Although seemingly tedious, a marketing strategy is all in support of increasing sales and interaction continuity with clients and potential consumers. Don’t worry marketing doesn’t have to cost everything you own. Adverts, whether on social media or magazines can be very short lived so even if you’re only putting a £50 budget on your Facebook Ads a month but you run them consistently, you will see some positivity and optimisation. You need to be aware that marketing efforts require careful planning and, in order to you assess your return on investment and effectively plan future marketing, you must keep a record of the sales generated as a result of your campaigns. Try and set some time aside each week for brainstorming new ideas or calculating your business growth.
Capture Data
Build a mailing list. This will enable you to target your campaigns more effectively. Collecting the names is the hard part, so give your prospects a reason for them to provide you with their name and address – competitions, an emailed newsletter, the promise of advance information and discounts, maybe even a loyalty card. Work at keeping your list accurate and up to date. Try to get hold of email addresses as well as (or even in preference to) landmail contact details: email is cheaper and more versatile than postage.
Maintaining customer relationships
This is especially important in the service industry. Once you have captured your client’s data, utilise it! Concentrate on customers more than prospects: they will be more valuable to you, both for repeat business and because they’ll act as a reference. It is estimated to be up to four times more expensive to attract a new customer than it is to maintain an existing customer. So be personal. Remember birthdays and anniversaries. Say "thank you” when they buy (if only by email). Offer them the chance to comment and criticise. Give them special offers not available to anyone else. Make sure they know that your Christmas ‘thank you’ gift is going to a selected few, and they’re in the group.
Selling new treatments
Invite your regulars to check out new products or services: they appreciate being treated as special, and you will lower barriers to purchase because the risk associated with trial is lower and they will therefore be more likely to purchase the treatment in the future. Look at their past purchase history if possible, and tailor special promotions to them.
Competitions
Run competitions. They are an excellent way to garner mailing list names while sending branding messages: the kind of contest your run implies the kind of company you are. A chance of winning hamper full of lovely products, chocolates and a bottle of Chardonnay could prove irresistible to customers for the mere exchange of their phone number and address.
Rewarding Loyalty
Start a loyalty programme. The customer gets a good deal, you get a keen customer (and their contact details). A simple approach is to give customers a card that is marked after each purchase and results in a free or reduced-price offering after a specified number of regular-priced purchases.
