Resolve to Win Customers Over in 2014 By Showing Them Some Love

 

The reality is, businesses need paying customers to stay afloat. But, as the marketing machine continues to churn out new ways of attracting them, often times, as business owners, we find ourselves moving further and further away from the very people we’re trying to connect with – customers.

As a marketer, I’ll admit, things are different. While the fundamental principles of marketing still stand, the ‘how’ has changed. There’s no longer a need to log into five different social media accounts to post an update. Thanks to Hootsuite, you can do it all in one place and even schedule them in advance.

In fact, if you’re looking to house your customer database, email and social media marketing, and lead building activity under one tent, marketing automation tools like InfusionSoft have got you covered.

Yet, despite all these great tools that make it easier than ever to reach out and touch customers – to gather names, email addresses, and phone numbers – something’s still missing.

Could our efforts to brand our names across the memories of those we seek have caused us to alienate them instead?  Maybe, but why?

Perhaps we’re asking for too much with too little in return.

Love Don’t Cost A Thing

With every post and every email, chances are, we’re asking customers for something.

Open my email or download my report.

And in a very real sense, we’re asking them to purchase our content – perhaps not with dollars and cents, but with something just as precious – their right not to be pursued after they open the email or download the report.

Hearts and Flowers

Don’t misunderstand – lead building, nurturing, and tracking the insights from those activities are essential to business growth.

But, as you set into motion your plans for 2014, resolve not to just ‘push.’ Push your content. Push your offers.

Also, try listening more, in real-time.  Try helping without expecting to see immediate returns. Try…

1. Finding trending hashtags (#) for your industry and looking for opportunities to use your skills and experience to answer questions.
2. Joining groups on Google+ and LinkedIn or chiming in during a Twitter chat. Monitor customer forums. Infiltrate the customer space and drop some knowledge.
3. Doing something crazy like creating an app for your business, if it makes sense. One of my favorites, Retail Me Not, is free and easy.  With its help, the moment I drive by a mall, my phone lights up like a Christmas tree with coupons and deals. I love it so I tell everybody (including you). And for Retail Me Not’s stakeholders, the retailers using the site as a marketing channel to increase sales, it’s a win-win.
4. Picking up the phone and calling your customers randomly. Express appreciation or solve an issue. Do what they don’t expect you to do  –  be available.

In 2014, let’s not mistake technology for connecting. Engage the crowd and eventually, you’ll win the customer.

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