Do You Know What Your Customers Want?

One of the great things about consulting for different companies in many different industries is that I get to see a lot of things that work and a lot of things that don't.  And recently I've noticed a real divide between businesses that do hardly any marketing and those who do way too much marketing.  Is there such a thing?  Yes!

Take for example the local store that gets your email address because of a contest or in store sign up.  Perhaps you gave your name and email in exchange for the promise of some really great discounts.  Within a few days you were bombarded with email after email offering discounts on a variety of items throughout the store.  You may have had some interest initially but now the emails are just pissing you off.

What happens now you might be asking yourself.  I can tell you that when local venues get marketing crazy... they annoy their customers and chase away prospects.  In fact, I've stopped going to some of the stores that have sent me email after email.  Of course you can always chose to opt-out, and I have, but there's more to it.  The reality is that stores who don't respect my time or communication preferences don't really care about me - they're just pushing product.

Don't Be So Desperate
People and businesses have a lot in common. Appear desperate and no one wants to be around you.  People certainly aren't going to keep coming back to you again and again.  And when local shops press hard on sending emails (because it's relatively easy), they only drive their customers off the proverbial cliff.  

In order to nurture a relationship with you audience, you must first understand what your customers want.  When you ask someone for personal information like a name or email, ask them for information about their preferences.  What categories of products are they most interested in?  How often do they like to shop?  What are they looking to get from you?  Customer's may surprise you with their answers or clarify what you may already know.

As a side note, I'm a big believer that you can't lead with a discount.  If you do you're telling your customers and prospects that you offer a commodity product.  When customers can't tell a difference between your product and someone else's, you have no choice but to discount price.  Products that are unique command a higher price point and create more value.

I Know You, Now What
My answer is simple, be respectful of the people you market to.  If I ask for information about your newest products, then send it to me.  If I've already told you that I don't want to hear from you, don't.  Be respectful of your customers and prospects and you'll cultivate meaningful relationships.  In fact, you can truly cultivate and grow your relationships with customers for years to come, maybe even turn them into advocates.

Local companies that do a good job of building relationships have an easier time growing their business. This is because most people make purchases based on recommendations.  It's certainly much easier to ask for a referral from someone who is satisfied as opposed to someone who is annoyed.  Before you start sending tons of emails to people who have little or no interest in your product, focus on what you know.

Don't Leave It To Chance
One mistake I see local businesses make all the time is taking a once-and-done marketing approach.  They get some customer information, open a Constant Contact or Aweber account and think they've got it made. You have to realize though, people change.  As such the marketing you do today must change in the future.  The most effective marketers take purchase information and use it to evolve their communications - this is the difference maker.

Think about how you can communicate to your customers based on what they've purchased and the preferences you've identified.  As you engage prospects, learn from their actions (what they do and don't do) to help inform future communications.  These distinctions can set you apart from other struggling to grow their business.

How to choose the best Email Service Provider for your business?

Email is one of the most effective tools that a business can use to promote their product or service. With this in mind, it's important that your email service provider, or ESP, is fit for the job you want it to do. There are so many different providers on the Internet that it's hard to know which one is right for your business.

The biggest factor to consider is whether you choose a provider with a public or private IP address. An IP address is a unique code that identifies where data is sent from. If your ESP shares an IP address with a number of users, one of those users could send mail that's seen as spam and have the IP address 'blacklisted'.

This means that any emails you send from your shared IP address could be blocked by spam filters because of someone else's actions and not get delivered to your potential customer. Be in control of your business with a private IP address only you have access to.

Next, look how much storage space the email service provider is giving you. Some will limit the amount of messages you send out a month and the amount of data you receive in your inbox. You need to make sure you won't ever reach your limit or you won't be able to contact your customers. Even worse, you might not be able to receive an email from a customer if your inbox is full. Also think about your options if your business expands. Does the ESP you are with offer upgrades to fit your new needs?

In email marketing, it's good to know how effective your messages are in making a reader act on what they've read. Choose an ESP that offers statistics to measure the success of your emails and consider any improvements. Your ESP could gather statistics on how many people have opened your email and also how many have clicked on the hyperlinks within that email.

A good bonus feature to look out for is if your ESP allows you to use functions in their emails. Functions allow you to add data personal to your customer from your database into the email. For example, "Hey [user name], check our summer offers", could grab your user's attention as reassure them that it isn't a spam message.

Before you agree to any contract with your ESP, make sure they have a support service that can help you when you have any problems. Make sure you can always be in contact with your customers by choosing an email service provider with a number of different ways to get support. Look for online and phone support as a minimum requirement when choosing your ESP.

Finally see if your email service provider will give you a free trial. With all of these things mentioned above, it's easier to see if the service provider suits your business by giving them a try.