Common sense tells any business owner that having one customer representing over 50% of their revenues is risky. Losing that one client could mean bankruptcy.
But what about marketing? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “I get all my business from word of mouth.” To be sure, word-of-mouth is the best form of advertising, produces the best leads, and helps to fill the pipeline. The question is: “Are you being proactive in pursuing word-of-mouth referrals?“
Get more baskets. Surveys tell us that over 70% of consumers will look online before they purchase a product or service locally. But the Internet alone is not enough. Your website is a great pre-sell for your company, but it also should be a hub for other marketing strategies.
Print advertising, such as direct mail, can produce a flood of leads at one time. But not everybody is ready to buy. Do you have a system to capture these prospect’s emails and stay in front of them? For example, when we run Google AdWords campaigns we capture the IP address of anyone who clicks on our clients’ ads. We then “follow them” with clickable display ads on partner sites like the weather channel, and track the conversion results. You might consider creating an e-newsletter campaign to stay in front of current customers and prospects.
Turn competitors into “co-petitors!” Are having too many leads at once a problem? Some say “yes.” In reality, they only need a relief valve – a system of processing those leads. Keep the best ones and send out the leads you don’t want to competitors that offer similar services. This will strengthen your network and actually create more leads down the road. Not only that, but when you give a new prospect a competitor’s name – and a solution to their problem – they will remember you for it. It’s great PR!
Overlapping a variety of marketing mediums in a strategic way, can double or even triple your return on investment. It is seven times more expensive to attract new clients than to market to existing ones! At Local Net Results, we can create a strategy that works for your business in a customized marketing plan to strengthen those weak areas and help get you the best bang for your marketing bucks.
