by tradesmeninsights | Oct 16, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
Depending on what industry you’re in, the rule of thumb is that it takes anywhere from 5-9 times more effort to get a new customer than to keep an existing one. So why don’t we spend more time nurturing the ones we have?
We’re all guilty of taking customers for granted sometimes. I read an article on marketingprofs.com, The 7 Ps of Customer Retention that I thought was appropriate. Here are some highlights:
- People – It’s about building relationships. Treat your customer as a person.
- Product – Make sure your product is up to what you promised it would be.
- Place – How does a customer communicate with you? Make it easy.
- Price – You need to take care and give them a good price. They expect you to take care of them.
- Promotions – Since they are already your customers, you know what they are buying and can make suggestions for other potential products/services they may be interested in.
- Processes – Customer surveys, social media monitoring and customer engagement tools to understand how each customer is engaging with you.
- Positioning – Know who you are and clearly communicate that to your customers. Keep the message simple and to the point.
Those are some suggestions on how to keep your current customers happy.
by tradesmeninsights | Mar 3, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
We’ve all heard the expression “Content is King.” Although we all know it sometimes, we may not practice it. Content drives credibility, market leadership and leads, so it’s important to follow certain steps to ensure positive results. I read a post recently from Roy Young in Marketing prof.com, 12 B2B Content-Marketing Practices to Ensure Success that I thought was right on the money. Here are some of the ones that hit home for me:
- Identify sources within your organization for content – look outside marketing to search for experts. Product development, customer service and sales are 3 areas that could be good sources for content.
- Listen to customers and prospects – what are they talking about, what issues/pain points do they need addressed?
- Develop different content for different audience segments. Owners of contracting firms might want one thing and the guy who heads up the crews might want something different.
- Vary your content for buying cycles – not everyone is ready to buy. Some are researching and gathering info. Make sure you speak to them as well.
- Vary formats – Shake it up a little. Don’t just write, throw in a short video or podcast. Even lighten it up once in a while. Most people have a sense of humor and who doesn’t need a laugh now and then?
- Use social media to build relationships and distribute your content – other than the traditional ways of getting your story out, use social to inform and engage your customers and target audiences.
These are a few hints that help me in my efforts to produce good content. What are you doing?
