loyal customer will bring you referral business. Treat your customers with respect and let them know that they matter.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

7 Ways to Test Your Customer Experience

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customer experience

How does your user experience measure up to your competitors?

None of us can afford to stand still in business. If we aren’t continuing to grow and to learn new ways to interact with our clients, we’re dead in the water!

The global marketplace has defined how we interact with our customers. There is really no such thing anymore as a captive audience. Technology and how our clients and prospects interact with our businesses continues to evolve.

The seven questions in this article can help you evaluate how your user experience compares the competition.

One of the more important metrics is to evaluate your performance over time. To help measure this, ask these three questions;

1. Has your customer experience changed since you run your last test?

2. Is your customer experience improving, especially as compared to your competitors?

3. Can you attribute the changes to something you changed on your site, something different about your products or services, or changes within the market?

By asking these three questions, you will be able to evaluate how your company continues to adapt to new realities within the marketplace.

But we must also evaluate how our clients are accessing our businesses online. Mobile now accounts for over 60% of all searches, and this continues to grow and to change the way that we are interacting with our clients and prospects. Therefore, it is equally important that we understand and evaluate the customer experience across the different channels.

The following four questions will address those issues;

1. What does the interaction between your business and your client look like on their smart phone, desktop, tablet, and in person?

2. Regardless of how your client is interacting with you, is there experience consistent?

3. Should your client need to access or complete a process across multiple devices, does it happen smoothly and efficiently?

4. Which of the various channels do your users consider their primary choice?

Understanding how your users are interacting with your company, and how seamless and simple their experience is, will give you a leg up on your competitors. Put yourself in the shoes of your clients and prospects, providing them with the same type of experience that attract you.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

Know Your Competition!

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know your competition

How Do You Measure Up To Your Competitors?

Who do your clients and prospects prefer?

Let’s face it… a free-enterprise based economy provides the environment for a number of businesses to exist within the same industry. Take a look at fast food hamburger joints as just one example. There are multiple choices, yet all of them have carved out their niche.

As entrepreneurs and business owners, we should not fear competition. Competition is what makes us focus our business on our specific target market, and drives us to do better for them.

As consumers of product, we are all familiar with what happens when a monopoly exists; often, we end up with higher prices and substandard service. And although we may dream of cornering the market in our given business sector, competition is healthy and keeps us always working to provide the best customer service and to keep current with trends and improvements within our industries.

Reviewing and improving our businesses is key to ensuring our long-term growth and sustainability.  Reaching out to your clients and prospects is the best way to gauge how your business is viewed.

The following seven questions should help you determine how you measure up to your competitors:

1. If your clients and prospects are familiar with other businesses providing the same products or services as yours, which do they prefer?

2. What is it that makes them prefer one company over the other?

3. What company do they believe does the better job of explaining the product or service offerings in a clear, concise way?

4. Which company does a better job of convincing the client or prospect to convert?

5. What is it that people like or dislike about your top competitor’s newest product or service?

6. What would convince them to switch to your company?

7. What is it that you are doing that might convince your current customers to switch to one of your competitors?

Keep this list handy and refer to it often. Consider polling your clients on these questions at least once a year to ensure that you are continuing to provide the types of products and services that keeps them in engaged with your company.

Competition is not the enemy; becoming complacent in your business, is!

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

5 Ways To Market When Cash Is Tight

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create buzz

Most businesses experience tighter cash flow issues from time to time…

Whether as a result of the economy, something related to their niche, or perhaps from some changes to internal processes, how do you create some buzz?  

I’ve spoken before about the fact that marketing is often the first place that businesses will cut back when they are experiencing cash flow issues. And, I’ve also spoken many times about the fact that this is one of the worst things a business can do.

Not only does this put the brakes on attracting attention to your business, but it also put you behind for the time when either the economy or your cash flow improves.

Regardless of whether you are an established business feeling the pinch or a startup experiencing difficulty accessing capital, the five tips in this article will show you that marketing does not have to be expensive to be effective.

1. Content Is King

I know we keep hearing this over and over again, but it is a fact. One of the most effective things that you can do is to publish quality content. Regularly posting content that resonates with your target audience is extremely cost effective and is a great way to build trust and to keep you consistently on the radar of your clients and prospects. Posting regular content is also a great way to improve your search engine results, improving your ranking.

2. Network, Network, Network!

Never underestimate the value you and your employees bring to your business. Every experience that brings you in contact with others is an opportunity to network, so don’t overlook these occasions. Attending a conference? Be sure to take long some business cards. Tradeshows, lunches, spontaneous or unplanned meetings-these are all great opportunities for you to promote your corporate brand and let people see the human face to your business. And remember that networking is a two way street. Offer something of value to those you are connecting with and they are more likely to reciprocate.

3. Borrow On Your Line Of Credit

While there are many opportunities to market your business for free, or at least inexpensively, it is misleading to think that marketing doesn’t require any budget at all. There are nearly always some costs attached to marketing strategies, whether it is printing costs, outsourcing writers, hiring employees, or utilizing various tools and subscriptions. If it makes sense, consider using a line of credit to get access to immediate capital needed to fulfill your more pressing marketing needs. Used cautiously, this can help keep your marketing engine running until your cash flow improves.

4. Take Advantage Of Social Media Platforms

Social media platforms are a great way to reach out to multitudes of people over the Internet. Just make sure that you are utilizing the appropriate channels to reach your target audience. And remember that you don’t have to be on all social media platforms. Choose the top 3 to 5 platforms for your niche and your target audience and stick to them. Post relevant messages and links to draw your target audience back to your website. Be sure that you are responding to any messages, requests, or comments that you get on these platforms as they can be a double-edged sword. Remember that they are social, and interaction is expected.

5. Do You Ask For Referrals?

Although the dollar figure may vary from business to business, we are all very well aware that it costs much more to obtain a client than it does to keep a client. And nothing is more effective in bringing business through the door than a solid referral from a satisfied customer. People do business with people who they like know and trust, and a recommendation from a happy client translates to a pre-determined trust by the new business prospect. Create some type of referral or loyalty program among your customers and let them help market your business through their satisfaction.

So as you can see, it’s easy to market your business effectively even when times are tough. Adhering to a marketing program will ensure that your company will not only survive, but will thrive.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

Give ‘Em What They Deserve!

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client experience

How do you take care of your clients and prospects?

There are many facets of running your own business that can be challenging. But one of the most important aspects is to ensure that you are giving a great client experience. After all, without customers you have no business.

You spend lots of time hiring the appropriate support staff, creating the perfect products and services for your ideal customers, developing and promoting your brand, etc.

However, the preparation is simply the prelude to the success of your business. Once you have laid the foundation, it is essential to capture and retain your market share in order to run a profitable business-and to stay in business!

Now, I do not believe in that old adage “the client is always right”. While the vast majority of your customers have reasonable expectations, you will always find the rarity who either believes they deserve special treatment, or will never be satisfied with what you provide no matter how hard you try. So don’t focus your time and energy on these few bad apples; instead focus on providing the best experience to the majority of your clients and you will have success.

There are three key ingredients that will help you define and deliver quality service to your clients, ensuring loyalty. Let’s break them out.

1. Provide good quality to your clients and prospects.

Okay, that’s easy to say, but what is good quality? The key factor here is for you to define what good quality means to you. How do you want your product or service to look and feel? What guarantees or warranties do you provide for your product or service? Do your employees represent you and your brand in a way that is consistent and matches your values? Do you have proper policies and procedures that are easy to understand and easy to follow?

2. Evaluate your products or services regularly.

The secret here is to continually monitor your product or service to ensure that you are delivering something of value to your clients. Consider sending an email survey to your clients on occasion, asking for feedback. Invite them to express comments or concerns they may have during delivery of your product or service. If you’re working on a project that has deliverables over time, evaluate each step of the process. Take the time to follow up personally with clients on a random basis. Make sure that you address any issues that are brought to your attention immediately. This doesn’t mean that you have to change your product or service, but ensure that the client feels that they have been heard and understands why things are done the way that they are.

3. Never underestimate the value of a testimonial or review.

Remember to ask your clients to share their experiences with your company. Nothing is as effective as a positive review or positive feedback on the experience you have provided to a client. Expressing why they prefer to do business with you, instead of one of your competitors, can be one of the most compelling reasons for new prospects to choose your business in the future. These reviews and testimonials can be provided by the written word, an audio file, or video testimonial. Think about making it a policy to send a follow-up email or make a follow-up phone call with each and every client, asking them about their experience with your business, and then asking for the testimonial. Be sure to get permission to share this information, and post it on your website, social media profiles, and any other appropriate place.

It truly doesn’t take that much effort to ensure that you are providing a quality experience for your clients. Following these three simple steps will help provide the foundation to build a client user experience policy that will give your customers that loving feeling and help you grow a successful business.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

What Is Influencer Marketing?

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influencer marketing

Are you taking advantage of influencer marketing?

Heck… do you even know what’s meant by that phrase?

We are bombarded every day with ads, and they hit us from everywhere; billboards, print media, buses, elevators, email, and the internet.

Yep, that’s a lot of money being spent every day to capture the attention of prospects. And more and more people aren’t trusting these ads.

So, how does a small or mid-sized business reach that sweet spot; the perfect balance of delivering your message while obtaining the most important, yet often elusive element of trust? Influencer marketing has the advantage of offering potentially huge benefits to the small business owner, at little to no cost.

What is influencer marketing?

The President of Word of Mouth Marketing Association, Suzanne Fanning, defines influencer marketing as the practice of contacting a small group of individuals to reach out to the rest of your prospects. The concept is that if you effectively reach ten percent of your prospective clients who know, like and trust you, they will spread the word to the other 90 percent on your behalf.

True, this is not a new concept, but has been largely overlooked by many business owners.

Influencer Marketing, simply put, is word-of-mouth. And we all know that a referral is the best kind of business you can obtain. To have someone who already trusts you, recommend you to their circle of influence, will provide you with more real business, not just ‘tire-kickers’.

Be smart about your marketing. Never assume that spending large amounts of money will reap huge rewards. Imagination, creativity, and demonstrating trustworthiness beats out a large advertising budget every time.

So don’t overspend on advertising. Yes, advertising is important, and yes, you will have to spend some money. But without a strategy, a budget and a workable plan, you will spend more than is necessary. And by introducing influencer marketing into the equation, you are inviting engagement.

Every single person you reach is a potential influencer. Therefore, make sure that you are participating in meaningful exchanges with everyone, and never overlook anyone. And don’t get hung up on how many followers or likes you have on social media platforms. The more important thing is the conversations and the engagement you are having with these folks.

Find out what people like about your products or services. How do they use them? A happy, satisfied customer is the best influencer available.

Consider a giveaway, such as a coupon or a sample, to encourage organic growth of your brand. Use humor when appropriate, and make sure your information is sharable. Deliver an authentic experience to every person who comes in your door or visits your website. By offering something of use to your target audience, you help build authority and trust, making it easier for them to do business with you or refer you to someone they know.  Gain valued advocates of your services or products.

As you can see, influencer marketing can be the most effective, yet least expensive, form of marketing. And it has proven itself to be the best way to grow a small business. In fact, according to a Nielsen report, 92 percent of men and women trust the advice given by friends and family over all other types of advertising. All you need to do is deliver products and services that result in happy customers, and ask them to reach out to their friends and family.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

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