Building Customer Relations Through Simple Marketing Strategies
As business owners, we all want to sell more of our products and services to new and existing customers. But before we can achieve this goal, it is imperative to understand a few basic marketing strategies for creating interest, trust and desire.
Below are three simple marketing strategies that will help you to attract and retain new customers.
Strategy #1: Define Your Buyer Personas
Buyer Personas are simple customer biographies based on real-life data. They help you understand the wants and needs of your specific customer types.
Two very popular personas are the NASCAR Dad and the Soccer Mom. These personas were actually created and used by both the Democratic and Republican parties in past elections.
The first step in defining a particular persona is to look at your current customer database and find similar buying patterns. This might seem a difficult proposition at first, but you’ll be surprised by how very simple patterns can emerge once you’re looking for them.
What type of characteristics can a Buyer Persona contain? Anything that is relevant to your business including gender, business type, age, hobbies, or occupation.
Strategy #2: The Unique Value Proposition
Defining your Unique Value Proposition (UVP) is the first step in clearly identifying how your products and services are different from the competition. If you can’t define some unique feature or benefit that makes you stand out, your customers may default to the only other option – price.
If you can’t think of anything unique you can offer your prospects and customers, then it’s time to design a UVP from scratch. See what your competition offers and come up with something that makes you stand apart!
Take a look at your competitors. What do they excel at? Can you find a way to improve upon what they are offering or to include a compelling guarantee that instantly sets you apart from what everyone else is doing?
Here are a few ways to better understand your competition.
1. Purchase an item. I know this might be painful, but it is a great way to better understand how a competitor successfully fulfills an order.
2. Sign up for their newsletter. What types of information are they providing to their customers? Are they offering real value in their newsletter or are they simply pushing their products?
3. Sign up for catalogs and brochures. By getting on your competitor’s mailing list, you’ll get a better idea of the frequency they mail as well as what types of catalogs, fliers, and offers they are mailing.
Defining your Unique Value Proposition helps set you apart from the competition and communicates your compelling value to prospects and customers.
Strategy #3: Create a Marketing Communications Folder
When someone contacts you for information, what do you give them?
Hopefully, you give them a complete marketing communications folder that further helps educate them as to your capabilities. A simple two-pocket folder is all you need to begin!
Here is what you should include in your marketing folder.
1. Your Story: What’s your compelling story? Every business has one. Write a page about your passions and why you started your business. Be honest and try to craft an emotional story. This can go a long way in building empathy and trust.
2. Your Business Advantage So what’s the big advantage to doing business with your company? Write out a page that explains the compelling reasons why people should purchase your products and services. Focus on benefits, not features.
3. The Problem Solver: This page should summarize several specific problems and demonstrate how these problems are alleviated with your products and services.
4. The Product/Services Summary Page: Nothing difficult here – simply summarize the various products, services, and package options you offer and list the benefits of each. Use bullet points to quickly summarize benefits.
5. Testimonials: This page should list out your 4-5 best testimonials. Studies have shown that 3rd-party testimonials are one of the best ways to build the trust and confidence of potential customers.
Go ahead and add additional items to your folder – just make sure they are relevant to your audience.
Building trust and confidence with your prospects is the best way to eventually convert them to customers. Spend some time with these strategies so that they pay off.
Corte Swearingen is the developer of the Marketing Strategies for Small Business website as well as the author of the Integral Marketing eBook. He has been teaching small business owners how to grow profits through strategic marketing for 18 years.
Related Blogs
- Related Blogs on direct marketing
- Kitsch Slapped » Blog Archive » Direct Marketing Crank Response, 1917
- Fundamental Concepts Of SEO | Copywriting and Direct Marketing
- Affiliate Marketing Money Making Strategy – Is There One That …
- Become Wealthy Through the Internet Marketing Program …
- Quality SEO Firm | Copywriting and Direct Marketing
