How do you reward your customers?

 
With so much competition in almost every area of Business, you have to be willing to do the things that make your Business stand out. When Marketing it's not just about the clicks, or the number of people that have heard about you. It's about the number of interactions. How many people really checked you out? How many talked to you and came away with a good impression? It's these type of things that will not only get you business but loyal customers as well.

  Lets be honest, any Business owner knows customers can be a picky bunch. So to keep them happy you need to do the deals and customers service that your competition does not. There's plenty of ways to do this, you have to be sure you're not making yourself lose money by providing these deals (something that happens more often then you think) and it has to be the deals that customers want. Some of my customers like extra stock in their orders, others prefer the faster shipping for a better deal, etc. These are just a couple of examples.

 When starting a new Business, meeting new clients or getting out of a slow spell, often I've found offering customers deals to be the most effective way of getting things going. You can advertise the deals on your Social Media page, your Blog, or Email Marketing (a fat email list with the right deal will bring you some serious results)

 Customer Rewards are important for gaining customers loyalty. If you haven't done so yet, give these ideas a try.

Are you putting enough information in your Marketing?

 I came across this article the other day and I thought it made a great point.

Today's consumer and especially millennials are information based. This means no matter your style of Marketing you need to inform your customers with the important details. People want to know what they're spending their money on, how it works, etc. Being vague will get you nowhere.

Why do you think people have always watched the News more than anything else on TV? Because we all want and need information. This is important to know whenever you're selling or marketing something. I remember when one of my first ecommerce websites was going nowhere in terms of sales. Customer feedback eventually told me they could not see the product clearly in pictures and this simple detail cost me a good amount of lost sales.

I've seen this same problem with clients I've worked with as well. This and lack of proper information, an inefficient layout or setup will take a lot of sales away from your business. Nowadays with everyone trying to do their own thing Online you have to stand out in every way possible. You hear all the time about connecting with the consumer. This isn't done from some magical event, it's by telling or showing the consumer the things they want to see.
Information is a valuable thing. Knowing how to use it can be the difference in deciding if you're successful or not.

Building a Bond

 So I've been pretty busy the past few days (note the lack of a Blog, yes I've missed you too) I recently started a pretty serious Marketing job for not just a client, but an old friend. My old Martial Arts instructor  had gotten in touch with me and the rest was history. Right off the bat we had great chemistry working together. There's always that "feeling out" period you have with a new client. Sometimes you end up getting along with the client, other times communication can be like nails to a chalk board (but you always finish the job regardless) .
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 This was obviously a case of getting along with the "client" or as I prefer to call him my Instructor. It has shown me the power of building a Bond with clients. While the relationship ultimately comes down to you as the Marketer completing the job, you can really get to know your client along the way. This is so big for us Marketers because we all need associates that help us get our message out.

  Take Dr. Dre Beats for instance...They started their Marketing by having athletes and anyone who was famous rocking a pair. The result? Success, to say the least. If your trying to get the word out for a Clothing Brand what's the best way to Market the product? Some kind of crazy viral Marketing Strategy right? No. The best possible thing you can do is have people wear the product and rave about it.

 As the saying goes, sometimes it's not what you know but who you know. I can't think of another Business other than Marketing where that applies more.

Let's keep things simple

  I've been reading quite a few different marketing articles today, and all I have to say is "wow".

The Internet marketing craze is in full swing and I'm starting to think were getting a little too technical. You hear all about the different methods of marketing which is good. However once people start to rely on Technology for results they go from being a Marketer to being a Spam Bot.

  This morning I read one article that was so simple a beginner would completely understand it. Yet I find the things in that article more helpful then all the articles going into anal detail about data and collecting this, or automating that. How many times did you yourself see an article bringing up something like this? And I notice that when I read these articles it's always the same, non helpful technical talk.

  Look folks, I'll tell you right now I've done marketing for a few years, I started by having an online shop then after some success I decided to open others. I've found that so many things you don't hear about like message forums, Facebook stores, auction sites, etc. A lot of this is way more simple and ten times more effective then just repeating yourself in different ways. 

 

  Business is not a complicated thing. You know your business is doing well when 2 things occur, 1.) sales and 2.) customers being referred to you.  It's that simple. It's not about getting thousands of spammed hits a day, yet I see people arguing that traffic = growth. Unless your content is better then millions of others, you need to give the customer more reasons to come back to you rather then good content. 

  I urge people all the time, take a few dollars less and always offer a customer a deal when starting. While doing this take care of this customer like you would a family member. That's how you're going to get your "growth" and sales to rise.

  I remember long ago paying a company close to $1000 over 3 months. After 3 months of no sales, they'd argue that atleast I was getting "hits". Yes, hits that cost me $300 a month and not a penny made off of it. It's funny because this same thing is done by other marketers time and time again and it's something  very much against.

  The funny thing is, after firing the company I remember opening a Facebook page on my own and giving this big scary marketing thing a go. In my first month from simple paid advertising I had hundreds of dollars in sales. Not big time at all, but growth had finally begun and for much less then what you usually need to spend. You would be amazed at what $100 can do when correctly used on social media. 

 So remember folks, don't let things get too out there when it comes to doing business. Keep it simple, and treat your customers right. As long as they want what you have, they'll be back.