Content Marketing

Customer Loyalty: Does Your Small Business Have What It Takes To Keep It?

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Customer retention is a difficult topic for a small business. It’s not that they can’t keep the customers, it’s getting them in the first place that’s often the problem. Small businesses often flounder before they have a chance to grow and a lot of that is to do with their placement as a small fish in an ocean of sharks. Whether you are running a small business store on Etsy, or you’re marketing yourself as a solopreneur who is offering a solution to a problem, you need to know how to retain your customers so that they trust your mini brand – even before it becomes a mega one.

Returning customers are crucial to the success of a small business and the way to get them coming back for more is in your retention strategy. You need to be so good, that customers see what you’re doing and fall in love with it. It’s ensuring that you work closely with IT experts to roll out your carefully crafted software to other companies, working with agile testing teams and pushing yourself to do more for your customers. Online customers spend three times more money than customers do in store, and if the service that you offer – or the solution you provide – is one that is effective and reeks of perfection, you’re going to see loyalty from your customers. You are the only one who can decide whether you have what it takes to retain your customers, though, and if you can’t, you’re going to sink. Here are four short ways to create that customer loyalty that’s going to secure your bottom line.

Experience Peaks. Customers will buy whatever they’re interested in, but you need to keep them hooked for more. If they’ve enjoyed the product that you sold in the first place, they’ll buy again. However, you need to keep the deal sweet. Maybe once customers have bought from you once, you then send a discount code to them to be able to buy again. The promise of the same product that they love being cheaper is a bonus and keeps the experience peaked for them.

VI-Party. Most people don’t like getting unsolicited emails, but customers who sign up with your product will expect to be notified of changes, upgrades and extras. Give them loyalty points and an early access pass to new releases. They’ll love the exclusivity and it keeps them coming back to you for more of the things that you offer.

Get Online. Whichever way that you do it, you need to be where your customers can connect with you. Get onto social media and be a part of the community. Having access directly to the people in charge of the product that has been sold is a bonus for customers and they can feel like they are heard.

Stay Passionate. You’ve made something successful enough for people to want to keep coming back for more. All you need to do now is ensure that you keep up the momentum that you’ve set for yourself.

Customers will always go with the popular brands; make yourself one of them and keep your loyal base coming back for more.

Start Spreading The News: How To Get People Talking About Your New Business

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Are you preparing to launch a new business, or you are trying to find your footing in the market? Whether your business plans are still in the pipeline, or you’re already up and running, it’s crucial to have plans in place to get your name out there. If you’re keen to get people talking and start enjoying the sound of the cash register ringing, here are some tips to bear in mind.

Drawing up your marketing strategy

If you plan to take control of marketing your business, the first thing to do is formulate a strategy. Marketing isn’t as simple as designing a website or printing out some branded business cards. To succeed, you have to be able to communicate with, and appeal to, your target audience and find a gap in the market. There are myriad marketing methods out there, and often, it’s best to focus on a few platforms that are likely to attract attention from the right people. You want to ensure that you’re reaching out to customers who are going to have a genuine interest in your products and services and your brand. Covering every method may seem like a good idea, but you’ll probably find that you’re wasting money on avenues that won’t deliver rewards. Think about your ideal customer, the demographic you’re aiming at, and the kinds of products or services you’re selling. If you’re selling clothing online and you’re hoping to attract females aged between 18 and 35, you’ll find that social media, email marketing, and SEO are a lot more effective than flyers or press adverts, for example. Use market research to determine which methods would be most beneficial for your brand. Once you have a strategy, the next step is to implement it.

Picture sourced from https://pixabay.com/en/arrows-marketing-strategy-startup-2029169/

Considering outsourcing

If you run a business, no matter how large or small, you may find that there are certain tasks that match your skill set, and others that cause you concern. If you don’t have experience in marketing and you don’t have in-house marketing executives, it makes sense to think about outsourcing this element of the business. Marketing can have such a significant impact on the success of a new venture, and it’s crucial to get it right. If you’re not keen on recruiting members of staff with marketing expertise, working with an external company may provide the ideal solution. Look for digital agency value add services or think about hiring freelancers if you need help in designing and implementing an introductory campaign. Outsourcing enables you to access to skills you need, but it can also save you money, as you won’t be adding to the payroll over a prolonged period of time. When looking for agencies or individuals, take your time to look at portfolios, previous clients, and reviews.

Image via https://pixabay.com/en/businessmen-communication-community-786071/

Getting your name out there

Once your plans are laid out, the next stage is to get your name out there. Use the findings of your research to attract the attention of those who are most likely to be interested in your brand. Send out emails, set up social media accounts, and make sure you have a great business website, which has mobile capabilities. Consumers spend more and more time online, and if you can direct traffic to your website, you’ll have a better chance of converting leads. Share posts about your new business, encourage followers to share your links, and optimize the content on your website to drive traffic from search engines. If you’re launching a new product, or you’re opening a business like a salon, a store, or a restaurant, it’s a fabulous idea to plan an event, and you can share the details and send out invitations through your website and social media platforms. When your website is up and running, and you’ve got active social media accounts and an SEO campaign in force, make use of analytics to track your progress. If you’re covering all bases in terms of social media, for example, analytic tools can help you determine which channels are most effective, and which are falling flat. Be prepared to tweak your strategy to keep it relevant, to iron out teething problems, and to make sure you’re giving customers what they want.

Image credit https://www.flickr.com/photos/findyoursearch/5202301465

Are you about to launch a new business, or are you in the process of trying to build your client base and inform people about the services or products you offer? Marketing plays a key role in establishing a brand and attracting attention from consumers. Hopefully, this guide will help you make the right calls and get people talking about your brilliant new business.

Want To Maintain A Special Relationship With Your Customers? Use These Tried And True Strategies

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What makes your business great? Well, a big part of it’s you. Aww, don’t go blushing on me now. Seriously, it’s your spark of inspiration, your drive and your passion that built your business up from nothing. Your employees look up to you and you take your role as their leader very seriously. Speaking of your employees, they’re no slouches either. They’ve taken your ideas and run with them, using their initiative, their imagination and their work ethic to take your ideas and combine them with their own to take your enterprise to a whole new level. You’ve rewarded them in kind by training, developing and promoting them and ensuring that they’re fairly remunerated for their efforts. Then of course there’s the outsourced help that allowed you to get the specialist provision you needed without the staffing overheads. But there’s one vital component without which it would all be for nought… That’s right. Your customers!

You value your customers and acknowledge that they are the lifeblood of your business. You appreciate their loyalty and want to ensure that you retain their harmonious relationship with your business. But you’re not sure how to maintain this relationship or where to divert your efforts and resources. Here are some strategies to help you to do exactly that…

Your blog

Your blog is arguably your greatest asset when it comes to retaining your customers and improving your enterprise’s SEO. Keep customers coming back for regular, engaging and well written content and not only will you earn their loyalty, you’ll establish yourself as an expert in your chosen field with insights, thoughts and opinions well worth heeding. Just don’t besmirch your blog with low quality content sourced by cheap overseas content farms.

Email newsletters

It’s a tried and true means of customer retention, but one still worth considering even in 2018. Email newsletters offer customers a sense of exclusivity. You can include special promotions and offers designed exclusively for them and you can give customers the opportunity to peak behind the curtain at new developments within your business. Just check out https://www.palomasoftware.com/postman/email-newsletter-software/ to see why email newsletters are a worthy investment. Just make sure that they are only sent out to customers who opt in, especially if you do business in Europe and don’t want to fall afoul of GDPR legislation.

A rewards scheme that gives customers more of what they want

Different customers will be drawn to your business for different reasons and each will want something subtly different from a rewards scheme… So develop one that’s flexible and gives your customers the opportunity to get more of what matters to them. This is where market research becomes an extremely valuable tool. When you have a rewards scheme that’s tailored to the explicit needs and desires of your clientele, you’ll not only enjoy their loyalty, you’ll enjoy knowing that your business is catering to them as effectively as possible.

Your customers are the best and as such it behooves you to take steps to show them how much you appreciate them!

How to Increase Exposure of Your B2B Content

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Content is considered king in the marketing world for both B2C and B2B sectors. Many companies that provide special products or services to suit their clients’ needs, seek to help their audience better understand their offers. This is especially true if your company offers a wide variety of various services. The market is especially crowded and competitive, which makes it difficult for clients to choose which company’s services to opt for. That’s why  the goal of every company is to help their clients make that decision easier.

There’s no better way to achieve this than through content marketing. However, when developing content for your B2B marketing you must focus on making it highly relevant for your audience and ensure that it’s top quality as well. That way, you can ensure your content gets the required exposure and that your clients can easily familiarize themselves with your company through your well-placed content. Therefore, here are a few ways to increase the exposure of your B2B content.

Optimize content for SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) has become an integral part of every company’s content marketing. The main reason is that SEO helps you build more visibility, awareness and credibility for both your content and your company. It’s important to understand that B2B audiences differ from B2C ones.

That means that your clients are more likely to do some extensive research after reading your content and before they decide to contact you for business. That’s why it’s important to properly optimize your content, so that your audience can easily find and access it. Make sure you choose the right keywords to rank for and build your content around those keywords for more exposure. The better and more relevant your content is, the better your rankings will be.

Ensure brand consistency in your content

Branding helps companies elevate themselves on the market and differentiate themselves from other companies. Having  a strong brand image and consistent tone of voice online helps establish a more personal and long-lasting relationship with your audience.

However, maintaining a consistent brand image across channels, assets and markets is not an easy task. If you have difficulties in managing your content distribution and creation, you can always opt for content creation services which will not only help ensure brand consistency in your content but also yield the best results in terms of exposure.

Share content on social media

Social media platforms have become quite business friendly as of late. Having a good social media strategy will not only increase the exposure of your B2B content, but also help you build your online presence and reputation. What’s more, it helps you actively engage with your clients, in order to establish more relevant relations with them. However, not every social media network is best suited for B2B content distribution.

If you try to build a presence on every social network, you’ll only end up wasting both time and resources. Instead, focus on social media channels that your clients are present on. For instance, LinkedIn as a social network, is more suited for companies and business of every size. Their business-friendly environment will help you publish relevant content to your clients and ensure you favor good exposure.

Educate your clients

As mentioned before, helping your clients familiarize themselves with your services and your company in general is essential. Content can help you do that, but only if you focus on educating your clients in an interesting and relevant way. You can publish how-to guides and descriptions to help your clients understand your services or products. Including visuals is also a good way to ensure engagement and interest. For example, you can share product videos or demo guides for your audience to watch.

However, you don’t have to solely focus on explaining your products or services. Consequently, you can also provide educational content on important topics, problems or other industry-relevant information and news. That way, you’re not only helping clients understand your company better, but also helping them keep updated with the current industry trends. This type of content will help you position yourself as an industry expert, who provides useful and relevant information to their clients.

Share content through other media channels

Social media isn’t the only way to boost exposure for your content. Other media channels also present a good opportunity for your content to get the required recognition. For example, you can share content on your own blog and website. Moreover, you can engage in guest posting on other reputable sources. That way, you’ll gain more exposure and more credibility.

In addition, nurture leads from your email list of subscribers with content. Sharing content via email is a good way to send out personalized messages that will encourage your leads to consider doing business with you. Whichever method you choose, you have to make sure you have the right strategy in place. Building exposure isn’t easy, especially the kind of exposure your business needs, in order to grow and develop further.

When creating content for your B2B marketing, you have to focus on your clients and their expectations. The purpose of content marketing isn’t just promoting your company to clients, but also educating them and convincing them that your services are the right solution for their company. The more relevance and quality your content possesses the more efficient it will be in driving your business goals.

Guest author, Raul Harman, is a B.Sc. in Innovative entrepreneurship and has a lot to say about innovations in all aspects of digital technology and online marketing. While he’s not enjoying football and great food, you can find him on Technivorz.com

 

 

How To Use Content To Work Smarter with Sales?

/ nancyrubin

Content marketing will change the way you manage your business, and there are many people who will want to use content in a variety of ways to make their company look better. Someone who is using content marketing in the right way can continually use different methods to make their business look great. Content marketing creates exposure, makes brand into household names, and saves a company money.

Nine Steps For The Best Content Marketing That Converts Sales

  1. Start A Blog

A blog is a good way for people to market their company because they can release information to the public with no trouble. You could respond to the public in these situations and will notice that people come by your blog to interact with you more than they could in other places. Blogs are a freeform way of writing, and they make the company must easier to work with.

  1. Hit the pain point

Yes, it is necessary to find the main concerning points of your target audience and develop content accordingly. Suppose if your company provides life insurance then you can create an article on the how responsible dads can keep their family safe.

  1. Use Facebook

Facebook is its own animal when you start doing any form of content marketing. Facebook actually allows you to purchase ads, and you could write articles that are posted to Facebook throughout the day. You might share releases of your new products, or you could link to videos and other things that you want your customers to see. Facebook is one of the more popular places for people to look for information, and people could comment on your posts. The Facebook Messenger is a unique customer service tool that you might use to give instant feedback to your customers.

  1. Use Twitter

Twitter is a place where you can post small bits of information with links. You might use Twitter because you like to be a little bit wittier than your competition, or you could have interactions with other companies on Twitter. You could use Twitter to give vital information to a large group of people, and there are many who will share your tweets throughout the day. You might announce releases on Twitter, or you could post information that would be helpful to your customers.

  1. Use YouTube

 youtube.png

YouTube is a place where you can post information in video or commercial form. You might create something that offers tips to your customers, or you could create videos that read like commercials. You might do interviews with people who work in your industry, and you could have a video made that explains how to use an upcoming product. You want people to be intrigued by what your company does, and you could put a face to the name of your company.

  1. Make A Playlist

The playlist that you create for your company could be something that you build through a company like Pandora or Spotify. There are news stations using these companies to make playlists for morning traffic, and you will find radio shows making playlists for their listeners to use as inspiration. People who write or work in the entertainment industry will make their own playlist, and you could make a playlist that people will use while using your service. You might make a playlist for when your customers use the tools you sell, or you could make a workout playlist if your company is in the fitness industry.

  1. Publish Only Your Best Stuff

You must publish only your best content so that your readers grow accustomed to seeing something wonderful. You will confuse people if you release information that is hard to understand, and they might be turned off if you write in an inconsistent style. Only release something that you know will turn the heads of your customers, and remember that you could hire someone to do this for you. You probably do not have the time to do this all by yourself, but you can hire someone to help.

  1. Be Consistent

Your company must post often so that you have a chance to reach people every day. You never know who will run across your blog or website, and you must have something fresh for them to enjoy. You might continue adding items to a playlist, or you could make a new video every day. You must give the public a reason to patronize your business, and you must compel them to keep up with you because of the way that you write, talk, or think.

  1. Create A Voice

You must create a voice for your company that is shown through these many channels. You must give your company a personality, and the personality that people see if what they will remember when it is time for them to buy something. You might have a voice that is funny or snarky, and it might be the thing that your customers love about your company. You might show your customers that you are working hard at being serious, and you could have a voice that changes to solemn during tragedies. You can show the world that you care, and you might use that voice to ask for donations to charity.

  1. Honourable Mention: Hire A Marketer

You must hire a marketer who will help you make the choices that are best for your company, and they might direct much of this effort for you. They know how to help you when you need something written, and they can show you how to create content. Anyone who is using content marketing could pay a small fee to have a marketer do much of this work for them. You might take over some of these tasks once the marketer has shown you what to do.

Conclusion

You can change the course of your business with content marketing, and you must be certain that you have chosen all the right avenues for marketing. You can deploy content marketing tactics every day that make your business stronger, and you will find that you can easily bring in more customers because they are intrigued by what it is you have to say. Make a video, be funny on Twitter, and spread around as much content as you can with a blog that is directed at customers.

10 Marketing Tactics For Sustainable Business Advancements

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Have you ever been interested in how to market for sustainable businesses? Well, today is a great day for you, as you will be provided with information on 10 marketing tips for sustainable businesses. The type of business that will be set as an example is going to be for acne treatment. The first tip will be the importance of marketing through a website and marketing online you can help save the environment. Next, we will focus on the importance of combining claiming and marketing sustainability tactics together.

After, we will discuss how important it is for you to have a message that pushes the moderate use of your product without destroying your bottom line on sales. Then, we will go over how to incorporate new marketing techniques that are not well known or used yet. Following up, you will be provided with tips on how to build a culture in your business that continues to enforce success and sustainability. The next tip will revolve around the importance of really marketing purchasing bundles instead of single items. The 7th tip for you will focus on how you should really learn your market and your customers to reach their needs.

The following tip will help you learn the importance of creating a specific marketing campaign that would work perfectly for you and your business. The next tip will focus on combining everything you do in your business with the sustainable issue you are choosing to build around. Finally, the last tip you will learn is how to properly value your products properly due to the higher costs of selling sustainable goods. Furthermore, after learning these amazing tips you will have gained more knowledge on how to build sustainable marketing strategies for your sustainable business.

  1. Marketing Online

It is very important for you to market online when trying to build a successful sustainable business. Moreover, marketing online will provide a way to reach millions of people and still keep your promise of being a sustainable business. You will not have to focus on marketing by mail or business card removing some of your carbon footprint from your business. There are plenty of ways to market online by offering free samples after a customer provides their e-mail address where you can send them future deals or promotions in the future.

  1. Claim and Market Sustainable

Now in this tip, you should really use both claim and marketing techniques for sustainability to really show the world your business is a sustainable company. Claim means that you will provide a sticker or message that shows how your product is environmentally friendly and how your customers can help the environment. As for marketing throughout all of your marketing efforts you should have a positive message that again pushes how your company is great for the environment.

  1. Push Moderate Product Use

It is important to push moderate product use, so your customers learn that you are all about keeping the environment safe and healthy. For example, using acne products you could build a dispenser that dispenses the perfect recommended application size for your customers. Furthermore, you might need to alter the size of your product to ensure that you continue to make a profit for your business.

  1. Incorporate New Marketing Strategies

There is no one way to market and strategies constantly change and evolve over time. It is always great to try a/b testing or new ai technology that can help you learn how to market better to your customers. It will only benefit you to learn and combine different marketing strategies that can help build a new way of marketing for your sustainable business.

  1. Build a Sustainable Culture

It is important to start your company with a sustainable culture and work environment, so this can roll over into your actual operation. Especially if you are starting off as a smaller company building a culture around sustainability is a must. Moreover building this culture can lead to new ideas from your workforce that can help provide even better ways to help your company grow its sustainability.

  1. Focus on Selling Bundles

Selling bundles is a great way to push that you are helping the environment by limiting the amount of shipping waste you end up producing shipping out your products. You can even make a reusable shipping box that is made completely of recyclable products if your company can afford it.

  1. Learn your Niche

In whatever sustainable market you decide to focus on it is important to ensure you understand the products you are selling. This is important so you can know what your customers look for when they are buying the type of product you are selling. For example, working with acne creams you would need to know how to push sustainability when working in the acne removal business. An example would be helping the environment by using fully recyclable bottles for the product.

  1. Create your Specific Marketing Strategy

Now that you know your niche you can learn how to market towards it properly. You can research the demographic that would be the most likely adopt your product and push for sustainability. This is a great tip that works perfectly in tandem with knowing your niche so you can know who to market to.

  1. Connect the Business with the Issue

It is important that throughout your website and on your products every customer knows your company is about sustainability or helping the environment. Explain how the product they are purchasing is helping them and the environment around them. The goal is to show your customers you are very serious about being a sustainable business. Continuing on, you could have an offer that also donates a percentage of each purchase to a non-profit organization or your own whose main focus is the same issue you are helping alleviate. Your customers base will feel proud they are helping the environment and issues around the world.

  1. Value your Products the Right Way

You must price your products at the right price to ensure your company can build a profit. Your company cannot run forever if it is not building a profit. In this case, if you are using fully sustainable products it is going to cost your customers more. You need to emphasize that your products cost more due to keeping the environment safe and your goal of being a completely 100% sustainable company in the near future. Said that you should also consider designing your product pages attractively and they should be user-friendly as good designs can help you increase the CTR which results in increasing the revenue. For example, Rodan and Fields have kept high product images with a white background making the website look neat in their acne treatment page.

Conclusion

You have just been presented with 10 tips to marketing a sustainable business. Again, the first step focused on how you should really focus on marketing online. Next, you learned about claiming and marketing sustainable. After, you were taught to push the moderate use of your products to show you are serious about sustainability. Then, you learned why you should try new marketing techniques to expand your brand. Building a sustainable culture was an important tip shared so you can really build a great sustainable business.

The importance of selling bundles was a great tip to help with sales an shrinking your environmental footprint by lowering the number of shipping supplies you have to use. Focusing on learning your niche and market will help you better understand your customers and market. Then, you learned how learning about your niche can help you understand how to properly market to your customers better. The next tip revolved around the importance of really combining your business with the sustainability issue you choose to focus on. Finally, the last tip you learned was to value your products properly so you can make a profit and still be a sustainable business. After sharing these tips you are one step closer to properly marketing your sustainable business the next step is to take action.

Standing out from the Competition: How Your Business Can Get the Attention of Potential Customers

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Maintaining a solid customer base is vital to the survival of your business. In addition to conventional marketing strategies, there are some innovative ways to attract more potential customers and keep your profits growing. Here are a few ideas to help your business get the attention of potential customers.

Offer Freebies

Even though this may seem counterproductive, offering free products or services can actually help your business earn more money. By offering free product samples, people may be more inclined to try them since they won’t have to make a commitment to purchase. You can have your employees hand out samples to people passing by on the street or send them out in the mail to potential leads. You can also try offering free services for a limited time.

Display Unique Signage

Using standard signage for your business will likely attract less attention from the masses. If you want to stand out, you should have some innovative signs created. Certain companies can create business signs that feature eye-catching texts and graphics. You can order signage that includes attractive colors and even features the logo of your business. Displaying this signage on the outside of your building near the entrance will help your business get noticed as people walk or drive by your location.

Utilize SEO Marketing

SEO, which stands for “search engine optimization,” is an important tool for marketing businesses online. This type of marketing involves the use of written content that contains certain keywords and phrases that people commonly search for while online. The right SEO campaign can help your company’s website rank higher on the top search engines. Forbes.com notes that it’s also important to have content that’s original and enables your business to stay more relevant.

Do Some Charity Work

Giving back to your community will help your company earn a more positive reputation. Your business can sponsor a food, clothing or blood drive as a way to market your brand and help others who are in need. Local media outlets will likely cover your event, which can get you some free press. You can also try donating some of your proceeds to charitable organizations. If you support a good cause, you’re sure to see an influx of new customers.

By putting in the necessary efforts to expand your clientele, you’ll likely find yourself reaping the rewards in no time. Consistently growing your customer base will help you stay in business and stand out from your competitors.

Guest author, Lizzie Weakley is a freelance writer from Columbus, Ohio. She went to college at The Ohio State University where she studied communications. In her free time, she enjoys the outdoors and long walks in the park with her 3-year-old husky Snowball.  @LizzieWeakley