The way you market to your customers says a lot about your business and can completely change the dynamic of how you interact with your customers. It is also the first impression customers get of your business. Marketing is the way you keep old customers and find new ones. But how can you be sure you are marketing effectively? Here are four strategies to follow.
1. Overall consistency
Whether a large or small company, interactions with your business need to be consistent. A mission statement, of sorts, can really help with this because it tells all your employees how to approach the customer and gives the customer an expectation. Whether working with a sales team, marketing, or even customer service, customers need to feel like they are getting the same kind of service.
Another way to improve your consistency, especially in a large company, is to find better ways of communication between departments. This could be something as simple as a weekly newsletter with important information about new changes or as big as a monthly training session where employees are trained in new processes and given information about how other departments are proceeding. Trainings are essential for any customer service department since they must be informed to be efficient. You may not have realized that communicating information to the other departments is just as important.
2. Text message marketing and chatbot
People used to spend a lot of time watching TV commercials, looking through magazines, and reading the newspaper. Now, all of that is now on mobile. Even if a customer has to watch TV commercials for the show they want, they will probably stop watching and look at their phone during the break. So, it seems logical that you should focus your efforts on mobile and text message marketing. The really nice thing about it is that you can use text marketing and chatbot to create automated communications with customers.
Automation is another thing customers are starting to expect, and the expectation is continuing to grow. Chatbot allows a computer to read messages from your customers, understand what they are asking for, and send automated responses. Customers don’t have to call in when they have a quick question anymore, and customer service agents can spend less time answering repetitive questions.
3. Personalization is key
With so much technology and information available about all your customers, it is easier than ever to personalize marketing experiences. You can have your customers grouped into specific demographics in order to send personalized marketing to each of them, and you can set up ads that target customers near you based on their location. It is a remarkable way to market because you are able to get specific with your customers, and you are going to have a much bigger rate of return on your ads.
4. Transparency
Being transparent in your marketing is important to your customers, and they will feel betrayed if you don’t give it to them. For example, a lot of companies like to put ads on social media saying “free product” when, in reality, you are making them pay a shipping charge, requiring a minimum purchase, or something else that ends up costing money. While your customers do appreciate getting something for free, they feel like it was false advertising if they have to pay for something to get it. It is better to put the term right in the ad so they know it is free with a $20 purchase, or whatever requirement you decide to use. Customers prefer to just be told the truth upfront.
