Effective relationship marketing is a twofold strategy of building strong customer relationships and maintaining a never ending connection to remain visible to buyers. For many business owners, struggling to growth a business with the benefits of auto responders the proverbial walk uphill, both ways, in the snow without any shoes that our parents made to get to school every morning.
While the invention of social media has made real time connection with customers quicker and easier, without the smooth automation of customized auto responders, business owners miss the mark completely and work twice as hard for individual sales.
Like the ever exhausting rush of the Christmas season, the mall is not full of shopper because we all enjoy being herded like cattle into small spaces with limited selections and angry clerks to pay too much for our purchases. No…quite the opposite. The mall is the place where everyone shops because the advantages are well known to the shopping public through constant communications with the public. Think about…do you ever hear a commercial for the mall except during the holiday season?
No, because the mall works on the same principal as an autoresponder by binding these features into one place:
Branding—In the competitive world of online marketing, customers view thousands of brands a day without stopping to absorb the marketing message or connect the product with the advantage. Autoresponders are pre-scheduled messages to be delivered to customers while constantly streaming branding into their inbox. Just as in the food court of the great American mall, the location of 10 different types of cuisine in one place does not equal competition because they are specifically branded just for their own market. Auto responders work in the same way. By branding product directed at the mommy market, for example, kids will be screaming for ice cream and chocolate chip cookies at the Sweet Treats shop instead of Shrimp Fried Rice at the Chinese food stand. So, find your flavor and tailor your auto responders to you market.
Promotion—Autoresponders can be twice as effective as direct mail by instantly driving traffic to a sales promotion for an online purchase or in store purchase. In other words, if I have get dressed, gather up the kids, drive around in a parking lot, and drag through the mall to find the newest teenage sensations CD made shortly after her most recent stay in rehab, I have too much time to think about the purchase and the hassle; however, malls are not going out of business! Why? It is simply because the promotions are good enough to warrant the trouble. By setting up an auto responder with a good promotion to release on a schedule (yes…that means more than once!), you can overcome the most difficult barriers to buying.
Up Sells and Future Sales—Many business owners leave a lot of money on the table by not deploying a proper autoresponder campaign to previous customers. From customer appreciation sales to new or complimentary products, an auto responder campaign connects with customers to remind them of their purchase and give them the opportunity to buy again.
A popular misconception among business owners is that marketing exists to sell products or services. Nothing is further from the truth. The reality is good customer centric marketing brings willing buyers to your door through product advantage and brand awareness. Autoresponders play a large part in deploying a successful, less stressful constant stream of communications with potential customers without the need to babysit the process.
Until Next Time!
Michelle
