Posted by AndyM on July 22, 2010 under Business Growth | 
One of the most common questions that I receive is “how often should I do a newsletter or other broad communication?” Of course, like any good consultant, my answer is “it depends.” Luckily, there are some logical places to start when developing your plan. Answer these few questions for yourself, and see what insight you gain:
How often is someone in your target audience grappling with the very problems you can help solve?
My wife was recently introduced to a website with information about nutrition, exercise, and healthy living. When she signed up for their e-mail list she began receiving one or two messages per day. At first we were surprised, but it occurred to me that their expertise is something people could benefit from each and every day — we are all constantly dealing with choices about how we manage our health. I am sure that they get a fair amount of “unsubscribes” because they communicate to their list very frequently. However, I am also sure they successfully become the primary source of information for many people in their target audience. They simply behave as though they exist to provide ALL of the guidance their followers crave in the area of their expertise.
For comparison, I am not constantly faced with problems or issues related to my auto insurance. Receiving a tip every day would seem ridiculous. Once per month or so might be a better fit.
“Where” do you intend to communicate with your audience?
If you feel your clients and prospects are best reached through direct mail, monthly or quarterly frequency is more common. Via e-mail, a higher frequency may be welcomed (assuming the answer to question #1 is a higher frequency). Through social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, frequencies of weekly, daily, and even multiple times per day are not uncommon.
You may already be familiar with the idea that sometimes e-mail newsletters, blog posts, and social media updates can work in conjunction with one another. This post does not deal with that complexity, but your answers to the above questions will give you a starting point for how often your clients and other contacts would value hearing from you.
Posted by AndyM on July 12, 2010 under Business Growth |
Not only can inspiring your customers to buy from you more often reward you with higher profits, it can also translate to more predictable income. Here are just a few tips for compelling your clients or customers to come back more frequently.
- A time-limited incentive — ever get a pizza delivered? What is attached to the box? Usually, you will find both a menu and a coupon to buy your NEXT pizza. The coupon, of course, isn’t valid forever — they put an expiration date on it. So you haven’t even eaten the pizza you just ordered, and they are already planting the seed for your next purchase! How can you apply this idea to your business?
- A loyalty program — the above strategy works great for many types of businesses (you will have to put your own twist on it) but your client is probably inundated with offers from your competitors as well. How should our pizza shop combat coupon overload? Reward loyalty. In its simplest form all they would have to do is offer a free pizza for every X number ordered (“buy 9 and the 10th is free!”). Now when holding coupons from two different pizza places, our shop owner’s clients are likely to come back again and again because their loyalty is rewarded.
- Verify the benefit of the last purchase — you probably hear it all the time, the key is in the follow up. But how can you call again without being a nuisance? Well your first follow up call should be to verify that your client is truly receiving the benefit of your product or service. Delivering the computer or painting someone’s living room is not the end. WHY did they want your product or service? After some time has passed, pick up the phone and find out if they got what they wanted. Are they now more productive with the faster computer? Do they feel better about inviting guests to their home because of their great-looking living room? Follow up to make sure your clients are truly realizing the benefits of their purchase, and you’ll likely stir up more sales.
- Subscription or membership — would your clients benefit from an ongoing service from your business? What if you could stop chasing them to make additional sales and instead have regular revenue on a monthly or quarterly basis that you could count on? List the kinds of ways your product or service could be used regularly, then look around you for subscription ideas. They are everywhere: wine clubs, retainer-based consulting services, maintenance services, product replenishment, etc.
These are just a few ideas to get you started. The goal? Strengthening your relationships with your best clients, while delivering more value and receiving more business in the process. Additional ideas? Please share!
