Unless you’ve been in a coma, you’ve likely noticed that marketing and advertising have drastically changed over the past two to three years. A major paradigm shift has occurred that has leveled the playing field between big and small business.
(Almost) gone are the days of expensive, slick, mass market advertising campaigns, techniques like shotguns blasting outward in a general direction only capable of hitting broad targets. Impersonal, oneway communications, their effectiveness has been trending downward.
The name of the game today is attraction and appreciation marketing. By contrast, these methods are personal, laserlike, two-way communications that are usually much less expensive and much friendlier to smaller businesses.
When you think “attraction marketing,” think “magnets.” Attraction marketing is a series of strategies and tactics designed to help you acquire new clients. Unlike old school methods where you chase down any and every client, you can provide content and develop expertise to a level where clients seek you out. The goal: pull new clients to you.
Appreciation marketing works hand in hand with attraction marketing because it picks up where attraction marketing leaves off. Appreciation marketing involves making your clients feel important and valued so that they stay clients.
Therefore, when you think “appreciation marketing, now think “glue.” Once you get a client, you want to make sure they stick.
Many different tactics are utilized within attraction and appreciation marketing. The unifying thread running through all is a focus on relationship building and generating a two-way conversation.
Utilizing them together, a business owner, has the ability to customize a marketing plan within a given budget that is effective. But consistency is what is most important. Once strategies and tactics are selected, you must follow through.
Attraction marketing tactics involve establishing yourself as an expert in your field through the use of blogs, social networks, newsletters, books, eBooks, etc. Essentially, you establish yourself as the “go to” company for the products and services you offer.
Appreciation marketing includes creating a system of client communications that keep your clients satisfied and loyal with personal touches. It often requires the use of some type of client relationship management (CRM) to remind you of each one of your customers, prospects, and contacts, so you can individually show them your appreciation, and make them feel important. Regular appreciation can go from a friendly phone call to say hello (not to sell), a quick email with a friendly comment (not with an offer), a personal note written in paper and mailed, a paper greeting card, saying “Thank you for your business,” even a gift box of chocolates.
Don’t settle for the minimum ‘hand shake’ thank you. Go the extra miles in your appreciation marketing effort. It’s easy, and the return on investment unbelievably advantageous. Start a system to market appreciation to your contacts and watch your business become the success you deserve.
Max Fleischer, Appreciation Marketing Specialist, can be contacted by tel. at 305-490-1456; by email at max@SendOutstandingCards.com ; or visiting www.SendOutstandingCards.com
