Marketing: Are You the Messy Type?
Do you have a "when I remember to do it" marketing approach?
Do you market to "only some of your clients" and "only some of the time"?
Does your marketing tend to be a messy, thrown-together, if-I-have-time, last-minute effort?
Are you discouraged with your marketing results?
If so, you aren't alone; but I implore you to re-think your marketing initiatives. The truth is, messy marketing produces little to no results, which is discouraging... causing you to avoid it until the next marketing requirement rears its ugly head... at which time, you quickly produce a messy, thrown-together, last-minute piece... that yields little to no results... leading to increased discouragement and avoidance... Do you see where this is going?
It doesn't have to be this way! You can quickly send out professional marketing campaigns that yield successful results. And it can be done easily if you incorporate 5 key elements into your marketing. It's what I call Intelligent Marketing.
Intelligent Marketing is a well thought-out, multi-channel lead and client nurturing process. It is a process that relies on both traditional media and e-mail marketing to send messages that foster our credibility and trust. Intelligent Marketing is:
• Personalized - It's more nurturing and enticing when we receive a marketing piece that feels like it was written just for us. I LOVE my name - I love to see it, hear it, say it. And studies show (or at least I'm under the impression that they do) I'm not alone (because that would make me narcissistic). Most people love their names - so make sure to include a ‘Dear Tina' opening line. Also, sprinkle other known personal info into the body of the message - just remember to keep it professional, not creepy.
• Relevant - Our marketing pieces should contain information that relates to our customers' needs, wants and behaviors. The last thing we want to do is send discount offers on snow blowers to our Florida residents. Remember the target audience when sending marketing messages.
• Well-Timed - Be considerate of people's inbox. We don't want to lose business by over-loading our customers with emails, or by sending them too infrequently. Find the "just right" for your industry's customers. In regard to marketing follow-ups (or follow-throughs), research shows that our first contact attempt with new leads should come within 5 minutes of receiving their information, or they are likely to purchase elsewhere.
• Thorough - We always want to use a variety of media throughout our marketing campaigns to create a multi-channel approach. We want to include a mix of postcards, letters, emails and phone calls.
• Automated - Last, we want to deliver our intelligent marketing pieces consistently over a prolonged period of time. To do this efficiently, consider implementing an automated system, also known as a drip marketing system. Drip marketing is a system that automatically sends our marketing messages to our targeted contacts.
Implementing these 5 key elements into our marketing initiatives can, ultimately, save us time and money - and our precious sanity. With some initial efforts on our parts, we can transform our marketing efforts from messy to moneymaking!
Learn more about one of the industry's most powerful drip marketing and email marketing programs.