Staying Top of Mind with your Customers
Marketing Alone is Not Enough!
I was having a conversation with a business owner in Ireland recently and he made a comment that stood out for me. He said:
“Guinness is the best known brand in Ireland, but they noticed that if they don’t advertise regularly their sales go down”.
Hmm, perfect example of the idea of staying Top of Mind with your customers!
Top of Mind is literally what it sounds like, that when a customer thinks about your industry, or your products, or something related to your business, they think of you because you have regularly kept your name and value statement in front of them.
The rule of thumb is that you should in some way make contact with or have your marketing cross the paths with your customers at least once a month.
Once a month? Some of you are probably thinking that’s too much both for the customer receiving the info and for the work involved.
Both are valid issues to deal with, but if your brand is not crossing paths with your customers at least once a month then you are missing out on sales and not getting the return you could be on your marketing efforts.
Lets say for example you own a retail carpet store and a potential customer was in your store looking around but weren’t ready to make a buying decision yet. Six months later they get a bonus and are now easy to buy a new carpet – who the prospect customer will think of is who they last had contact with, especially within the last month.
You may have the better quality carpet, at better prices wi better service but if you haven’t kept in touch with the customer they probably won’t remember or think of you. Out of sight it really out of mind.
This is true regardless of the type of business or product, even if you have provided great service in the past.
So how do you avoid your customers feeling they you are bombarding them or trying to sell them all the time?
Consider that your job is to educate and sometimes entertain your customers. What makes this more effective is to really understand who your customers are. In the Profit Generator Program we do a Target Audience Needs Analysis first so that your marketing is targeted to what your customers are looking for.
Ask yourself “What do my customers want to know?”, “What are their challenges that I c an solve or have advice on”, “What are my customers interested in”
The second issue is sending out or doing something with your prospects and customers every month sounds like a lot of work. My friend, the brilliant marketer Joe Polish would say you should automate it! Spend the time up front designing the method and messaging and then make it robotic and repeatable so that it is ELF – Easy, Lucrative and Fun!
One of my favorite ways of staying Top of Mind with your customers is a monthly Newsletter (a Joe Polish idea!).
Another idea that is current with the times is to have a Facebook and/or Twitter account and be posting regularly, and not just what you want to promote but information, tips that would interest your target audience.
Bottom line?
Exponentially increase results and sales by delivering a regular message and communication with your customers. Leverage what you are already doing by staying Top of Mind with your customers and prospects.
It works for Guinness!
