AdultB2B
11-25-2009, 10:07 AM
Low Cost Marketing Tactics
Setting Achievable Goals and Realistic Expectations
First of all, it’s best to establish what your goals and expectations are of your marketing campaign. It’s very important to set realistic goals.
Surveying To Find Out What Your Customers Want
While large companies spend thousands of dollars each year trying to determine what their customers want from their business, small businesses should be able to take advantage of their size and easier access to customers.
Direct mail questionnaires, telemarketing surveys, focus groups, and other techniques are effective methods of understanding your customers and prospects, but they can be costly and time-consuming. You can save money while getting the information you need by running informal versions of these methods.
For example, instead of hiring a firm to run a focus group, invite a few of your best customers out to a nice dinner and ask them for an informal appraisal of your product or service. This will allow you to get important, customer-driven input and ideas for a fraction of the cost. And it allows you to ask many more questions than you could over the phone or through man-on-the-street interviews.
Marketers estimate that acquiring a new customer costs five to eight times more than keeping an existing one, so in industries with heavy customer turn-over, limited marketing dollars should be focused on retaining existing business.
Any combination of the following programs can help you retain customers not only by providing a useful service, but also by making customers feel appreciated and more likely to come again.
• Get Customers Involved
You can motivate customers for very little money by getting them involved with your business on an emotional or experiential level. When LifeSavers candy was considering replacing the pineapple flavor in its five pack, it asked customers to vote on a new flavor to take its place. More than 1 million customers voted via a special Web site and toll-free number to keep the existing pineapple flavor, energizing LifeSavers' customer base and getting a great deal of publicity in the process. Mars, Inc. has also used this approach with their M&M candies line. Voters are given the opportunity to vote on new colors thus getting them emotionally involved in the decision making process; giving them a sense of ownership and loyalty.
• Develop Loyalty Programs
Companies frequently develop loyalty programs that reward repeat customers with free products or services. Almost all airlines, for example, have some form of frequent flier program that allows customers to trade miles for free travel or products. Sandwich shops and grocery stores often have frequent eater cards that use a distinctive stamp to tally each time a customer buys a sandwich. After customers accumulate a certain number of stamps, they get the next sandwich free. Such programs are easily developed to increase repeat business.
For more information SUBSCRIBE (https://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/tools/subscription.php?username=nickcage49&newsletter_id=1409757795) to our new weekly marketing newsletter.
Setting Achievable Goals and Realistic Expectations
First of all, it’s best to establish what your goals and expectations are of your marketing campaign. It’s very important to set realistic goals.
Surveying To Find Out What Your Customers Want
While large companies spend thousands of dollars each year trying to determine what their customers want from their business, small businesses should be able to take advantage of their size and easier access to customers.
Direct mail questionnaires, telemarketing surveys, focus groups, and other techniques are effective methods of understanding your customers and prospects, but they can be costly and time-consuming. You can save money while getting the information you need by running informal versions of these methods.
For example, instead of hiring a firm to run a focus group, invite a few of your best customers out to a nice dinner and ask them for an informal appraisal of your product or service. This will allow you to get important, customer-driven input and ideas for a fraction of the cost. And it allows you to ask many more questions than you could over the phone or through man-on-the-street interviews.
Marketers estimate that acquiring a new customer costs five to eight times more than keeping an existing one, so in industries with heavy customer turn-over, limited marketing dollars should be focused on retaining existing business.
Any combination of the following programs can help you retain customers not only by providing a useful service, but also by making customers feel appreciated and more likely to come again.
• Get Customers Involved
You can motivate customers for very little money by getting them involved with your business on an emotional or experiential level. When LifeSavers candy was considering replacing the pineapple flavor in its five pack, it asked customers to vote on a new flavor to take its place. More than 1 million customers voted via a special Web site and toll-free number to keep the existing pineapple flavor, energizing LifeSavers' customer base and getting a great deal of publicity in the process. Mars, Inc. has also used this approach with their M&M candies line. Voters are given the opportunity to vote on new colors thus getting them emotionally involved in the decision making process; giving them a sense of ownership and loyalty.
• Develop Loyalty Programs
Companies frequently develop loyalty programs that reward repeat customers with free products or services. Almost all airlines, for example, have some form of frequent flier program that allows customers to trade miles for free travel or products. Sandwich shops and grocery stores often have frequent eater cards that use a distinctive stamp to tally each time a customer buys a sandwich. After customers accumulate a certain number of stamps, they get the next sandwich free. Such programs are easily developed to increase repeat business.
For more information SUBSCRIBE (https://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/tools/subscription.php?username=nickcage49&newsletter_id=1409757795) to our new weekly marketing newsletter.