Marketing Archives - Page 16 of 17 - Nadine MullingsNadine Mullings

November

12 2013

7 ways to use Relationship Marketing to grow your business

According to dictionary.com, Relationship Marketing is a marketing strategy in which a company seeks to build long-term relationships with its customers by providing consistent satisfaction. There are several ways that a company can provide consistent satisfaction by using Relationship Marketing tactics.

Here are 7 ways to implement relationship marketing tactics in your business:

Offer EXCELLENT customer service. When a customer purchases a product or service from you, you should go above and beyond to make sure that the customer is happy with your service.
FOLLOW-UP after the purchase– Many companies do not do this, so it will put you way above the rest if you decide to do this. Depending on the product or service you offer, be sure to follow-up with the customer a couple of weeks after the purchase to ask them how they are enjoying the product and to see if they have any questions. This is a great opportunity for you to build up trust and loyalty with your customer. Some people don’t want to do this in case the customer has a compliant about the product or service. However, I think this is a great way to reach out to them and solve the issue if they do have one.
Send a customer satisfaction SURVEY– In addition to a follow-up phone call or email, sending a customer satisfaction survey to get feedback on how they felt your company’s customer service was is a great tool for you to show that you care about the type of service being offered, and to get valuable feedback and shed light on areas in your service that may need improvement.
Send a “Thank You for Your Business” Card– This may seem old-fashioned, but it is a way for your company to really stand out by sending each customer a “Thank You for Your Business” card in the mail. It shows your gratitude for their business and solidifies the new relationship.
Send an “Anniversary” card or email– This is a great way for you to stay top of mind. Send your client an email or card that marks the anniversary date of when they used your service or purchased your product. An anniversary card or email is also a great way to send a special offer that encourages repeat business (i.e. $10 off your next purchase, 20% off, etc.)
Send a Birthday card- This is a nice way for you to stand out. Most people no longer receive cards in the mail for their birthday, so receiving a card from your company is a nice way to stand out and stay top of mind with your customer.
Send a Holiday card and/or email– There are several holidays that many people celebrate throughout the year. Sending a special email or card to your customers on the holidays is a great way to stay top of mind. Adding a special holiday offer (i.e. $10 off your next purchase, 20% off, etc.) can be a nice touch.

What types of relationship marketing techniques do you use?

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Business, Business Development, Marketing

November

04 2013

Top 3 Ways to Get More Business

If you own a small business (or any sized business for that matter), you’re always looking for ways to get more business. Most companies look for NEW business and neglect their most important source of more business…… CURRENT customers.

Here are three ways to get more business from your CURRENT customers.

RELATIONSHIP MARKETING– There are several definitions of what Relationship Marketing is, but for me it means creating a long lasting relationship with your CURRENT clients in order to get additional business in the future. There are many ways that you can use this marketing technique, both online and offline, but no matter what channel you use, the goal of Relationship Marketing is to continue to develop a relationship with your customers beyond the first purchase. This could include showing your gratitude for their business by sending a “Thank You” card, remembering important dates like the anniversary date of services received by your company, sending a birthday card, sending holiday emails, etc. Each time you connect with your customers it keeps your service top of mind, and it builds the know, like and trust factor for your company.
REWARDS PROGRAM– Are you rewarding your customers for choosing your company? Rewards and loyalty programs are super popular now. Many credit card companies offer rewards programs to ensure repeat business and to keep their customers loyal to their credit card. The same type of rewards program can be applied to any industry. The goal of a rewards program is to encourage loyalty, get repeat business, and to keep your service or product top of mind with your CURRENT customers.
REFERRAL PROGRAM– Are you currently offering your clients an incentive for referring someone to you? This really is a no brainer technique. If you have customers who already know, like and trust your company use that to your advantage by asking them to refer their friends and family for your services. People like to do business with companies that a trusted friend or family has referred them to, so it is almost guaranteed business for you. The goal is to get your current customers to send you more business in the form of a referral by offering some type of incentive for the referral.

What ways do you use to get more business from your existing customers?

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Business, Business Development, Marketing

October

28 2013

21 Things You Must Do to Get Amazing Results from Your Social Media Marketing (Part 3)

In the last post of 21 Things You Must Do to Get Amazing Results from Your Social Media Marketing, I discussed 7 simple tips to grow your social networks organically, for this post, I will discuss how to grow your social networks using paid methods.

Each social network is different in the types of advertising that they offer, but it helps to look into the following options of advertising for the particular social network you are using.

Here are 7 simple tips to grow your social networks using paid methods:

Purchase an Ad– consider paying to place an ad that is targeted to reach your particular target market as a way to grow your network. The ad must have a good image and good copy to attract attention and get results.
Pay to Promote- this is a great way to use existing content that has gotten a good response from your followers and fans, and pay to promote that content to a larger audience. This can include a promoted post on Facebook, a promoted tweet on Twitter, a promoted pin on Pinterest, etc.
Sponsored Stories– This is popular on Facebook, sponsored stories are messages coming from friends about them engaging with a Page, app or event that a business, organization or individual has paid to highlight so there’s a better chance people see them. It allows you to promote a story on a person’s timeline, so if they liked your page it will say “Jane likes (the name of your business)” and allows people to click to your page to also like it or get more information.
Referral Marketing– connect with someone with a large audience that fits your target market, and ask him to promote your business, you can offer some type of incentive for each fan/follower you get from that particular person’s network. This may take a little bit of work to figure out the tracking and an appropriate incentive.
Create a Contest or Sweepstakes where someone will win something for connecting with you on social media. Depending on the prize the cost of this method could be minimal or expensive. You can use tools such as Constant Contact’s Social Campaigns or Woobox to create all the necessary pieces to execute the contest or sweepstakes correctly.
Promoted Profile– this is popular on Twitter. It allows you to pay to promote your profile so you can gain new followers. Promoted Accounts are suggested based on a user’s public list of whom they follow. When an advertiser promotes an account, Twitter’s algorithm looks at that account’s followers and determines other accounts that those users tend to follow. If a user follows some of those accounts, but not the advertiser’s account, then Twitter may recommend the advertiser’s Promoted Account to that user.
Promoted Page– this is popular on Facebook. You can pay to simply promote your page without having a special ad or offer. Your business page will show up for your target market as a suggested page to like.

What paid methods do you use to grow your social networks?

To download the complete checklist of 21 Things You Must Do in Order to Get Amazing Results from Your Social Media Click Here or go to 21 Things You Must Do in Order to Get Amazing Results from Your Social Media Marketing!

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Business, Business Development, Marketing, Social Media

October

25 2013

21 Things You Must Do to Get Amazing Results from Your Social Media Marketing (Part 2)

In the last post of 21 Things You Must Do to Get Amazing Results from Your Social Media Marketing, I discussed 7 tips for creating engaging content on social media, for this post, I will discuss how to grow your social networks organically.

You can grow your social networks organically and/or pay for exposure via advertising on various social networks. Organic growth is the most affordable because you don’t have to pay money for it, and if you consistently post good content, you will be able to easily grow your network organically.

Here are 7 simple tips to grow your social networks organically.

Offline Tips:

Encourage people to connect with you online by placing your social network information on your business card. If you are out networking and meeting new people, then your business card is a great promotional tool to promote and encourage connecting with you on social networks.
If you do speaking engagements for your business, be sure to promote connecting with you on your social networks by placing your social network information at the beginning and/or at the end of your presentation.
If you have a retail space or an office that is open to the public, place signs around your establishment encouraging your customers to connect with you on social networks.

Online Tips:

4. Promote connecting with you on social networks by adding links to your social networks on your e-mail signature line. You probably send out tons of e-mails every day, adding your social networks to your e-mail signature is an easy and effective way to promote connecting with you.

5. Email your current customers inviting them to join you on a social network. It helps to offer some type of incentive for joining like a discount, coupon, e-Book, report, checklist, etc.

6. Encourage your current fans and followers on your social networks to promote your page to their network.

7. Post good content and encourage your network to share your information with their network, by asking them to like, share, retweet, repin, etc.

What techniques and ways do you use to organically grow your social networks?

Just as equally important as growing your social networks organically, is strategically using paid methods to grow your social networks. The next blog post in this series will discuss how to grow your social networks using affordable paid methods . Stay tuned for the next blog post or click here to download the complete checklist of 21 Things You Must Do in Order to Get Amazing Results from Your Social Media Marketing!

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Business, Business Development, Marketing, Social Media

October

17 2013

21 Things You Must Do to Get Amazing Results from Your Social Media Marketing (Part 1)

If you are using social media to promote your business, or you are thinking about using social media to promote your business, then the first step to being successful in your social media marketing efforts is to put a plan in place. Create a social media marketing plan that will outline what you want to achieve on social media and how you plan to do it. It is important to include in your plan the strategies and tactics to grow your social networks and keep them engaged. In this blog post series, I will go over some tips on creating engaging content and growing your social networks.

Here are 7 tips for creating engaging content on social media:

Know your target market– when you are very specific about your target market, you will be able to know the best social networks to be on to reach your target market, and you will also be able to identify the problems your target market may be encountering and be able to use the appropriate information that talks about the solution to their problems. Knowing exactly what to say to your target market keeps them engaged.
Create a content strategy and calendar– be sure to keep your overall content 80% Entertaining/Educating and only 20% promotional. Create a content calendar so you can plan what topic you want to concentrate your conversations around each month, and make it relevant for your target audience and for your business. Your content calendar could be for the next 90 days, 6 months, or 12 months.
Know what type of content you want to share– will your content be humorous, educational, inspirational, motivational, etc.? It is good to have a good mix of various forms of content.
Automate the publishing of your content– there are some great tools available to help you to automate the publishing of your content on your social networks. Some popular tools are HootSuite, Sprout Social, etc. Planning out your content and then automating the publishing of it saves you a lot of time!
Include content that naturally creates more engagement this includes content like pictures, videos, questions, fill in the blank statements, polls/opinions, and inspirational quotes.
Ask people to like, comment, share, repin, retweet, etc. (whatever the appropriate terminology is for that particular social network you are on, ask people to do it). You will be surprised, when you ask people to do something, a lot of times they will actually do it.
Consistently post good content– as the saying goes, content is king. If you have good content, this will naturally encourage engagement.

What techniques and ways do you use to create engaging content on your social networks?

Just as equally important as creating engaging content is growing your social networks. The next blog post in this series will discuss how to grow your social networks organically (without paying for it). Stay tuned for the next blog post or click here to download the complete checklist of 21 Things You Must Do in Order to Get Amazing Results from Your Social Media Marketing!

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Marketing, Social Media, Uncategorized

October

09 2013

3 C’s to Get Amazing Results from Social Media Marketing

Over the last eight years or so, Social Media has become very popular for personal use and business use. Businesses are learning how to use various social networks to reach out to current customers and get new prospects just by having an active presence on social media. Some businesses are doing this very successfully, and other businesses not so much!

In order to be successful with your social media marketing it is important to keep the 3 C’s of Social Media in mind. In this blog post, I will be go through the 3 C’s and why each one is important to your success on Social Media:

3 “CON”s:

CONnections- The reason why your business is on social media is to connect with people. These people could be your current customers and also potential customers. Your goal with your connections is to make sure you are connecting to people who are interested in your company and what you have to offer. When you keep this in mind, you concentrate on the quality and not the quantity of your fans or followers. It is more important to have 100 people who are interested in what you have to say than 1,000 people who couldn’t care less. When you concentrate on strategies to grow your network organically then you naturally attract individuals who are interested in your business.

CONversations- No matter what social network your business may be on, it is important that you are not TALKING TO or TALKING AT people, but you are STARTING CONVERSATIONS. The whole point of social networks is to be “Social” and the best way to be social is by having engaging conversations with people. Treat your followers and fans like a best friend that you are talking to online. When you create a conversation in a way that is geared to a more one on one feel, people will feel more connected to you and your business. Make sure your conversations are entertaining, informative and not “salesy”, nobody likes to feel “sold to”.

CONversions- your goal on social media should really be for your customers to become more loyal and your prospective customers to learn more about your business. The best way to accomplish this is to convert them to your other online marketing channels where you can build an even strong relationship. The three best places to convert your social media followers to are your website, your blog, and your e-mail list.

When you convert them to your website, they are able to learn more about your company and what you have to offer and if your website is designed correctly, they will also have an opportunity to purchase products or services they may be interested in, and/or sign-up for your e-mail list. Converting individuals to your e-mail list is important because you are able to create a strong relationship with an individual via e-mail because e-mail is more one-to-one while social networks tend to be one to many. The one-to-one areas are where you tend to create trust and this can help you build your business. Lastly, you want to convert your followers/fans to your blog because your blog is where you showcase your expertise and where people can learn from you. When someone is learning from you, they are more likely to buy from you.

Bonus C:

CONsistency- any marketing activity that you do, it is important for you to be consistent. If you are not consistent with your efforts, you will not see consistent results. Whether you decide to post several times a day, once a day, every other day, etc. be sure to do it consistently. This shows you are committed to building your relationship with your customers and prospects customers, and also show that your company is reliable.

What strategies for social media marketing success do you have for your company? Be sure to share your comments below.

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Marketing, Social Media, Uncategorized

October

01 2013

Six Types of Networking Events That Can Grow Your Business

Networking is an integral part of growing your small business, but most people don’t take the time to make a networking plan. I recently hosted a tele-seminar for Independent Ladies Club called Master How to Develop a Powerful, Diverse Network with guest speaker Coach Kimberly. She shared the reason why networking works is the connections you make, which leads to the relationship you create, and the relationships can help you to grow your business. Therefore, it helps to be very strategic in your networking activities and knowing what types of networking events you would like to attend and who specifically you are looking to meet at these events. Here are six types of networking events that can help you to grow your business:

Casual Contact Networking– This type of networking involves networking with individuals in a casual setting. This could be things like a local chamber after hour events, a happy hour, etc. The goal at these types of events is to make connections with individuals in a more relaxed “non-business” type of atmosphere.
Strong Contact Networking– This type of networking is an involvement in a networking group whose sole purpose is to pass business referrals to other members of the group. Examples of this type of networking includes Business Networking International (BNI), PowerCore, and Chamber Lead groups to name a few. Your goal with this type of networking is to create trusting relationships with the individuals in the group, which will increase their trust level in you and your services and they will feel more comfortable to consistently refer business to you.
Community Service– Being involved in your local community can really help you and your business to be more visible and can be considered a form of networking in which you and your company are giving back and in return you can get new business. Although giving back may not lead to direct business, the exposure for you and your business almost always leads to indirect business in some way.
Professional Associations– This type of networking is good to create strategic alliances with other people within your industry. Many people specialize in a particular area of a profession, so if they have a client in need of services that they don’t offer, they can refer the business to you. Someone from your professional association could be a good fit to refer business back and fourth. In addition, going to professional associations specifically designed for people in your target market is another great way to network and also reach potential prospects.
Social/Business Groups– As the saying goes, a lot of business transactions actually happen at social events. Therefore, attending events that are social is a great way to develop relationships and make those business connections.
Women/Men Organizations– Being involved in clubs and organizations specifically designed for women or men can help you to create relationship with individuals who could be a great referral source.

What types of networking events do you attend and does it help to grow your business?

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Business, Business Development, Marketing, Networking, Uncategorized

September

24 2013

The best kept secret to using social networking to grow your business (Part 2)

In my last post, The best kept secret to using social networking to grow your business, I talked about a popular social networking site that doesn’t get as much attention as the other major sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, but is a very effective tool to grow your business, and that social network is Meetup.com. As I mentioned in Part 1, there are two ways that you can use Meetup to grow your business, joining a meetup group or organizing a meetup group. For the sake of this post, I will talk about how to organize a meetup. Here are five ways to grow your business by organizing a meetup group:

1. Start a Meetup specifically for your target market. Once you know your target market, it is easy to start a group that caters to your target market. Your goal is to create a community of individuals who are in your target market and provide them with valuable information and fun events. The goal of the Meetup should never be to sell your product or service, but to offer some value to your community and in turn that should lead to business for you.

Tip: Make sure the name of the group and/or the description of your group is very clear so that you are attracting the right people to join your Meetup group. Adding the specific area (i.e. Women Business Owners of Atlanta, Foodies in Chicago, etc.) gives the feel of a large group designed specifically for the people in that area.

2. Create more than one Meetup Group. Meetup allows you to create up to three Meetup groups for one quarterly fee. As of now, the quarterly fee is just $45/per quarter, which amounts to $15/month. If you have three Meetup groups that amounts to just $5/month per Meetup group and you can create very specific niches of your target market and tailor your meetups to this specific niche (i.e. women who are vegetarians, men who are in finance, etc.). The more specific your niche the more specific you can make your Meetup, but keep in mind a broad category will attract more people and a specific category will attract a smaller group.

3. Have consistent Meetups for your Group. The most effective Meetup groups I have seen have been groups that have consistent events that are planned out well in advance. For example having a meetup every first Monday of the month or every other Tuesday, helps to show that your group is consistent in the events that they offer. Even being consistent with the type of event you are having can help to build up your Meetup having a monthly or bi-weekly outing, breakfast, luncheon, workshop, networking, etc.

4. Create a leadership team. It always helps if more than one person is assisting with the organizing of the group and running of the Meetups, so having a co-organizer or other members of the Meetup as your Leadership team is very helpful.

5. List your business as a sponsor of your Meetup Group. This is nice subtle way to put your business name out to the group without feeling like you are hard selling your products or services, you can even offer a discount to individuals from the Meetup who decide to purchase your products or services.

Have you created a meetup group to help grow your business? If so, share what has or hasn’t been working for your meetup group.

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Business, Business Development, Business Events, Event Marketing, Marketing, Networking, Uncategorized

September

17 2013

The best kept secret to using social networking to grow your business

With a lot of attention being given to the large social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest, one of the best kept social networking secrets is Meetup.com. Meetup is the world’s largest network of local groups. Meetup makes it easy for anyone to organize a local group or find one of the thousands already meeting up face-to-face. What makes Meetup.com so great is it merges the online and the offline worlds by providing consistent face-to-face activities for each group.

There are two main ways that you can use Meetup.com to grow your business, joining a meetup group or organizing a meetup group. For the sake of this post, I will talk about how being a member of a meetup group can help to grow your business. Here are five ways to grow your business by joining a meetup group:

1. Join a Business Networking Meetup. Meetup.com has several business networking groups, if networking is a part of your marketing strategy (and it should be if it is not), start with finding some local networking meetups to join where you can meet other like-minded individuals to network with, make business connections, and learn how to grow your business.

2. Join Meetup Groups that cater to your target market. Once you have clearly defined who your target market is, you can actually find groups on meetup that cater to your target market (i.e. looking for women in their 20’s, 30’s or 40’s check out meetups that cater to this group, looking for health conscious individuals there are meetups in your local area that cater to this type of group too, etc.). Once you find Meetup.com groups that fit your target market, make an effort to join and attend the events and get to know the members. Go to the events with an intention to make new connections which could eventually lead to business, do not go with an intention to sell your product or service at the Meetup, start with building a relationship first.

3. Offer a special perk as a member of a Meetup group. Once you’ve joined a few Meetup.com groups consider offering a special perk to the group in which you offer some type of discount for your services. Each Meetup.com group is different in how they manage or even if they offer perks to their group, but this could be a subtle way to get your name and your business out to the members of the group.

4. Join the conversation. When you RSVP to attend a meetup add comments in the event section to start a connection online before the event even starts, or if the Meetup posts discussions, join in the discussion. This is also a great was to connect and to get your name out there with the group.

5. If you RSVP to attend an event SHOW UP. I cannot emphasis enough the importance of building a relationship with the group and the organizer(s) by making sure you turn up to the event when you RSVP. If at the last minute you are unable to attend, be sure to remove yourself from the event RSVP list, or reach out to the organizer to let him or her know you will no longer be able to attend, don’t just not show up, it looks bad for you and your business.

If you approach any meetup with the intention to get to know the members and make connections it will eventually lead to business. If you approach a meetup with the intention to just sell your product or service you will not be as successful. If you use Meetup.com how are you using it to grow your business?

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Business, Business Development, Marketing, Networking, Social Media, Uncategorized

September

04 2013

4 ways to make sure your next business event is a hit

Successful Business Events

People want to get to know you and your business. The best way to accomplish this is by having events. Events are a great way to showcase your business and let people know about your products and services. When planning an event it doesn’t have to be a large event sometimes the smaller more intimate events are a better way for you to get to know your clients and your prospects, and for them to get to know you and your business. Here are four main things to consider when having an event to promote your business:

Create a theme for your event– Is this event a workshop, seminar, product or service launch party, etc.? Use a creative name to draw attention to your event and to keep it fun for the attendees (i.e. Cards & Cocktails, Women Investing Wisely, Bling Bash, etc.). You can even create a special event logo that you can use on all your event promotional material to keep the look and feel of the event consistent.
Select a nice venue– the look and feel of the place where you have your business event leaves an impression on your prospects and clients, so be sure to pick a nice venue and create a very professional atmosphere. Consider hiring an event planner to take care of the details of the event the day of the event, so you have more time to relax, present your product or service and enjoy your guests.
Promote your event online– Of course now a days this kind of goes without saying that you have to promote your event online. This includes on your website, social media, and e-mails. Emails are a great way to get the word out about your event to your existing customers and clients, and social media channels are a great way to get the word out about your event and reach new prospects. You can even create a hashtag for your event (i.e. #MyFunEvent) so people can follow that hashtag on popular social media sites that use the hashtag as a search criteria. Sites like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram all allow users to search for posts grouped by a hashtag.
Send special invitations to your VIP customers– As old fashioned as this may sound, sending an invitation to your special clients via old fashioned snail mail is a great way for you and your event to stand out in the mind of your client, so take the time to mail out invitations to your event.

Are you consistently having events to showcase your services or products? If so, what types of events do you have, and how do you make sure your events are successful?

Posted by Nadine Mullings | 2 Comments | in Business, Business Development, Business Events, Event Marketing, Marketing