It’s a tough market out there, no matter what industry you’re in. Customers have more choices than ever, and it takes extra effort and creativity to grab their attention. You need to work extra hard for customers because if you don’t, your competition will snatch them away.
One thing you can do is try to directly communicate with them. Customers don’t want to be treated like a number, They want personalization, and they want to feel like they truly matter to you. In reality, they do matter since they represent the means for you to make your living. Direct communication will reach them on a more personal level.
One thing to remember is that this type of communication and marketing is not like outbound advertising. TV, radio, and other broad marketing methods may reach a lot of people, but you pay for those marketing channels, even if consumers aren’t likely to buy your product. Direct communication involves taking the time to develop relationships with your best potential customers. Here’s how you can increase engagement, and hopefully increase revenue.
Relevant Content
No matter what, you need to produce relevant content for your target audience. That means that you have to get inside their heads and see what makes them tick. In your mind, create your ideal consumer. What do they like about your product? What other things are they interested in? How are they persuaded? Get a full picture of this person, and create content that you think will appeal to them. If your audience is young skateboarders, then you can write or produce a video for how to do tricks, for instance. Once you have that ideal customer in your mind, writing for them becomes easier.
SMS Messaging
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What is the most common way for people to communicate these days? That’s right, it’s text messaging. Many businesses haven’t caught on to the fact that texting for your business is an incredibly powerful marketing tool. To harness it, you can check out a guide to SMS for your business to give you all the ins and outs. Just think about what a great marketing medium it is. When a notification tells us that we have a message, just about everybody immediately picks up their phone. You can’t say that for your emails or phone calls. If you use text messaging, then you know that your audience is seeing your data and opening it, because they are conditioned to do so.
Brand Building
While you’re thinking about how your customers are unique, you should also think about how your brand is unique. What sets you apart? What kind of personality do you want to convey? Believe it or not, but your brand can have a personality, and it has to shine through in everything you do, from your website content to your social media posts. Those skateboarders wouldn’t respond to a tweed-jacket wearing professor talking about Aristotle unless it was a joke, right?
The personality can extend to your real interactions with customers. Many times, a business is a reflection of the person who owns it and the people who work there. Do live streams where customers can see the “real” you. Answer questions and accept feedback. Your customers will enjoy the interaction, and they will feel more engaged and connected. If you are a real person to them and not just a brand, they will be more likely to trust their money with you.
Social Media
Social media is where much of this comes together. You can text them marketing content, but chances are it will lead them back to your social media and your website. Make sure that your personality comes across not just in your posts, but in your replies and comments. You can create a community around your brand, and you can only do that by directly communicating with your customers.
Every platform is different, but reply as often as you can. Being too popular to reply to all your comments is a good problem to have, but make sure you acknowledge a select few. Most importantly, respond to complaints. A complaint is a chance to make something right and even improve. If you are able to fix an issue, the customer’s loyalty to you might even be strengthened. Not only that, but all of your followers will have seen the interaction. If you let it go unanswered, then they will wonder why.
Direct Communication
The thing about direct communication is that while it takes extra effort, it will pay off. The bonus: it’s affordable! Consumers today are picky about where they spend their money, so you have to do all you can to be an attractive business for them. You might get in front of fewer eyeballs than with traditional forms of marketing, but you’ll get more bang for your buck.