Money can't buy one of the most important things you need to promote your business: relationships. How do customer relationships drive your business? It's all about finding people who trust you and believe in your products or services.
So how do you build those relationships online?
You need a plan to make those connections grow and work for you. And it's not as hard as you think.
Here are five essential tactics:
- Write articles and give away some of your best secrets - Most people are afraid of giving away their trade secrets in free online articles. So they resort to writing the same as what's all over the Internet already.
If you're not producing high-quality, unique and original content than you run the risk of being just like everyone else. You must give prospects a reason to trust you.
Give away some of your best secrets and prospects will be lining up to get on your list and buy your products. If you don't, those articles might not even get printed since they are the same old stuff.
- Reward prospects with a free special report when they sign up for your list - This special report should differentiate your products and services from your competition, or it should give good, expert information that offers real insights and at the same time acts as a teaser to get prospects to buy your products and services.
Other free incentives include e-books, video tutorials, and audio downloads.
- Communication is a contact sport - Relationships have a short shelf-life unless you nourish them. An easy way to communicate is with a brief e-mail newsletter that shows prospects why they should buy from you.
These newsletters should not be pitch-fests. If you want to build trusting relationships so your prospects will want to buy from you again and again, then you need to offer tips, advice and short items that entice consumers and leave them wanting more.
This is an easy way to stay in customers' minds, build their confidence in your expertise and retain them. And it's viral: contacts and customers who find what you do interesting or valuable will forward your e-mail message or newsletter to other people, just like word-of-mouth marketing.
- Gather market research information - Send out online questionnaires to your e-mail list to find out what they want or need to gain, learn or achieve.
If you know exactly who your market is and what they want or buy the most, then you can position and structure your e-mails, marketing messages and web site offers to appeal to those wants. Remember, the secret to success online and off-line, is to find out what people want and then give it to them.
- When prospects buy from you, keep in touch - Reward loyal customers, and they'll reward you. According to global management consulting firm Bain and Co., a 5% increase in retention yields profit increases of 25 to 100%.
On average, repeat customers spend 67% more than new customers. So your most profitable customers are repeat customers. Are you doing enough to encourage them to work with you again?
Stay in touch, and give them something of value in exchange for their time, attention and business. It doesn't need to be much. It can be as simple as a coupon, notice of a special event, helpful insights and advice, or news they can use. Just remember: If you don't keep in touch with your customers, your competitors will.
This is how I developed relationships with my list. That's why whenever I launch a new product, my servers almost crash because of all the new traffic and orders. When I ask my list to buy - they do. And, when I need their help, they're there for me as well. That's the power of building a list of loyal prospects and customers.