Ways to attract retention growing customers. important things to know about when working with clients

The goal of any company is to generate consistently high income, which is simply not possible without clients. Therefore, you need to use all available methods and tools to achieve this goal. Next, we will take a closer look at the main ways to attract customers.

Way navigator

1. Website creation

Today, in the world of constant development of modern technologies, every company must have its own website. Clients need to communicate in any convenient way, including via the Internet. Therefore, we will definitely create a website and fill it with useful information.

2. Contextual advertising

After creating a site, you need to actively promote it on the Internet. For this, contextual advertising, which is characterized by a high level of efficiency, is ideally suited. You need to correctly set key queries and formulate the advertisement itself, which will give the first positive results within a few hours after implementation.

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3. Teaser advertising

Another great tool for attracting more leads. Teaser ads pop up on Internet pages and make users pay attention to themselves. Such advertisements can be ordered on various popular sites to draw attention to your company.

4. Banners on portals

In order to immediately reach the target audience, it is recommended to place advertising banners on various portals. At the same time, you need to take a responsible attitude to the choice of the site. It is best to choose portals that are visited by the desired category of potential customers.

5. CPA

This method provides for payment for certain user actions. So, if a potential client came to the site and left an application, then he should pay for it. It is necessary to motivate clients to take certain actions in a monetary manner.

These are 5 ways to attract customers that everyone should know to achieve their goal.

6. Group in social networks

Today, almost every modern person has his own page on the social network. Therefore, it is worth using such an affordable and popular method to attract the attention of potential customers. You just need to create a group on a social network and fill it with useful and interesting information for a specific category of users.

7. Advertising on social networks

8. Web developers

As you know, any site needs to be constantly promoted, updated and promoted on the Internet. This is what the professionals do. You just need to contact a specialized company that will promote website pages.

Interesting: 10 unusual ways to motivate staff

9. Banner on the company's website

The site needs to be made attractive to every potential client. Therefore, it is recommended to fill it with bright and attractive banners. For example, these can be discounts or great deals. Every user should want to click on the banner.

10. Formal subscription

The site should offer every user a free subscription to courses, conferences or seminars. It can also be a subscription to company news, promotions and discounts.

11. Capture page

You can create a page to help customers make purchases or close deals. These can be free consultations or instructions. It is necessary to talk about the advantages and favorable terms of cooperation with the company.

12. YouTube channel

Today YouTube is very popular on the Internet. Therefore, it is recommended to create your own channel and fill it with a thematic video. These can be videos that tell you about the benefits of the company's products or services.

13. YouTube Ads

14. Commodity locomotive

To attract customers, you need to do various promotions. So it is recommended to choose a popular product of the company and make a promotion on it, for example, with a time limit. All this can be beautifully decorated on the site in the form of a bright banner on the first page.

15. Flyers

16. Conduct a lottery

In order to find out more about your potential buyers, it is recommended to organize and conduct a lottery. In order to take part in it, clients need to fill out special questionnaires. This will allow the company to create a database with useful information about its customers. In the future, this will help to properly organize advertising campaigns.

17. Gift for a friend

This is how you can make nice gifts for your customers. If a client makes an expensive purchase, then you can give him a discounted certificate for a friend or make another pleasant surprise.

18. Affiliate programs

It is recommended to look for partners in different areas of business. You need to cooperate with other companies, the main thing is that they are not your competitors. Affiliate programs will allow you to exchange regular customers, and, consequently, increase the level of the company's profit.

19. Mailing list

This method of influence is not very popular with clients. They are wary of letters from unknown companies. However, it is worth using the mailing list as an additional tool of influence. At the same time, the name of the letter should immediately interest each client, without even opening it.

20. Couponator

This method requires a lot of patience from business owners. It takes a long time to get a positive result. The essence of this method is to sell a product at a lower price. Ultimately, it automatically increases the number of buyers, which allows you to fully cover all costs.

Every company should know effective ways to attract customers in order to increase the level of profits.

21. Goods on credit

In order to attract all categories of potential customers, you need to offer loans and installments on the most favorable terms of cooperation. This method will allow you to attract even those clients who do not have enough money.

22. Infoproduct

It is recommended to provide each client with the fullest possible information about the product or service. Clients need to guarantee high-quality and prompt performance of all assigned tasks. If clients are confident in the openness and honesty of the company, then they will want to continue to cooperate with it in the future.

Interesting: 5 ways to increase sales

23. Calling old clients

Every company must have a database of all customers. As soon as new offers, promotions or discounts appear, you need to inform each client about it. It is also worth congratulating clients on their birthday and other holidays.

24. Live seminar

You can organize a thematic conference or a live seminar. At the same time, you need to invite the target audience and offer them your products. To conduct seminars, you can invite professionals who know how and know how to profitably present the product to potential customers.

25. Online seminar

Moreover, seminars can be conducted via the Internet. This is an economical option, because you do not need to rent a room. In addition, customers also do not need to travel anywhere when they can communicate with company representatives in a comfortable environment.

26. Sales

There is practically no customer who does not like sales. At the same time, it is recommended to prepare customers in advance so that they know exactly when the big sale will take place and provide important information to their family and friends.

It is imperative to keep in touch with each client. So you need to ask them to recommend a few friends who would be interested in the company's products or services. This method allows you to reduce the time and cost of attracting new customers.

28. Dealership

It is recommended to expand the scope of your activities and develop your business in other regions. At the same time, it is not necessary to open offices in other cities. You just need to look for partners who will help you attract new customers.

29. Cold Calls

Another effective tool for attracting customers. At the same time, only professionals who know how to talk with clients should undertake this task. Ultimately, cold calling should be organizing meetings with potential clients. This is their main task.

30. Lottery at someone else's exhibition

You need to establish business relationships with other companies that work specifically with your category of customers. At various exhibitions, you can arrange your own promotions and lotteries, demonstrating all the benefits of products or services. You need to use every available opportunity to attract the attention of your target audience.

31. Participation in the exhibition

32. Open a representative office

You need to try to expand your business to cover other regions where potential buyers live. To do this, it is recommended to open representative offices so that everyone can independently learn more about the company's products.

33. Content on the base

As stated above, every company must have a customer database. At the same time, you constantly need to keep in touch with them using the mailing list. At the same time, it is recommended to send out interesting videos, articles and other useful information that will inform you about new products, promotions and discounts.

34. Launch BuzzBox

You can use the BuzzBox service. You just need to post interesting information in the form of advice or news, and in a few days there will be no end of clients. At the same time, it is recommended to entrust the formation of news to a professional who has experience in this area.

35. Billboards

Billboards can be classified as effective outdoor advertising. This is a great and inexpensive way to attract new customers. People are constantly in a hurry somewhere, stand in lines or in traffic jams and pay attention to a variety of advertisements that they meet on their way.

36. Pavement signs

Another great type of outdoor advertising. Among the advantages are small overall dimensions and mobility. The pillar sign can be installed anywhere, for example, near the entrance to a store or office. It will attract the attention of passers-by.

Interesting: 20 ways to make money

37. Journal article

At the same time, you need to choose a thematic magazine that is popular among the desired category of clients. Next, we place useful information in the form of an article or an advertising banner.

38. Advertising block

Any periodical allows companies to place advertisements on their pages. Therefore, we again select only the thematic edition and buy a place to place our advertising.

39. TV commercial

40. Creeping line

The creeping line can be attributed to the budget option. In this case, it is worth choosing a program or film that is popular among potential customers.

There are over 100 ways to attract customers, but it is enough to know only the most basic and effective ones.

41. Radio advertising

42. Radio talk

In addition to advertising, you can also arrange to appear in the news or a thematic program as an expert. Quite a good way to talk about all the benefits of the products and the possibilities of cooperation with the company.

43. Creating a book

You can write a book especially for clients yourself or with the help of professionals. In the book, you can tell how it all began, how the company was founded, about its founders and, of course, about the products. The book can be donated to regular customers and partners.

44. Electronic bulletin board

It is worth highlighting the excellent indexing of message boards, so it is worth using them to present your products to potential buyers. This method is used by most of the leading companies to attract customers.

45. Advertising in shopping centers

Most shopping malls offer their own display cases for advertising. It also includes minibuses and other vehicles. Therefore, you need to look for all the available space to place your advertising.

46. ​​Speech at the conference

You need to keep track of companies that hold various conferences. It is recommended to participate in all possible activities as a guest. This is a great opportunity to communicate with your target audience and tell them about your products.

47. Scripts for managers

It is imperative to create a separate script for each line of customer behavior in a particular case. It is necessary to work out all possible cases of customer behavior. It is also recommended to divide the sales into several stages and consider all possible scenarios for the development of events.

48. Test versions of the product

So you can offer your partner test products for sale. For example, a flower shop can also display souvenirs or stuffed toys. We need to look for new sales channels and establish business ties.

49. Employee motivation system

The level of the company's profit will depend directly on the employees. If people want to work, they will enable the company to develop its business faster and more efficiently. Therefore, you need to encourage employees to work. Of course, the best method is monetary motivation. These can be prizes, competitions for a cash prize.

Ways to attract customers: we define the target audience

Accurate targeting of target audience - 50% of manager cold call success. To pinpoint the right people and identify their needs, compose a portrait of your target audience.

We are talking about two tools: ABCXYZ analysis and RFM analysis of the current database in order to find out the portrait of the target audience.

ABCXYZ analysis

ABCXYZ analysis examines the current base in 2 slices: counterparty and product. For each of these entities, 2 criteria are applied: volume and regularity of purchases. As a result, 9 groups will be formed, of which 4 are target groups, with 1 you can work in terms of improving product quality or increasing loyalty, and discard the remaining 4 as inappropriate from the point of business.

RFM analysis

RFM analysis also examines regular and “disappeared” buyers according to several criteria: recency - the recency of the transaction, frequency - the number of transactions, monetary - the amount spent. Thus, the segmentation of the current loyalty base is performed.

The scientific approach assumes a certain action plan that will lead to the formation of a whole program with ways to attract customers.

• Investigation of the current base using ABC XYZ or RFM analysis
• Description of the portrait of the target audience
• Segmentation of target buyers / customers by assortment matrix within a multidimensional system, which will reflect: their income (B2C) or field of activity (B2B), factors affecting choice, age (for B2C) or business size (B2B), geography, price range etc.

If such "precise" tools are not yet available to you, then just act in a logical, practical way. The second method is based on the following principle: take all the clients of the company and discard the "bad" ones. That is, those counterparties who speak negatively about the company, place orders rarely and for small amounts, pay with a delay, etc. It is more expensive to interact with them - working with them does not bring either profit growth or pleasure.

Ways to attract customers: analyzing the nature of demand

Ways to attract customers: looking for points of contact

Ways to attract customers: intrigue with interesting content

Ways to attract customers: using Instagram

Instagram has become one of the best ways to attract customers lately. This social network allows you to collect leads from a wide variety of target segments. Therefore, for sure, it will be suitable for your business as well. Renowned internet marketer Maria Solodar gave some tips on how to manage an Instagram account.

1. Do not chase an extra subscriber base. You don't need everything. The main thing is the quality of leads, which is determined by the interest in the product and the ability to pay.

2. When starting to post posts that have a professional focus, consider the need to personalize your account. One way or another, if you, of course, want to achieve outstanding results, you will have to "light up" your personality. People tend to trust a specific person more than a faceless company. Trust is the foundation of loyalty that drives sales.

3. Be sure to use collaborations. It's about promoting in other accounts. Sometimes you have to pay for it, but the result is worth it.

Ways to attract customers: analyzing the sales funnel

The notion that it is enough to increase the number of cold calls made per day is enough for the company's revenue to grow, is not entirely true. After making a cold call, the sales employee has yet to present the product, draw up a commercial offer, contract, etc. The deal can fail at any stage, therefore, for traffic growth, it is important to analyze the intermediate actions of managers and adjust them at each stage.

Customer acquisition methods: managing your marketing funnel

In order for a new client to become a permanent one after applying the above methods of attracting a new client, after the transaction is completed, it is important to take a few more steps:

• Arrange upsells;
• Put on service;
• Build customer loyalty.

Remember that after the payment is made, the interaction with the client does not end.

Convince to change the work schedule so that the store opens an hour earlier - at 8 am, and not at 9;

Inform who the true buyers are.

The first ultimately helped increase revenue. But this would not have happened if the second and third had not happened. Taking into account the fact that at 8 am only one department of ready-made food was opened, and not the entire store, it was possible to optimize costs and reach profitability.

In addition, at first there were difficulties with the solvency of the new traffic. Parents simply did not give their children money, fearing that they would be spent on not the healthiest foods. The cash problem was drastically resolved. The store invited parents to purchase coupons, which the children then exchanged for healthy breakfasts.

“Marketing is a waste of time and money if you are going to offer customers a poor quality product or service. Because in this case, the better your marketing is, the more people will know that you are selling rubbish, the faster it will happen - and the faster your company will go bankrupt ... "
Jay Conrad Levinson, Founding Father of Guerrilla Marketing

Magic and Marketing or Problem 90% of Companies

There is a famous saying in business:

No customers - no sales, no sales - no business, no customer acquisition system - no customers themselves. The circle is complete.

Why is this happening?

There are many reasons and factors, but let's highlight 5 key sources of failure:

• Low quality products and services
• Lack of a clear system for attracting and retaining customers.
• Lack of understanding of your target audience, its needs and motives
• Lack of positioning and differentiation from competitors
• Lack of control over the effectiveness of the use of the marketing budget.

How do most entrepreneurs view marketing?

Let's take a look at how most entrepreneurs view marketing.

Such businessmen are confident that they will achieve everything on their own and without marketing. They believe in the genius of their idea. Often, it is these beliefs that prevent them from rebuilding themselves and their business. Why don't these entrepreneurs believe in marketing?

It's simple, they don't understand what a marketer should be doing in their company:

• Customer acquisition?
• Why, if it is possible to "hang" on the sales managers.
• Customer retention?
• Why, if the old ones leave, we will find new ones.

But when this approach brings the company to a crisis, when sales and profits begin to skyrocket, these entrepreneurs start looking for all possible ways to keep their business afloat. And they move into the second category.

2. Entrepreneurs in the second category already understand that marketing is vital to their organizations.

It must be an integral and irreplaceable part of a living organism. But there is one startling fact: once businessmen in this category start marketing, they expect magic from it. Every penny invested in marketing should immediately bring in millions, and customers should crowd at the front doors of the office.

The entrepreneurs in this group see marketing as magic. Remember the myths about magic pills?

That's also marketing, in their opinion, should instantly solve all the existing problems of the organization. Entrepreneurs begin to grasp at any tool: they implement one tool in pieces, then another. After losing money, they become disillusioned with marketing, and return to the first category - entrepreneurs who believe they can do without marketing.

Why is this happening?

I have one answer - marketing should be systematic and planned. It can be compared to playing sports. If you are overweight, and you once went to the gym, once jogged and swam in the pool, and you are waiting for the effect - it will not be. Excess weight is removed by daily complex sports.

The same is true for marketing.

What is important for you to know about marketing. 10 commandments

In order not to join the ranks of would-be entrepreneurs, which we talked about above, you must know and remember 10 key marketing commandments:

1. Marketing should be! If you are not marketing, sooner or later competitors will eat you. It's just a matter of time!
2. Marketing needs to be done regularly otherwise, you will never be able to ensure an uninterrupted flow of new customers.
3. You need to do the positioning of the company, as well as the positioning of its products and services. Otherwise, buyers will not see any fundamental differences between you and your competitors and will choose the most advantageous offer for the price. But the choice may not be in your favor.
4. You must regularly deal with points of contact and customer focus, to create a positive experience for the customer. Otherwise, the effectiveness of all marketing campaigns may come to naught.
5. You have to do customer retention. After all, the cost of attracting a new client will cost you at least 5 times more. And selling to an old client is much easier, because he already knows you.
6. You must regularly work to improve the quality of your products and services! No amount of marketing can save poor quality products and services!
7. You must know your customer: his income level, habits, purchase motives. Otherwise, all your marketing campaigns can fly past your target audience.
8. Marketing needs to be measured. Otherwise, you risk becoming a follower of John Vanamaker (this same guy who said he knew for sure that half of his marketing budget goes down the drain).
9. Market research is not always a good idea. They are needed, but their results should not overshadow common sense. And below you will understand why.
10. There is no marketing without a budget! And I'll prove it to you now: Do you know how much a minute of your time costs? Now count how many minutes have you been reading the book? Multiply the number of minutes spent by their value and get your marketing investment budget! The whole marketing secret is this: the more you invest in effective marketing channels, the more profit you get!

Print and post this checklist to ensure you get the most out of your marketing.

And now, before moving on to building a customer acquisition system, let's dwell in a little more detail on some commandments that may be unfamiliar to you or cause confusion.

The main task of positioning

What is positioning?

There are many versions of positioning, but the famous Jack Trout was the author of this concept. Even 30 years ago, he said: "Marketing without positioning will not be effective." Jack said that positioning is how customers perceive a certain brand and associate it with certain properties.

To make it easier for you to understand positioning, here is a simple exercise. Please name a few brands of toothpaste and what do you associate with them?

Colgate - teeth whitening, Blend-a-med - protection against caries.

Still have options? The rest of your trademarks fall into the same category - "the same". That is, you do not understand the difference between them. At the same time, Colgate and Blend-a-med are already positioned in your mind.

This is why it is so important to be different from the competition. But it is even more important that your customers understand these differences. Moreover, they realized what benefits these differences promise them. This is the main task of positioning!

What are "Points of contact". I give the floor to Igor Mann

In marketing, there is such a thing as points of contact. It means all the ways, possibilities and variations of contact of customers and potential buyers with your company. As a marketing manager, you need to know all the existing and potential points of contact. Create a list of them and then do your best to keep them all pleasant, prompt, and professional.

It is very important. During these contacts, the prospect decides whether he will continue to work with you or not. This is a kind of moment of truth. But it doesn't end there. For your successful client, the importance of the points of contact also does not diminish.

Companies always have the ability to compare, and if your competitors have better relationships with customers, then, other things being equal, he may give preference to them. Your points of contact can be very diverse. The easiest way to calculate them is to mentally imagine the path of a potential client to your company, as well as an algorithm for his further interaction with you:

• Your business cards
• Your brochure
• Your company's website
• Sign near your office
• Decoration of your office
• Toilet rooms
• Your meeting rooms
• Sales Managers Presentations
• Appearance and communication style of your sales managers
• How your secretary answers incoming calls
• Have you offered drinks
• Did they take care that the client had something to do if he had to wait (it is better if this does not happen, but anything can happen)
• How quickly the call is forwarded to the employee with whom the client wants to talk

The list can be endless. So that you do not lose heart, make your first list of only 10 positions. Identify the 10 most important points of contact. You can rank the list. Now start working with them. Improve every position on this list. Try to make the best possible impression during the contact with the client.

So, while working in the company "Favor" - a dealer of Konica Corporation - we paid special attention to the first visit of potential clients to our office. Their path passed through our company store (and the client could imagine how his store would look like). Passing through a rather gloomy corridor of the building in which we rented the premises, the client found himself in an absolutely western office, bright and equipped with the latest technology with all its attributes: a giant Panasonic TV, on which you could watch a video film during a short wait; Japanese bonsai tree; a series of wall clocks showing the time in Moscow, Finland (our warehouse location) and Japan (Konica office); Tea coffee; friendly secretaries, etc.

Our goal was to make the visit to the office a pleasant experience, and I think we succeeded very well, which had a very positive effect on the desire of potential clients to work with us. Later, when I moved to Lucent Technologies, we even brainstormed with the receptionists on purpose under the title "Theater starts with a hanger, a company starts with a reception."

We asked ourselves the questions: “How to make a positive impression on the clients who come to us? How to make their possible waiting in the reception area as pleasant as possible? " How many proposals do you think were submitted? A little less than twenty.

We accepted and implemented about half at once. Others became reality a little later. A pleasant side effect of this brainstorming session was that we probably first asked our secretaries about how we could improve the performance in their area. You should have seen with what pleasure they talked about their work and how it could be done better. (By the way, shortly after this assault, both secretaries moved to work in managerial positions.)

Try to do the same for you. Take a list of "points of contact". Brainstorm with staff directly involved in these locations. Know what determines the client's first impression of the company and on whom. This is where the future success of the organization begins, and there are very important employees working there. The company must always create the best possible image of itself from the first contact. She won't get a second chance to make a first impression. And it is made up of little things.

All that at least somehow concerns the client is marketing. So this is your job.

Save yourself from mistakes or why you shouldn't trust market research

Now you have to get me right: I am not against marketing research. Research is important, but God forbid you contact a marketing agency.

Firstly, it is unlikely that your company has such a budget. But even if you do, you can invest that money in much more effective marketing channels.

Secondly, marketing research does not always provide reliable data.

Do you want to be convinced? Here are stories of 5 famous brands that marketing research has given up on: Sony Walkman

When the Sony Walkman came on the market in 1979, it was a revolution. Until that time, no one even thought that a person would be able to wear his favorite music everywhere. Marketing research has shown that people "don't want to carry a tape recorder with them everywhere." Be that as it may, Sony did not pay attention to this fact. And they did the right thing.

The Sony Walkman player not only brought worldwide fame to the Japanese corporation, but also created a new category of products - portable music players. Needless to say, its sales have been high for several decades. The company faced problems at the beginning of the 21st century, when the Japanese persistently ignored mp-3 players and the transition to digital format. For this and paid. Today, the world leader in the portable player market is Apple with its iPods.

Xerox

Today photocopiers are an integral part of our life. This name has become a household name, personifying not only the product of one particular company, but also a whole category of goods. However, in the late 1940s, research by the then Haloid Company (as Xerox was formerly called) showed that society did not need such a copier. It is too expensive and inconvenient.

It is good that at that time there were quite smart people in the management of the company, and they did not go for research. As a result, the first Xerox entered the market in 1949. Well, the commercial success of this product was so great that the company was later even renamed. Xerox became one of the most innovative companies in the United States in the 1980s. It is to her that the world owes not only copiers, but also such concepts as a graphical window user interface and a computer mouse (to some extent).

Starbucks

Howard Schultz is a really brave guy. When he first started his business, most researchers unanimously said: "Show me someone who is willing to pay $ 3 for a cup of coffee?" And Schultz pointed to millions of Americans. And then to the inhabitants of other countries.

Starbucks doesn't sell the best coffee. It cannot be compared to the best coffee shops in Italy. But undoubtedly, the company's success is due to the atmosphere that each cafe carries. Schultz once commented that he wants Starbucks to become the third place between home and work for people. And he managed to realize his dream thanks to the amazing atmosphere, but also to the good quality of coffee, which, although not the best, is head and shoulders above all the average similar products in most countries of the world.

Bell

At the end of the 19th century, Alexander Bell and partners intended to sell a patent to Western Union for their new invention - the telephone. This event went down in business history as the biggest mistake.

At the time, Western Union was the leader in the telegraph market. Naturally, progress did not stand still, and they needed to somehow strengthen their position. It might seem logical, but the company didn't think so. When Bell and his comrades presented their invention at WU, they were greatly disappointed. Research by WU has shown that a device like a telephone has no future. Why is it needed if there is a telegraph? And who would ever think of talking to someone through a phone? In this way, Western Union was denied the company, which in the future will give birth to the killer of the telegraph, which almost destroyed the entire business of the company.

True, legend has it that WU did not conduct any research. The company's management just didn't like the idea of ​​the phone. Maybe you are right. Now they are engaged in the transfer of funds and only partially remind the world of their former glory.

iPod

Apple's famous iPod, too, shouldn't have been born if the company had trusted the results of market research. And they said that society does not need a player with a hard drive. People don't need to carry so many pieces of music with them. The research said, but Steve Jobs thought differently. And once again he was right, thanks to his vision.

Today, the iPod is the most popular mp3 player, accounting for just over 60% of the market worldwide. This is not counting the fact that Apple has a fairly popular companion product - the online music store iTunes Store.

These 5 examples prove once again that research should only be an informative source, not a key factor influencing decision-making. Only product testing can show whether there will be demand for it or it has no future!

When should you plan your marketing?

There are 2 good points for marketing planning: yesterday and now.

Naturally, we cannot return yesterday, but we can easily use today for planning. Many companies postpone year-end planning. Many are waiting for the start of the new year to start planning. And this is their key mistake. Marketing planning should always be done. And there will be no better time than now for this.

Therefore, right now, 1 task is waiting for you. Answer 16 questions right now that will help you plan your company's marketing more intelligently.

1. What marketing activities have been successful in the past year?
   Indicate only those activities, the effect of which was obvious and not questioned.
2. What marketing activities of the past year have had partial success?
   In this column, you can indicate those actions and events that did not fall into the column of the answer to the first question.
3. What marketing activities did not have the desired effect, or had no effect at all?
   Marketing failures of the past year should figure here.
4. Are there any obvious reasons why some actions (see answers to the first question) were successful and others (see answers to the third question) were not?
   Even if you can give a quick answer to this question, be sure to come back to it later, and think about what you did wrong, and not your counterparty.
5. Define your current target markets / niches.
6. Do the customers you worked with last year belong to your current target markets / niches?
7. Define the markets / niches that you plan to enter in the coming year based on the following criteria:
   • Geography
   • The target audience
   • Client income level
8. Define your marketing benefits according to the following criteria:
   • Your positioning
   • Your USP
   • Customer benefits from cooperation with you
   • How do you motivate customers to take action?
9. Which of these components need to be strengthened, refined, clarified?
10. What new will you bring to your marketing benefits next year?
11. What channels and means will you use to get your marketing message across next year?
    Consider the effectiveness of the channels and funds used in the past year, as well as the specifics of the target markets. Indicate the amount you want. You will later adjust it to fit your ad budget.
12. What channels and means from those that have already been used will you use again?
13. What new channels and means of communicating your marketing message will you choose in the new year?
14. What is the frequency of use of each channel and medium, as well as the frequency of repeated advertising campaigns?
15. What is your ad budget for next year (based on channels and media chosen, and campaign frequency)?
16. Analyze the total costs of marketing events and the frequency of their implementation, make appropriate adjustments to your choice of advertising channels and media.

Now you're done!

Using the received answers, we can safely proceed to building a conveyor system for attracting and retaining customers.

On the road or 7 keys to massive customer acquisition

Any business starts with building a plan. A plan to attract new customers and maintain relationships with existing customers. Plan for the development of the company and debugging of business processes.

Before starting any business, it is important to know how much sales the company needs in order to develop and bring the owner the expected income. For this, of course, you need to know how many potential customers your company needs to have. Finding out this number is not so difficult - we will look at a detailed mechanism on how to determine how many leads you really need.

We also need to clearly know who our customers are, what their desires and needs are. What problems can our product solve and how will it help our client. One of the deadly mistakes of startups or companies launching a new product / service is trying to be “everything to everyone”. Without knowing their customer, companies spend a lot of money on ineffective advertising. And all the clients do not appear. You already know the consequences of this.

The next step is to develop a “unique” selling proposition. I am deliberately highlighting the "unique". If customers do not understand the benefits of your offer and how it differs from competitors' offers, they start looking for the cheapest solution. Often, their choice will not be in your favor.

After these steps, companies face the following dilemma: how to reach their customers?

It is absolutely not important for the buyer “that your company has been on the market for 15 years” or “that you are very happy to offer cooperation”. It is important for the client how you will solve his problem or how you will help him. But in order for the client to know this, he must first read your commercial offer. It should hook the buyer and make him want to buy from you immediately.

Once the sales pitch is written, the company must draw up a marketing campaign plan. You don't have millions to take risks and use expensive TV ads, do you? Or buy ad units in the media (although there are methods how to advertise your products for free with the help of the media. We will talk about this later)?

You should choose the least expensive customer acquisition channels and test the effectiveness of each one. The most important thing is to use all channels and measure how much it costs you to attract a customer through this channel and how many customers come to you through it. Then your advertising will be the most effective.

The final task for the company will be to get contacts of potential customers. Many customers will not buy your product right away. But in the future, they may have such a need. Therefore, you constantly need to keep in touch with your customers. Moreover, your clients can give you valuable advice to improve and develop your business. And also bring new and new clients to you, and recommend you to your friends.

Let's take a look at everything in order.

It all starts with a plan

Key 1 is a plan for building a customer base. Most companies underestimate and skip this step. Although he is, as they say, "the beginning of all beginnings."

Before launching a new product, a company needs to know exactly how many leads it needs to grow, and this number is the main guideline for effectively planning marketing campaigns. It is not as difficult to calculate it as you imagine. First of all, you need to predict your conversion rate. This is the number of customers that will buy your product.

For example, at the initial stage of launching a new product, you can predict that only 5 people out of 100 (or every twentieth customer) will buy your product. This means that your conversion rate is 5%. Next, you predict the average purchase amount - the amount of money that, on average, a customer leaves with you for 1 purchase. For example, this amount is $ 1,000. The next step is to draw up an annual sales plan. You have to set goals for yourself that you want to achieve.

The goals should provide you with the expected profit and give you the opportunity to invest in business development. If your annual sales plan is $ 360,000, then your monthly plan is $ 30,000. Now we know your planned indicators:

• conversion - 5%
• Your monthly sales plan is $ 30,000
• average check - $ 1,000

What do these indicators give us?

Second, we can easily predict how many leads we need per month, in our case 600 leads (number of deals and * conversion rate).

This means that we need to attract 29 prospective clients per day (assuming that the number of working days in a month is 21), and 7,200 prospective clients per year. Now you know what you need to focus on. I want to point out that the number of leads you need can be significantly reduced if you work on increasing conversions and the average purchase amount.

Client portrait

The second key is drawing up a portrait of your client. You don't have to be an artist at all for this. It is important to know that not understanding your target audience is one of the biggest marketing mistakes.

Let's take a look at why.

How do many entrepreneurs work?

Their principle is “with a saber bald”.

That is, they first produce a product or launch a service, and only then they start thinking about who will buy it. And to get there for sure, such companies release to the market universal miracle products "100 in 1", designed for everyone. But it is impossible to be “everything to everyone”. There is such a story that in the office of Procter & Gamble there are pictures of typical buyers of the company's products on the walls with a short description of each “Jane Smith, 35, secondary education, three preschool children. She is shopping at Wal-Mart and loves to watch The Ofra Winfrey Show. ”

If such large corporations are doing customer analysis, why shouldn't your company be doing it? In order to identify your target audience, you must correctly identify the desires, needs, life experiences and problems of your clients. Your products and services should become that “irreplaceable” solution that will help your customers achieve what they want. With such products or services, customer acquisition will not be on the agenda at all.

Rosser Reeves spirit

3 key - a unique selling proposition. 50 years ago, the famous American advertiser Rosser Reeves wrote the book "Reality in Advertising". Then his book revolutionized marketing and advertising. But his concept of the need for a unique selling proposition is still relevant today.

Judge for yourself. The market is full of companies offering products and services similar to yours. If the buyer does not understand how your offer is beneficial for him, he begins to choose the cheapest offer from all existing ones. His choice may not be in your favor. So test your proposal.

Is your difference from competitors important to the buyer? Does it provide him with a meaningful benefit? Does he understand it?

Suitable for the role of USP:

• Irregular opening hours
• Interest-free loans
• Customer service at home
• Convenient location of a shop and office, etc.

You need to make a list of all the client benefits from cooperation.

Next, for each item on the list, you should check if the client can get the same benefits from your competitors. If you cannot, then this point will be your difference from competitors. Based on this point, you will be able to build a unique selling proposition.

"15 years on the market" or why your offer ends up in the shopping cart

4 key - "selling" commercial offer. A commercial offer is half an advertising text and half an official document. This is where a trap awaits many businessmen.

Quite often, a commercial offer becomes the weakest link in a company. Even if the USP is clearly defined and the target audience is identified. Why? Because so many companies commit 11 deadly sins when writing business proposals:

1. Hazy proposal. It is not clear from the commercial offer what exactly the company is offering.
2. Facelessness. The offer is not addressed to a specific person.
3. Cliche. The phrases “We are glad to offer you cooperation” and “Our company has been on the market for 15 years” lead to the fact that the commercial offer ends up in the trash can, and the email address is marked as spam.
4. Inaction. There is no clear call to action on what exactly the prospect should do after reading the quote.
5. Long sentences. Long sentences greatly impair the readability of the text. Because of this, the commercial offer is often not read to the end.
6. USP is not specified. The client does not understand how this offer differs from the rest. Overloaded with terms. If the client does not understand the complex terms that "replete" the commercial offer, he stops reading it.
7. Solid text. When a sentence is written in solid text, it is very difficult to read. Therefore, it is important to remember that not all clients have "iron" nerves, and they will fully read the commercial offer.
8. Unattractive title. Remember why the tabloids are bought? Because of the headlines! The headline should inspire a desire to read the sentence to the end, and not repel the client. Important note: "sales pitch" is a bad headline!
9. Lack of contact information. If a client is interested in an offer, but does not find contacts, he is unlikely to contact the company.
10. There is no time limit. If there is no limitation on the duration of the commercial offer, the client usually takes pauses to think it over. Often this deliberation drags on for eternity.

Check your commercial offers right now: do they have these errors? Correct them and new clients will appear immediately. There are many more tricks and tricks of writing "selling" commercial offers, which I regularly talk about on the pages of my site.

A little secret about the power of the postscript

Do you know what is the most readable place in the text?

No, this is not a title. Although the headline is definitely important.

Numerous studies show that the first part of any letter that is read to the end is the postscript. And only in second place is the headline. Very few copywriters use this technique (by the way, Dmitry Kot also did not mention the postscript in his book).

Postscript helps to significantly improve the ad copy and increase the percentage of responses to it.

P.S. Do you use postscript in your promotional materials?

Where does the conveyor begin?

5 key - customer acquisition channels. There are many channels through which you can attract new customers. In order to put the attraction of new customers on the "conveyor", you need to know which channels are working effectively. Also, with a limited budget, you first of all need to rely on inexpensive channels of attraction. Let's take a look at them:

Email

If you already have contacts of potential clients, you can send them commercial offers.

Your website

On the site, you can offer to register a potential client or subscribe to the newsletter in exchange for any gift (discount, certificate, free product, etc.)

PR

You can write articles for publications that your target audience reads. Give lots of tips and associate those tips with your product or service. For example, if you sell furniture, you can write an article "5 criteria for choosing good furniture." Of course, your furniture must meet all 5 criteria.

Social networks

With the help of social networks, you can create fan pages and groups of your products. You can invite potential clients there. If you give a lot of useful advice and run contests, you can use word of mouth when the participants themselves begin to advertise your products.

"Cold calls

Cold calling is a very effective way. If your company has great salespeople, then call conversion will be very high. Be sure to use cold calling when attracting new customers.

Partnership programs

A lot of clients can be attracted through partners. To do this, you will need to negotiate with non-competing companies working with the same target audience. Mutual PR and recommendations, as well as deductions for sales to referred clients - this is the key to an effective affiliate program.

Conducting free seminars and webinars

You can gather your target audience and conduct free seminars for them. What is the benefit? First, you will be able to gather your target audience. Secondly, you can solve some small problem of potential customers. This way, buyers will have more confidence in you and your products. Thirdly, you can, as in the articles, give useful advice related to your products. A big plus of such seminars is that you can sell your products right on the spot and get new customers.

Business Cards

You can make your business cards "salespeople". On the back of the business card, put a brief information about your products and promise the bearer of the business card a gift or additional discount. Many potential clients will definitely take advantage of this opportunity.

Ask your acquaintances if they know anyone who can benefit from your products and ask friends to recommend you. Often, this method helps to attract a lot of new customers. Also, with the help of recommendations, you can install new affiliate programs and give your friends an additional opportunity to earn money. All ad campaigns, even if they are free, need to be carefully planned. You need to know exactly which channels are working effectively and which are not. But more on that later.

Measure 7 times or 6 indicators of marketing performance

6 key - measuring the results of marketing campaigns. John Vanamaker once said: "I know for sure that half of my advertising money is wasted, but I don't know which one." In order not to be in the place of a famous businessman, it is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of each marketing campaign.

The most important indicators for measurement:

1. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
   This is the total marketing and sales costs of the company - the total cost of acquiring 1 customer. To calculate the indicator, add all the costs of advertising, salaries, commissions and bonuses, plus overhead costs for a certain period of time and divided by the number of new customers for the same period. It can be month, quarter, or year. For example, if you spent $ 300,000 on sales and marketing in a month and acquired 30 new customers, then your CAC is $ 10,000.
2. Marketing share of customer acquisition cost (M% -CAC)
   Of the total cost of attracting a customer (CAC), it is important to single out the part that falls on marketing, this indicator can be called M% -CAC - it displays what proportion of CAC is the marketing cost of attracting a customer. It is useful to monitor this indicator in dynamics - any change signals that something has changed in your strategy or your efficiency.
   For example, an increase in M% -САС means that either:
   • You spend too much on marketing
   • Sales department costs are lower because they receive less funding
   • You are trying to increase sales productivity through additional investment in marketing and better and more active marketing leads to sales
   For companies with a long and difficult sales cycle, the M% -CAC can only be 10-20%. For companies that have a low cost and a simple sales cycle, including automated ones, this figure can be 60-90%.
3. Customer Life Time Value to CAC (LTV: CAC)
   Companies that have a steady stream of income from their customers through repeat sales need to measure the income from existing customers and compare them with the cost of acquiring new ones. For this, a customer life cycle assessment indicator (LTV - life time value) is used. The indicator allows you to estimate the net income that the company can receive from the buyer throughout its entire life cycle. Sometimes in Russian-language publications the term “lifetime value / customer value” is used to denote the present value of probable future income from a particular customer. To calculate LTV, you must determine the margin profit that a client brings to you for a certain period (per year) and divide it by the estimated churn (abandonment) percentage for a given type of client.
   Let's say a client pays you $ 100,000 per year, and the margin is 70%, and the probability of leaving this type is predicted to be 16% per year, then the LTV will be $ 437,500. Once you know the LTV and CAC, you can calculate their ratio. A higher ratio means that your sales and marketing have a fairly high ROI. That is, the higher the indicator, the clients attracted and retained by you will bring more profit with an equal cost of attracting one.
   If the customer acquisition cost is $ 100,000, with that customer's LTV of $ 437,500, your LTV: CAC is 4.4 to 1 In growing companies, most investors and board members will strive for this ratio to be greater than 3: one. However, more is not necessarily better, and when the ratio is too high, it makes sense to spend more on sales and marketing to stimulate overall revenue growth, as holding back your marketing spending will only make life easier for your competitors.
4. Payback time CAC
   This is the number of months it takes to recoup the cost of acquiring new customers. Everything is simple here - we take the CAC indicator, divide by the average margin received from transactions with new customers per month, and we get the number of months during which we will pay back the CAC. In industries where customers pay one time in advance, this indicator is less relevant, therefore that the prepayment must be more than the CAC, otherwise you lose money on every client.
   On the other hand, industries where customers pay a monthly or yearly fee usually require a payback period of less than 12 months, so you hit a payback point within a year and then start earning a bottom line.
5. Marketing contribution to customer acquisition (in%)
   This ratio shows what percentage of your new customers is generated by marketing. To calculate it, you need to take the total number of customers you acquired during the reporting period and see what percentage of them were acquired through marketing. It is much easier to do this when you have a marketing analytics system, but you can do it manually - it just takes more time. This metric clearly reflects the role of marketing in attracting a customer and, very often, the marketing contribution is higher than the share of customers attracted through sales. This metric varies from company to company. For example, in companies with a dedicated sales department working on cold calls, it can be quite low 20-40%, and, conversely, for companies with an automated sales process, it can be 70-95%.
   Note: You can also calculate this as a percentage of revenue generated rather than customer acquisition, depending on how you prefer to view your business.
6. Marketing influence on the client
   The indicator is very similar to the previous one, but takes into account all customers covered by marketing activities, and not just those attracted through them. For example, if a client was attracted by the sales department, but before that he took part in one of the marketing activities (for example, he received advertising mailings), then he is also taken into account in this indicator, since he had a marketing influence. Obviously, in percentage terms, this indicator is higher than the previous one and on average ranges from 50 to 99%.
   With the help of these indicators, you will be able to understand how effective the marketing campaign was. Thus, you will have information in which customer acquisition channels you should invest in and not waste money.

How much will you lose if he doesn't come back? A few words about customer relationships

Key 7 is dedicated to customer relationships.

Any successful business is built on regular customers. And you yourself, for sure, have heard more than once about statistics that it is much easier and cheaper for existing customers to sell than to new customers.

Let's take a closer look at the numbers:

• The cost of attracting a new customer, depending on the industry, is 5 to 10 times more expensive than retaining an existing one.
• Reducing customer churn by 5-10% can bring companies up to 75% additional profit
• As the market becomes saturated, the cost of attracting each new customer increases, while the cost of retention remains at a consistently low level.
• A large percentage of regular customers ensure high stability of the business and its attractiveness for external investments

But do you know how much you will lose if the client does not return?

“I sell cars. In order not to complicate the calculations, we will assume that the average price of a car is $ 25,000. As a rule, the average customer buys 10 cars from us during his life. That is, it is $ 250,000. In addition, customers spend about a third of its price on servicing the car. This gives about $ 82,500 more, and in total - 332,500. This amount can be earned if you turn the buyer of 1 car into a customer for life. "
Carl Sewell, author of the bestselling "Clients for Life", describes the value of a client

Now imagine how much money Carl's salon will have to spend on advertising to compensate for the lost profit if the client buys only 1 car from him?

The same thing happens in your business. Therefore, many entrepreneurs are quite logically tormented by the question: how to make customers come back and buy from you again? One of the fundamental factors is customer focus. The future belongs solely to customer-centric companies (be sure to read my book "Secrets of Customer-Orientedness").

The second is customer relationship management. For this you may need a CRM system. What are the main benefits of implementing CRM in your business?

• Keeping track of your customer base
• Customer segmentation
• Tracking all stages of the "sales funnel"
• Forecasting sales and profits
• View the status of each trade
• Entering all customer data

With the help of CRM, you can always wake up "sleeping" customers (those who have not bought from you for a long time), timely congratulate customers on the holidays, and effectively plan marketing campaigns. You must constantly communicate with your customers: inform them about ongoing promotions and news, conduct surveys and questionnaires, invite to events.

Surprise your customers and encourage them to talk about your products. Next, I will tell you about the results of several social studies, which will reveal 10 interesting facts that will help you build effective relationships with clients.

10 important things to know about when dealing with clients

Before you now lies the translation of the results of a number of studies on social psychology conducted in the USA. Read on and stay on top of what buyers want.

1. Buyers Prefer Good Service To Fast

15 minutes in heaven is better than 5 minutes in hell. According to the latest research, shoppers who receive competent, professional, and attention to detail are more likely to remember you and tell their friends about you. Plus, shoppers cited rude, fussy, and incompetent service as their # 1 reason not to use such a firm anymore. At the same time, a slow service does not cause such a negative reaction.

2. Buyers love an individual approach and are willing to pay for it

In a study by the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, participants were able to increase the average tips received by waiters by 23% without changing the quality of service. They were able to achieve this result when they started bringing in a second set of chewing gum after they got the check. Those waiters who only brought gum once got 7% ​​less tips.

3. Customers will remember you if you know them by name.

Nothing gives you a wonderful feeling of sympathy like an email saying thank you for your perfect purchase.

Speaking of personalization - according to recent studies of brain activity, only a few sounds are as pleasing to us as the sound of our own name. Indeed, people become much more attentive and interested when they hear their name. So make sure your company takes advantage of personalizing its customers whenever possible.

4. Nothing causes such a stir as a pleasant trifle when buying

One of the most memorable (and thus discussed) moments in the consumer experience is a pleasant surprise. Feedback, especially unexpected feedback, is power! For example, Zappos (Zappos.com is America's largest online shoe store) regularly pampers shoppers with free day-after-purchase shipping just to make them feel good.

5. Building good customer relationships doesn't have to cost you dearly.

Since the start of the "Unexpected Sweet Gifts" campaign, the business has grown by 300% annually. The concept of "Frugal WOWs" is especially important for small businesses. Building good customer relationships depends on what you do, not how much you pay. Nathaniel Roux, founder of the Sweetgreen restaurant chain, often sends his employees to place restaurant coupons on the windshields of parked cars. With these unexpected surprises, the firm seeks to dramatically increase customer loyalty.

6. If customers use your loyalty program at least once, they will continue to use it in the future.

Consumer psychologists at Dreze & Nunes in their well-known study of the car wash industry have found out how consumers become adherents of loyalty programs. Researchers have clearly demonstrated that consumers are 2 times more likely to remain in the loyalty program if the program is already running by the time they join: tasks that are in progress have a higher chance of successful completion.

7. Customers love stories around the brand and their use in sales has proven to be effective.

One can say about stories - the further they are retold, the more they are believed. Research by Melanie Green and Timothy Brack found that a well-presented story is the most compelling form of oral and written communication. They believe this is due to the fact that history can "transfer" us to another space, which allows the brand to leave a powerful (and memorable) mark in the customer's memory.

8. If you love innovation, your customers can be a great source of inspiration for you.

Eric von Hippel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has conducted a collaborative study with the Institute of Management Science on the relationship between leading consumers (superbuyers) and innovation in companies. In a study of 1193 commercially successful innovations in 9 different industries, it was found that 60% of them came from consumers.

9. Sell time, not money, and your customers will appreciate your brand.

Most people believe that the best indicator of who they are is the way they spend their time, not the amount of money spent on one thing or another. It makes sense why democratic beer brands advertise good fun (eg, "It's Miller time!") Rather than low prices. A recent study by Stanford University found that shoppers have better feelings for a brand they associate with “having a good time,” memories of a pleasant time are better remembered than memories of good prices.

10. If you use the image of money in your ads, buyers become more selfish.

According to research by psychologist Kathleen Vaasa, when an image of money is broadcast to customers in an advertising campaign, they become more selfish and less able to help others. This property can be used by companies selling luxury goods, which can profitably use images associated with charitable and gratuitous help to others in advertising (for example, gifts for Mother's Day, etc.).

How to give a discount without a discount

Den Kennedy always has a ton of chips in his arsenal. I want to talk about one of them today. Den himself calls this "discount without discount".

“I made millions of dollars on tape training for doctors in evening seminars; the seminars were free, but the doctors had to deposit $ 25 to guarantee they would come. The deposit was returned at the end of the workshop. After the sales pitch and the close of sales, I performed this selling price technique. I said okay, you can take your deposit ($ 25), which guaranteed that you will be here in the evening. Since you kept your promise, your $ 25 will be returned to you. And we can double the return. You can deduct $ 50 if you buy the training system tonight. Its price is $ 499 minus $ 50. "

Even in the classroom, where many argued with this difficult strategy, it worked just like magic: I put $ 50 in their pocket and then toss it into the fire. If they don't buy the system, they lose $ 50, which is painful! " Think about how you can use this technique in your business. What can be sold at a low price and then sold at a higher price.

Free effect

We all know how much the magic word affects us. is free... But not many marketers use this effective tool to attract customers. Why is giving something for free so beneficial?

To answer this question, I'll tell you about an experiment conducted by Dan Ariely, author of Behavioral Economics. Den decided to test how a free offer can influence a person's actions and choices. At one of the universities, Den set up a table with expensive chocolate truffles and regular candies. At the same time, he set prices well below the market average. The famous Swiss truffles were only 15 cents, and the lollipop was 1 cent. As expected by the experimenters, truffles came out the winner, preferred by 73% of buyers.

Then Deng decided to change the conditions of the experiment, reducing the price of both candies by 1 cent. At the same time, truffles began to cost 14 cents, and lollipop - 0 cents. It would seem that the price was reduced by the same amount by 1 cent, and accordingly, the preferences of the buyers should not have changed. Truffles continued to be sold at a very tempting price. But the results of the experiment changed dramatically. This time truffles were preferred by only 31% of buyers, while free lollipops were preferred by 69%. The freeware effect worked.

Why does the free effect have such a powerful effect on people? To find the correct answer to this question, you need to immerse yourself in the psychology of a person, namely, look at his fears. One of the most powerful fears is the fear of loss. When we pay for something, we are afraid that we might make the wrong choice. Thus, we find it hard to melt with money or other things. When we are faced with free, the fear of loss disappears, because there is nothing to lose. This is why the effect of freebies is so powerful. Seeing a free offer, our mind refuses to sensibly assess all the disadvantages and possible consequences. That is why we make absolutely unnecessary purchases so often. Now you will no longer be surprised why supermarkets regularly hold promotions: “Buy X units - get another 1 free of charge”.

Lois Geller's 7 Customer Engagement Tricks

Lois Geller, President, Mason & Geller Direct Marketing. She shares with you 7 Customer Acquisition Tricks.

What should be done in order to get someone to buy a car?

“A personalized letter promising a thousand dollar discount can help. This fact I discovered while working in Canada doing direct marketing campaigns for Ford, promoting Lincoln's Town Car, Continental and Mark VIII. We told the recipients of the newsletter that all they had to do was visit the dealer, discuss the most reasonable price, and then show the letter to save another thousand dollars. Sales have skyrocketed! Consumers are inundated with advertisements these days. One of the reasons for this is marketers like me who work in direct marketing. 12 years in New York and currently in Hollywood, Florida, I run an advertising company Mason & Geller Direct (masongeller.com), working in direct marketing not only with such large clients as JP Morgan Chase, but also with private firms. Sending an offer by mail can cost anywhere from $ 50 to $ 150 for each unit sent, depending on the various components of the campaign. In general, direct mail is more expensive than email or internet advertising, but it can also be much more effective in the long run. "

How do you get the most out of your direct mailing investment, whether you do it yourself or hire other companies to do the mailing?

Here are seven tips I give my clients:

1. Save your vacation cards
   In my experience, a classic envelope letter is much more likely to elicit a response from recipients. Most consumers receive important messages in emails that are very personal. Even the act itself, opening the envelope and unfolding the letter, is intriguing. A few years ago, my company created a two-page letter for a firm that sold advertisers and ad agencies a $ 2,000 annual subscription. Our client got along pretty well with the postcard campaign.
   The performance was approximately 0.75% of paid applications. We thought we could do better. We created an email for advertising agencies that said, “If you email me the 4 letter code above, I’ll send you a secret that will help you start a new business in an unoccupied niche that you would even did not think. " Each recipient had his own personal code, written only in the letter. The rate of paid orders, in response to the campaign, increased to 11%.
2. Fix deadlines
   Offer recipients something of value that they can get for free, provided they respond immediately and that no other means can be achieved. The offer must match what you are selling. For example, if you were a tax filing accountant trying to attract new clients for next year, you could send out a mailing list in January of the coming year inviting the first 100 new clients to get a free leather folder to store their tax documents for the last year. It would be necessary to indicate that this proposal is valid until March 15. Potential clients who cannot afford to procrastinate would act immediately.
3. Highlight the benefits of your product, not just the features
   Let's say you are selling a kettle with a spout, thanks to which the liquid does not flow past the dishes. Instead of just mentioning the special design of the spout, you need to pay attention to those problems that can be avoided thanks to it: burned hands, spoiled things, and so on. So how do you know which characteristics of your product are most valuable to consumers? Ask them. For example, if you sell a kettle that is sealed and does not leak, you can talk to tea shoppers at your local supermarket to find out what kettles they use and how these kettles can be improved.
4. Surpass the competition
   If your business is a dry cleaning business and a competing ABC Cleaners, located on the same street, offers a 20% discount for new customers, then offer your regular customers a 25% discount as an incentive to maintain loyalty to you.
5. Use photos of real people
   I have found that when we use photographs of real clients or employees, rather than models, in our mailings, campaign response increases. Your DM agency or art director can help you organize an inexpensive photo shoot and get permission to use these photos in your advertising messages.
6. Use the correct databases
   Companies selling databases will offer you to purchase all kinds of databases. You need to ask for those contacts who gave the highest percentage of responses to offers and products that are identical to yours.
7. Take a personal approach
   If your letter and envelope look as if at some stage of preparation and sending they were in the hands of a person, then there is a greater chance that the client will open it. Sign your letter in blue ink. Underline a paragraph in a different color, or mark in a different color in the margin. Try to put a real stamp (or several) on the envelope. The more non-standard stamps it will be, the better.

When we send out the Mason & Geller's newsletter, Inside Stuff, I usually personally mark about 100 copies. I can mention the recipient's family or a catalog that was produced by the recipient's company. Typically about 50% of the recipients are in this group In this world ruled by email, human touch can have a tremendous impact.

How to build relationships with customers on the Internet

If your business is present on the Internet, then one of the key indicators that you must pay attention to is conversion: how many potential customers come to your site and how many end up making purchases.

Many internet marketers are tormented by the question: how to increase conversions?

If you search for information on Google, you will find fairly standard advice. For example, create a Buy button instead of a hyperlink, test colors, make a call-to-action, use two-step selling with free products, and so on. All of these tools are certainly good and each one is effective in its own way. But there is one problem - alone, they are ineffective.

Brian Carroll, author of Lead Generation for the Complex Sale, says that 95% of site visitors are not ready to buy your product or service right away. They are primarily looking for useful information on problems of concern to them. And it is with the help of such information that you can get a potential client. One key question remains: how to build a relationship with a client so that he wants to purchase your products?

It is thanks to this question that the lead nurturing system appeared - the system of "nurturing" the client. Most companies adhere to the traditional sales system: as soon as a potential customer (lead) fills out a contact form, his data goes into CRM or any other database. Then, within a month, the lead is bombarded with offers and special conditions, as well as calls with the intention to sell their product. If during this period a potential customer does not make a purchase, he is assigned the status of an inactive customer, and most companies forget about him. Thus, ROI decreases. attracting new customers, and with it the conversion rate.

In marketing, there is the following axiom: for a deal to be completed, your offer must fully coincide in time with the urgent need for the client and the availability of money to buy. Well, lead nurturing is geared towards exactly that.

How does lead nurturing help increase marketing effectiveness?

Before starting any business, you must have a clear portrait of your customer. You must identify the underlying problems, and your products or services must solve those problems as quickly as possible. When you get contacts of a potential client, you still do not know what kind of person he is, what questions he cares about, what answers he is looking for. The key point here is customer interest. The task of lead nurturing is to build trusting relationships with the lead and "warm up" his interest in purchasing your services. You get to know each other better, find out the needs of a potential client, help him solve his problems. You collect as much information as possible about the lead and compare it to your ideal customer profile. Regular communication with the lead, as well as assistance in solving his problems, allows you to make a sale exactly on time. As soon as the client has a need for a purchase, he immediately remembers your company and turns to your solutions.

But how can you communicate with each client on a daily basis, you ask? Yes, of course, if you personally communicate with each client, then you simply will not have time for anything else. Therefore, the most important point is to set up automatic mailing within the lead nurturing program. All that remains is for you to analyze the feedback, as well as analyze the effectiveness of each link in the program.

What tools are used in lead nurturing?

Using not only the newsletter, but also audio and video materials. Thus, you can influence all channels of information perception. If a person does not like to read or does not have time, he can download the audio to his player or burn it to a disc and listen to it while driving to work. The video also has a high response, as so many people perceive information best visually.

It is necessary to give the most useful advice in the "Take and do" format. When a lead uses your free advice and gets concrete results, his first thought will be "How much will I earn (save, buy) if I buy paid products?"

Use as many communication tools as possible. Use mini-books, webinars, interviews, podcasts, training videos, give cases and their solution. The more tools you use, the more likely your information will be read by the lead.

Measure the customer's readiness to purchase. If a lead downloaded a free mini-book from your site, give him a 7 out of 10. If he followed up with a free webinar, put an 8 out of 10. If a potential client clicked on a link to a paid product at the webinar, then he is almost ready to buy ... Here the work is already entrusted to your sales department. At the same time, engage the potential client in the dialogue. Ask what problems there are in his business now, which of your materials were useful to him, what materials he lacks, what, from his point of view, can be done better. By engaging a potential client in a dialogue, asking for his opinion and using his advice, you significantly increase your confidence in yourself.

While most companies continue to bombard their potential customers with countless offers and contextual advertising, you can start growing your customers tomorrow.

Hello! In this article, we will tell you how to attract customers and increase sales in, we will introduce you to the principles of customer focus.

Today you will learn:

1. What does "customer focus" mean;
2. What are the main ways to attract customers;
3. What channels of attraction can you use?

The success of any business project development directly depends on the number of clients. The issue of attracting them remains the main one for any enterprise that is interested in a stable increase in sales and making a profit. Any methods and techniques are used, different ways of presenting information that help to interest potential buyers of the product.

Customer orientation

Customer focus is understood as an important element of any business aimed at finding ways to satisfy customers and their needs. This helps to ensure the most complete and constant flow, increasing sales.

In simple words, companies devote all their resources to studying the needs of consumers, and the principle of "the client is always right" is embodied in practice.

It is customer orientation that can make a business project more effective and increase turnover. It's not just about improving the quality of service or sending SMS with promotional offers. It is the desire to please everyone and turn the casual visitor into a regular customer.

Basic rules of customer focus:

• All staff should be attentive to visitors, try to anticipate their wishes;
• Customer orientation must be developed within the company itself, directed towards employees;
• Any changes in assortment, models or modifications should be dictated only by the desire to give consumers maximum benefit, and not by the whims of the business owners;
• Service must be ahead of the demands of visitors.

Organization of customer orientation starts from within the company. To do this, management may reward sales managers and other personnel with cash bonuses for high quality service. A good effect is given by regular trainings, which work out conflict situations and the peculiarities of communication with "problem" clients.

Basic principles of customer focus

1. Conscientious attitude to work... To meet the needs of customers, you should diligently treat each person's service and offer him only high-quality, high-quality goods.
2. Attention to every little thing... It is necessary to take into account the moments that can cause dissatisfaction or irritation, eliminate shortcomings in the work of the service personnel.
3. Studying the needs of buyers... In addition to studying the wishes and requirements for goods, you can establish feedback. This will help to understand whether the expectations from the quality or properties of the purchased item have been met.
4. Proactive work... To attract potential customers, it is necessary to perform service of a higher quality than the potential buyer expects. Having received positive emotions, he will definitely come back and tell his friends about the company.
5. Desire to understand the consumer... A good way to work through weaknesses is to put yourself in the prospect's shoes. This will help to understand: is he comfortable making a purchase, how high-quality goods are offered to him.

The company must understand who its potential customers are, what they expect from the product or service. It is necessary to build relationships based on trust and mutual understanding. This is not always beneficial for the enterprise in the early stages, but it will certainly bring excellent income in the future.

Main channels for attracting customers

Customer acquisition channels are understood as different ways of establishing contact between a buyer and a seller. They must be created by the entrepreneur himself, who is interested in increasing income. He can use active or passive channels, adjusting them to the characteristics of goods or services.

The most interesting are the active channels for attracting customers:

Dealership

The channel assumes the redistribution of sales between different companies (direct manufacturer and intermediate seller of goods).

Among the positive aspects of such an attraction channel:

• High productivity and achievement of results in a short time;
• The presence of trained marketers and staff who understand the intricacies of advertising, display or brand promotion;
• Savings, which consists in the absence of the need for the manufacturer to hire such employees, spend time and money on promotions.

Direct sales

In this case, the channel is looking for the entrepreneur himself, who, during a personal meeting, tries to persuade the client to buy, to conclude a deal. It is actively used in the field.

Has the following advantages:

• The goal is to obtain a result, that is, a sold product or service;
• Gives high productivity, because with a face-to-face meeting, the chances of achieving a positive result are much higher.

Cons of the direct sales channel:

• Large costs for training and constant retraining of personnel;
• The presence of the risk that the time spent on a potential buyer will not pay off;
• Finding an individual approach to each customer that takes time.

Partnership

Such a channel involves the conclusion of a cooperation agreement between two companies or private entrepreneurs. It is aimed at exchanging the customer base, increasing it and processing a large segment of the market.

Such a union has advantages:

• Saving the budget of enterprises;
• Quick start of projects and the possibility of large coverage.

But with a partnership, there is always a risk of losing profit or part of the clientele if the other party is deceived, it unexpectedly leaves the project.

Telemarketing

A popular and well-known channel that is actively used by many commercial companies. It does not involve direct sales and client meetings. Managers confine themselves to a small telephone conversation, where they voice the offer, talk about the advantages of the products.

Benefits of telemarketing:

• A fairly economical channel that excludes unproductive trips, loss of time for moving around the city;
• Short period before channel launch.

From the negative points:

• Minimum opportunities for product presentation;
• A small number of products that can be sold in such conditions.

So-called word of mouth has always been the best channel for attracting new customers. Many satisfied customers not only return, but also willingly recommend the company or its products to acquaintances, friends, post reviews on the Internet.

The main advantages of such a channel:

• Big savings on advertising;
• Feedback effectiveness based on trust among friends.

Disadvantages:

• The need to search for an individual approach to each client, which requires professionalism from the staff;
• The duration of the promotion of the method, which takes several months or even years.

It would be a mistake not to use all channels in one way or another. Experienced entrepreneurs skillfully manipulate the merits of everyone, achieving good results and sales.

Ways to attract customers

When opening a new enterprise, there is a need to find consumers. At this stage, you should use a variety of methods to help make your brand or store more recognizable.

You can use simple and inexpensive ways to disseminate information:

• Post ads in places of the greatest traffic of potential buyers... This method is designed for a consumer who does not have the Internet or older people. Advertisements should be original and eye-catching.
• Ask friends and acquaintances to spread information about the new company among their circle... This will help not only attract the first customers, but also create a certain positive image from the reviews, improve your reputation.
• Distribute flyers periodically to passers-by on the street... A good marketing ploy would be to exchange such a flyer for a discount, bonus card or small gift. It can be passed on to acquaintances or colleagues at work, which will only increase the circle of people who know about the company or brand.
• Take advantage of different advertising options via the Internet, television or print media... Inexpensive options are colorful billboards, signs or banners.
• Presentations for first clients. A small discount on the purchase will not hit the budget of the enterprise, but will attract attention with the help of word of mouth, bring new guests, and will quickly pay off in turnover.

It is important for new businesses to create a positive first impression. If you immediately choose to focus on a satisfied customer, the company will consolidate its position in the market faster and more confidently.

For businesses looking to maximize profits through a large number of buyers, marketers suggest using a wide range of interesting and creative ways:

• The correct approach to product demonstration... It is better to involve layout specialists (merchandisers) who will help to present the products with a "face", arrange the showcases in an original way.
• Give buyers the opportunity to save... This is a normal desire for most consumers, so a small present during the first or regular visit will attract attention (an additional bonus service in a beauty salon, a free cocktail for new customers of the cafe).
• Issue of limited coupons... Not a bad way to advertise and increase sales. With quality service, some of the visitors with coupons will remain regular customers.
• Discounts and discount cards for regular customers... This option works well with a cumulative bonus system, encouraging people to make purchases of goods or services in one place.
• Drawing of valuable prizes and lotteries... The costs will more than pay off by attracting a large number of new customers.
• Original design of all signs... They should attract attention, inform about promotions and evoke a positive attitude, be remembered by casual passers-by.
• The highlight of the service... A good example is pampering customers with a cup of coffee and a candy that has a logo on the wrapper.
• Spectacular appearance... In any store or salon that wants to attract customers, attention is paid not only to the presentation of the product or the sign. What matters is an unobtrusive pleasant smell, convenient location of shelves, level of illumination and cleanliness of staff uniforms.

Such methods can be combined, combined in a different sequence. Only by constantly reminding about your brand can you achieve an increase in demand and an increase in customer flow.

How to attract clients in a crisis

The latest financial crisis has hit the pockets of all kinds of consumers. Sales of non-essential goods have noticeably sagged, and many services are not in demand. With the aim of resource economy and the desire to interact more closely with potential buyers, many companies are stepping up their work on the Internet.

In a crisis, the search for an answer to the question "How to attract new clients?" becomes the main task of all management personnel. Among the latest developments of marketers that will help in a crisis, one can single out:

Use of Internet Advertising

During the economic downturn, print banners become a luxury and do not generate the expected profit (and the circulation itself is reduced). Using contextual or, useful articles with links and interesting information will perfectly draw attention to the product.

Development of your own website

As an excellent economy option, you can use. With its help, the main information is well presented, it is easier to describe the positive aspects of a service or product, and to stimulate its purchase.

Any company strives for the age of technology. It will bring good results if an experienced specialist is engaged in filling and promotion. Much attention must be paid to the quality of the design, extraordinary presentation of materials, adaptation of the site for mobile devices.

Increase in active sales

This is a great customer acquisition option that can boost your revenue if done right. It is better to invite a trained specialist for the role of a call manager. He will try with the help of various techniques to persuade to conclude a contract or transaction, he will be able to present the goods in the most favorable light.

Such can be done not only with the help of telephone conversations. A new option is to send e-mails to customers with offers or auction coupons.

To increase interest in the manufacturer and the company among Internet users, creative and unconventional methods should be used: hold contests and raffles of valuable prizes, produce content with humor, and give subscribers more positive emotions.

How to attract new customers using the Internet

The number of active Internet users is growing rapidly every year. Therefore, you should not ignore such a simple and very effective channel for attracting customers to your business. With the right approach, it will be able to reach a large number of potential consumers living in remote areas.

As we said, any company tries to have its own website. To attract visitors, it must become a real showcase with perfect layout, interesting design and the most convenient feedback.

It can be used as or as a product catalog, conduct product surveys or organize prize draws.

The best ways to attract customers to your business using the World Wide Web are increasingly proving more effective than conventional marketing techniques.

The most popular options available to any entrepreneur are:

• ... We are talking about "promotion" by modern methods. It is better to hire a specialist marketer who will select quality content and help raise the site in the search engine to the first places.
• Maintaining groups and communities on social networks... Entertainment sites such as Odnoklassniki or Vkontakte have long become an excellent trading and advertising platform. Attracting customers with their help is an inexpensive but very effective way. In some cases, the group perfectly replaces the site, giving consumers quick feedback and maximum information about the products. But the result will be only with regular filling with good and meaningful content, maintaining the activity in the community at a high level.
• ... Another way to attract customers on the Internet, which is based on a search for certain phrases or words. It is often resorted to at the initial stages of "promotion". It is quite expensive, so it is better to use the services of professionals in setting up contextual advertising.
• ... The way to attract is to distribute letters with a commercial or promotional offer to the email addresses of potential customers. This is a fairly effective channel that requires certain skills. Therefore, it is better to entrust email-mailing to an experienced specialist who knows how to prevent these promotional emails from getting into spam.
• Teaser advertising. Adjusts to a specific group of potential consumers, appears in different parts of the monitor. Offers the services of the company to the people most interested in it.
• ... The new method is gaining momentum and allows you to attract customers with interesting reviews and reviews in the video format. You can use covert advertising by inviting well-known bloggers or media personalities to “tout” products for a small fee.

If there is no knowledge in this area, you can contact. On specialized sites, you can find specialists who, for a reasonable fee, will help in attracting customers. In a crisis, it is brand promotion via the Internet that can provide the largest percentage of new consumers with minimal investment.

Errors hindering customer acquisition

Many businesses spend huge sums to attract new customers, but complain about low returns and lack of the desired result.

By studying the principles of their operation and maintenance, you can identify several typical mistakes:

• There is no clear portrait of the consumer of goods or services... A successful company always collects and analyzes customer information. It helps you create ads and promotions tailored to your niche.
• The staff does not get acquainted with new methods of optimization per client, does not participate in special trainings... Interesting programs in the form of webinars are often shown on the Internet, and experienced psychologists can help organize training.
• A small number of ways are used... The management must skillfully manipulate any available methods to attract new customers. You can simultaneously combine active advertising on the Internet and distribute flyers to passers-by, hold prize draws in the store and upload videos on your own channel.
• There is no specific selling proposition that will favorably distinguish the brand and products from other competitors. It should explain all the advantages of the product, the characteristics of the manufacturer and the benefits for the buyer.
• Managers do not know cold calling techniques, do not know how to provide information in the most profitable and complete way.

Regardless of what product or service you are promoting on the market, an important task for any business is to determine the most effective methods of attracting new customers and encouraging them to return to you again and again. In the face of fierce competition, the demands of consumers on business have increased. As before, an individual approach, care and reliability in relation to your future customers contribute to an increase in loyalty and trust in your product or service.

You will learn:

• How to choose the right way to attract customers.
• What are the most effective ways to attract customers.
• What methods of attracting customers are used on the Internet.
• What are the ways to attract new customers in the b2b field.

Nowadays, a large number of channels and marketing activities are offered to attract customers. It is important to understand what methods will work best in your area of ​​business, with your target audience. To do this, we offer an overview of the most popular and effective ways to attract customers.

The most common and effective ways to attract customers

This communication channel attracts a multimillion audience. The breadth of coverage is one of the clear advantages of TV advertising and allows you to recoup the costs of perhaps the most expensive type of product promotion. In addition, television, due to our cultural characteristics, is extremely influential. After all, most of the information - news, entertainment, educational - we get thanks to him. From here, consumers may have more confidence in the products or services that you promote through this channel.

In order to attract the attention of your client, you need to create an advertising video that will emphasize the merits of your product, attract the attention of your target audience, be memorable and not like other advertising stories.

It is important that your ad truly reflects the benefits of the product. In terms of coverage, power of influence, degree of impact and involvement, information on TV is the most effective way to attract customers. But if for some reason it is not available to you? Then we propose to consider other methods of attracting customers.

Method 2.Promotions

With the help of promotions, we influence our target audience, thereby fueling demand. And this influence can be informational (when our consumer has the opportunity to get acquainted with the product visually, test, taste directly at the points of sale, get samples, etc.), or it can be stimulating (when for the purchase of our product a client can receive a gift, a discount for subsequent purchase).

Some manufacturers can play very valuable prizes: a travel voucher, a car, a certificate for the purchase of household appliances, etc. Also, your consumer will not remain indifferent to the fact that when buying two goods, he will receive a third for free. Well-organized promotions are a very effective way to attract customers. They can significantly increase demand, despite the seasonality, and be an effective method of dealing with competitors.

• Calculating the effectiveness of promotions and sales: formulas and examples

Method 3.Presentation

Presentation is a very effective way to attract new clients. It has many design options and ways of implementation. This can be a real performance or a high-quality video that is broadcast on a large screen in places where your target audience is concentrated, as well as your participation in specialized exhibitions.

The concept of your presentation should be carefully thought out and match the product or service being promoted. If you combine it with any promotion, it will increase your audience significantly. If people, having come to the presentation, can take part in a win-win lottery, receive a discount, a gift card or a valuable prize, their loyalty and involvement in the process will be guaranteed to you.

Method 4.Informing by phone

The cold calling method of attracting customers is a very common way to increase your customer base. And very popular, by the way, because of its apparent simplicity and a huge range of applications. Calls can be made to both individuals and legal entities.

Small call centers that are designed to make these calls can be found in many companies. Telemarketers make calls to an existing database, advertise goods or services, inform customers about current promotions, and fill out applications for the purchase of a product online.

But this method of attracting customers has a number of disadvantages that should be analyzed before deciding to attract customers in this way. Basically, there is a global problem - the potential customers you call are happy with the status quo: they are happy with the current service providers or they are not interested in your product at all. If you still have resorted to this method of attracting customers, you should remember that special attention should be paid to raising the professional level of call center operators, their motivation, and tracking professional burnout. Buyers shouldn't be annoyed by their calls.

Method 5.Discounts and sales

On the one hand, this is a very widespread and popular way to attract customers, on the other hand, this is hardly surprising to anyone now. They are offered by almost all stores, regardless of format and target audience.

Discounts can be offered for different categories of goods and are timed to various holidays, weekends, etc. The only thing that should always be taken into account is that any bonus should still allow you to make a profit. One of the types of discounts is the discount program. Such cards work as accumulative cards. Points are credited to the account, which are summed up and subsequently used by customers to make new purchases. This is how you encourage consumers to buy from you.

Method 6.BTL technology

What methods of attracting customers are called BTL technology?

Coupons and flyers are one of the most effective BTL tools. Surely you have come across a situation when, in the immediate vicinity of large chain stores, promoters distribute such advertisements, inviting them to visit the store. And when you show the flyer or coupon, you get a discount on the item.

The effectiveness of this method can be illustrated by the example of a taxi service. With the help of promoters on the street, the company organizes the distribution of cards to casual passers-by. And this ad allows you to take one free ride, and on subsequent orders, you can get a discount. All you need to do is dictate your card number to the operator. This method will surely attract new potential customers to you, as people are always happy to participate in the process of getting a discount on a product or service.

Method 7.Ambassador

The next way to attract customers, which we will consider, is called an "ambassador". This method is based on positive consumer feedback. An ambassador is a person who advertises the consumer properties of your product, thus forming a club of your brand's followers. This channel works on the principle of word of mouth.

Where can an ambassador advertise your product or service? Anywhere. He can create an advertising page on the Internet and place information about your product or service on it. This method is more direct, but less effective. That is why we will consider a different approach. The Ambassador creates high-quality, detailed, truthful reviews on forums, special platforms where you can leave responses about everything in the world - from toothpaste to a book you read. Or you can attend social events, tastings, seminars, exhibitions - in a word, those events where your target consumer often happens. Therefore, there may be several such people, depending on their specialization.

Method 8.Exhibitions

Exhibitions are another channel of your communication with your future client, a fairly effective way to attract potential buyers. Participation in specialized exhibitions, if it is prepared, your customers are informed about it in advance and you have worked competently at the stand, is another method of attracting consumers and increasing sales. Of course, if you have chosen this method of attracting customers, you need to properly organize the preparatory period: provide mailing, prepare brochures, advertising letters, flyers. In addition, the stand should look bright and interesting. In this case, an influx of potential customers is guaranteed to you.

Expert opinion

An example of an effective advertising campaign

Ekaterina Kuznetsova,

Marketing Director, Alltek Development, Moscow

What methods of finding and attracting clients in the real estate market can be defined as effective? Housing is an important commodity that meets the diverse needs of people. As a rule, real estate projects need to be sold at the time of the commissioning of an object. When the life cycle of the project is short enough, in this case it is not up to the formation of brand loyalty. At the peak of the current offer, you need to attract the maximum number of potential buyers. It is at this point that the best ways to find the maximum number of clients should be found.

In addition, we cannot ignore the pronounced seasonality of this market. There are several peaks in consumer activity: from February to June and from mid-September to November.

Due to the fact that the second peak is limited in time, the advertising campaign to attract new customers should be even more dynamic, effective and win-win. We set ourselves the task of developing and conducting just such an action that would attract attention to our objects of that part of our audience that we were unable to attract by traditional marketing methods.

As a non-standard solution, the action "9 1/2 weeks of treasures in the Earl's Forest" was developed and carried out. When a client bought a plot with a contract in a club village, he was offered one of nine gifts: a white piano, a playground, a hedge, a housewarming party, a gazebo, a royal Usher cat (the most expensive breed in the world), a certificate for the purchase of furniture, a car like a buggy or a live Christmas tree.

The quality and status of the gifts made it possible to stir up the interest of our potential buyers. For example, the client had no idea what prize would be drawn this week. If the surprise didn't impress him, we suggested postponing the deal until next week. And if the consumer wanted to choose any gift from the list on his own, he was offered to make it in the last half of the week, when his choice was provided with a full range.

This promotion turned out to be the most effective way to attract a profitable client. Our slogan only emphasized the status of the acquisition: "Who owns the house owns the treasure." We actively promoted our action on the radio, in the press, on the Internet, and used outdoor advertising.

Thanks to an effective way of attracting clients, interest in real estate increased by 79% during this period. And this despite the short duration of the second season. The launched advertising campaign made it possible to record in September the highest rate of incoming calls, as well as initial calls to the agency. And I give this comparison in the context of the year. An increase in activity (+ 26%) was also recorded in relation to the first season. In addition, in the week when cats of a rare breed were presented, traffic was 75% higher than in the previous week.

Online tools for customer acquisition

Companies use many online marketing tools out of habit, even as they attract fewer and fewer customers.

In a Commercial Director magazine article, you will find an overview of modern, effective and inexpensive ways to achieve high lead generation.

Working ways to attract customers via the Internet

Of course, the starting point for attracting customers via the Internet is to create your own website. This is what will allow you to have a space on the web with which you can use all your creativity to grow your customer base over and over again.

The concept of the Internet site has long and firmly entered our lexicon. A company website is a web project that is the face of your company, brand, product or service. It is also part of the team, a fully paid employee, a showcase, a corner of the office space. Let's take a look at the effective ways to find and attract customers.

1. Promotion of your own company website

The essence of promoting your site is that it can be found by all kinds of search queries that are formulated by your potential clients.

What does the coveted SEO acronym stand for? Search Engine Optimization, in fact, is a site's search engine optimization. This is a whole complex of nuances of interaction with search engine robots. And also - the originality of photos, literacy of tags for each graphic element, page layout, navigation and internal links, in general, optimization of the structure.

Search engines correlate the degree to which the content matches the entered query. In addition, sophisticated search engine algorithms take into account the number of links to your resource. All this allows your site to be above others in the search. In order to get to the 1st place, it is necessary to analyze the success of sites that already occupy the first places, to identify chips, patterns and apply them in promoting your resource. All this work makes your site one of the most effective methods for attracting potential customers.

We'll look at another method for attracting leads. Let us remind you what contextual advertising means. In fact, these are ads of an advertising nature, placed by search engines Yandex.Direct, Google AdWords, Begun.

With a competent approach (it is necessary to make a decision on which keywords for which the search is carried out, the user is shown your advertisement), contextual advertising is able to provide the highest possible conversion, that is, the conversion of users into customers. This is one of the most important aspects of such a promotion, otherwise you will be wasting large advertising budgets.

If we compare the financial costs of SEO and contextual advertising, it is more obvious that SEO is more profitable as a way to attract customers. You can spend 180 thousand rubles / year on SEO and, with proper optimization, have hundreds of visitors to the site from search results. Contextual advertising, especially in competitive markets, can cost 100-200 rubles per person. If you calculate the costs of contextual advertising in the long term, for example, for a month, with the same 100 visitors per day, this can cost you 300 thousand rubles / month.

3. SMM promotion

For starters - what does the abbreviation SMM mean? Translated from English, Social Media Marketing is a rather popular marketing method for attracting customers. Basically, you advertise your product on popular communities. Of course, this type of advertising is not suitable for all products. It is necessary to take into account the target audience of advanced users of social networks.

So, you need to understand first in which social networks and communities your target consumer is, then choose ways to promote your product or service and attract potential customers. Not all products can be promoted on social media. You probably wouldn't want to subscribe to an advertisement for a funeral service bureau. In any case, SMM promotion can represent your brand in many ways and familiarize potential customers with your product in detail.

4. Email marketing

Unfortunately, recently, E-mail marketing is more and more often compared to spam, although it is still one of the most effective ways to find and attract customers. Such an unseemly comparison became possible because it is possible to buy databases of email addresses on the Internet and make an advertising mailing by yourself or order it at these addresses. Of course, the main difference between email marketing and such advertising is the consent of subscribers to receive your emails.

Of course, email marketing needs to be considered in the long term. As a way to attract customers, it is not at all as simple as it might seem at first glance. Here you need to take into account your ability and speed to collect a subscriber base and bright, catchy content of your advertising mailing list.

But if you consider the possibilities of this method of attracting customers, they are truly limitless. Basically, you are communicating directly with your target audience. Your sales will grow in proportion to the increase in your subscriber base. Agree, this is a lot to seriously consider email marketing as an effective way to attract potential customers.

5. Partnership programs

Affiliate programs are a fairly effective method of attracting customers. This tool works quite simply. You expand your audience by attracting partners.

Partners use every opportunity to attract new customers to you, and you pay them a small percentage of the profit.

• How to find business partners who will increase your sales

Ways to attract new customers in b2b (examples)

Method 1.Lifetime refueling for investor clients

This way of attracting customers is best illustrated by the example of the Dutch company Fastned, which specialized in the construction of filling stations for electric vehicles. The company's marketers have come up with a brilliant move - to create a Club of the founders of the company. Anyone could become a shareholder of this company by purchasing at least 2.5 thousand shares at a price of 10 euros per share. In return, the investor received a lifetime recharge. This has led to tangible growth. The project has already created 34 stations, and within two years "Fastned" plans to build about 200 more.

Method 2.Retail format for b2b clients

The experience of the Russian branch of Samsung, which has opened a network of departments for working with b2b clients in its own branded stores, is very interesting. They have a manager who advises buyers on phones, various equipment and concludes contracts. In this way Samsung has increased sales in the FMCG sector, restaurants, shopping centers, etc. This method of attracting customers is not yet widespread in Russia.

Method 3.Fishing to strengthen ties

There are companies that use the hobbies of their founders and top managers to increase customer loyalty. In this regard, the experience of the director of the company "N.C.Pharm" is very interesting. Fishing is his passion. And this hobby formed the basis for organizing the event - "Fishing Cup", which is held annually in Norway, beyond the Arctic Circle. Top managers of large clients are invited to it. Such informal communication allows you to strengthen business ties, agree on new prospects for cooperation, as well as increase customer loyalty to your business. Isn't it a creative way to attract and retain customers?

Method 4.Trojan horse in the XXI century

DHL has shown wonders of creativity in the battle to attract customers with major competitors - USP and TNT. The firm hired couriers from competing companies to deliver the black parcels. When drivers arrived at hard-to-reach addresses and took boxes out of their cars ... they suddenly changed color to yellow in front of the astonished audience, but most importantly, the inscription "DHL faster" was displayed. All this is made possible with the help of heat-sensitive ink and the creativity of the people who came up with this promotion. Videos of these events were filmed and posted on the Internet, which ensured massive coverage of the target audience, a fun and effective advertising campaign.

Method 5.Bicycles for loading

You can always work on packaging your product or service as a way to attract new customers. It would seem, what else can you think of in the field of cargo transportation? Let's take an example of the French company La Petite Reine. She suggested using cargo bicycles for transporting goods. They are equipped with attractive vans with a payload capacity of 150 and 180 kg. The speed of such a vehicle is low, only 20 km / h. But there are certain advantages of delivery by means of a cargo bike - maneuverability, absence of exhaust gases from fuel, polluting the atmosphere during emissions, noise, a time factor in the realities of traffic jams.

Method 6.Taking over offices with free coffee

Now customers want to receive a full service, quality service in one place. Offering all kinds of tastings and tests on your territory is not a new way to advertise your product or service. What has CBM come up with to conquer business centers and office spaces? By the way, the company promotes coffee equipment and coffee beans on the market. She offered customers free testing of coffee machines and coffee tasting with a visit to their office. The consumer could keep the Bosch TCA5201 coffee machine, provided that he would buy at least 4 kg of coffee a month. In this way, the company has identified for itself the best way to attract customers.

Method 7. Washingcarts

How many of you can imagine a super- or hypermarket without such an integral part of the service as a trolley? That's right, nobody. And not even because the trolley allows the customer to free his hands: it gives the opportunity to purchase more goods and, accordingly, brings additional profits to retail chains.

PureCart Enterprises has developed a special system for handling these carts before and after use, and has found an opportunity to generate additional income. Not only are the carts disinfected and safe to use, they also smell good. Isn't it a service to attract new customers?

Method 8.Guaranteed income on the company's birthday

Some large companies are developing and launching discounts and promotions in honor of their birthday. Let us give an example of the experience of the Auchan hypermarket as one of the methods of attracting potential customers. He sent letters to his suppliers, in which he informed about discounts and bonuses, but not free for them. To get a discount, suppliers had to pay a certain amount to Auchan. For example, the logo of the supplier's company in the size of 4x4 cm in color booklets with a circulation of 5 million copies was estimated by Auchan at 600,000 rubles. And placing a panel with the name of the supplier's company or one of its brands at the entrance to all stores - 60,000 rubles.

Expert opinion

B2b lead generation

Maxim Gorbachev,

expert of the Russian School of Management for b2b sales

The term "lead generation" is over 10 years old. In the original language, it sounds like this: Lead Generation. Basically, this is a marketing tactic for finding leads with any contact information. This can be a phone number, E-mail, an account on a social network. The specified method of attracting customers allows direct contact and contact with them.

There are various lead generation tools:

• outgoing activities aimed at contacting potential customers. These are mailing lists, telemarketing (cold calls), exhibitions, conferences, coffee breaks;
• incoming calls. And in this case, we primarily mean Internet marketing tools (SEO-optimization, contextual, banner, teaser, advertising, social networks), specialized exhibitions, partner programs.

Method 1. Job invitation

This method of attracting potential clients was invented by the arbitration court - a non-profit organization dealing with the resolution of commercial disputes, the parties to which can be both legal entities and individuals. The sales department of the arbitration court was supposed to sell the service of the arbitration court to lawyers of medium and large companies, that is, the sole arbitrator for resolving a dispute arising from a client's civil law relations.

Functionally, the work in the sales department of the Arbitration Court was divided as follows. First, call center operators called potential customers. Then the managers went to conduct negotiations, during which they talked about the advantages of working with an arbitration tribunal. This sales organization allowed 2-3 meetings a day.

This did not suit the organization, and it changed the method of attracting new clients, considering the motivation of each lawyer to grow up to a judge. The arbitration court offered lawyers of companies that were potential clients to work for them as an arbitrator. Since the goal of potential clients was often to get a certificate of arbitration, and not the fact of work, this proposal soon helped to increase the sales funnel from 2-3 to 12-15 per day. The invited lawyers, wishing to obtain the status of an arbitrator, lobbied for the interests of the arbitration court in their companies, convincing them to refer clients' civil disputes for consideration to the arbitration court.

In this way, in a short time, it was possible to attract large companies to work, the development of which took months of work.

Method 2. Interviewing

I will share information about the method by which one Internet service attracted new customers. The telemarketer introduced himself as an employee of a well-known Internet portal, which calls in order to conduct a survey of target consumers. During the interviews, several questions were asked about ways to attract customers through the Internet. Of course, the question was raised about the use of a specific Internet resource. After the client gave a negative answer, the telemarketer offered to help connect this service for free and talked about all the possible benefits of using it. Sometimes the consumer did not even know that he was the victim of a "cold" call.

Method 3. Purchase of used equipment

In this case, the call center operator approached the client not with an offer to sell, but with the aim of acquiring from him what the client himself is selling. Here is such an original way to attract buyers! I will illustrate this with the example of a company that sells commercial vehicles.

It is no secret that logistics companies that own their own transport fleet rarely update it. When selling a used vehicle, they place on the Internet on the sites auto.ru, drom.ru, avito.ru in the "Commercial Transport" section, an advertisement for the sale of an old truck for the quickest finding of a buyer. So, such information is an indicator of readiness for a partial renewal of the fleet.

A company that sold commercial vehicles undertook to monitor such sites in search of such sellers. After that, she offered to buy an old truck as a down payment on a new one. Of the ten sellers, three were willing to consider this scenario. Such a contact became a lead and was already passed on to the sales department for further processing and entering into a deal.

Method 4. Sales to tender winners

This is a very easy way to find and attract customers. For example, you work in the market for building materials or contracting services for construction projects. You can track the winning companies in construction tenders. Such information becomes a lead for converting a potential client into an existing one.

Method 5. Identification of site visitors

With SEO optimization, you generate traffic to your website. But how to distinguish your potential client among the visitors who have left the site who have not made an order or a call? Some of them can definitely be returned by defining their accounts on social networks, such as VKontakte. For these purposes, specialized services are intended (for example, smmmanager2.ru). Thus, identifying your site visitors can be another way to find and attract customers. You can contact a potential buyer directly through the social network and discuss your offer with him again. According to statistics, from 0.5% to 4% of leads then turn into real customers placing an order.

Non-standard ways to attract customers in examples

Method 1. Gamification

If you are seriously thinking about how to make your ad campaign more effective, you need to consider gamification as a method of attracting new customers and retaining existing ones. This method helps to shape the emotional component of the consumer, maintain loyalty around your brand and build a human attitude towards it.

Gaming moments in loyalty programs fuel the excitement. Let us illustrate this statement with an example of an application that offers the user the opportunity to guess the dress designer several times, and in the case of a positive answer, it awards a certain number of points or assigns a certain status.

Sometimes gamification is used to promote a new product. Suffice it to recall the advertising campaign of the emailga.me service, which is rich in game elements that encourage participants to work more intensively with e-mail. In this case, the creators of the advertising campaign limited the time to respond to incoming mail. Pleasant prizes and awards awaited users who managed to complete everything on time.

Method 2.Storytelling

A certain type of myth-making, which has firmly entered our lexicon under the term "storytelling". How it works? You choose for your company in advertising communication or network presentation a famous character who is faced with a problem, and it is your brand that allows him to solve this issue. It is advisable that your client easily associates himself with such a character. Experts advise using storytelling to create presentations and attract potential buyers.

Method 3.Socially oriented solution

Your brand's social decision has a very powerful emotional impact. People like the social component, the charitable focus of the business. It is becoming the most effective method for attracting new customers. Examples include the shoe company TOMS Shoes. Each pair sold contributed to the next being passed on to children in need. The example of the Warber Parker Glasses company, which launched the action: "Buy a Pair, Give a Pair", is similar. In this case, every second pair of glasses was also donated to the poor as a charity.

Today social networks play one of the leading roles in the development of your business and attracting new customers. On any site - VKontakte, Facebook, Twitter - you can form a club of your brand's admirers. These are already studied resources, and advertising posts in them, on the one hand, will surprise no one, on the other hand, you can be pretty tired. You've probably noticed that posts promoting a particular product can trigger comments about how annoying the ads are. Are there any alternative ways to attract new customers on social media?

Instagram and Pinterest networks are actively developing now, in which the emphasis is on visual content. Instagram, of course, is now more actively used by businesses than Pinterest, although the latter is in the same row of resources opting for a visual channel of communication with potential customers. Investors appreciate the potential of these services in the future.

Method 5."Hungry" parking

The campaign was so successful that marketers decided to develop this topic when reaching out to car owners. For this, parking lots in different cities of the United States were symbolically painted - white markings interspersed with yellow diagonal lines. And if the drivers followed the yellow markings, they saw the sign on the asphalt: "You park here when you are hungry" and, of course, the image of the favorite Snickers bar. This example can be another illustration of a creative approach to creating an effective method of attracting new customers.

Method 6. Armored strike battalion

And another option for non-trivial customer attraction was invented by the Taxi 6,000,000 company from St. Petersburg. An interesting marketing tool in this case was a bright red armored vehicle, which added to the company's fleet. In this case, marketers decided not to scare potential customers with camouflage paint.

This is a very successful marketing move, since such a development of our own fleet fully justifies the slogan of the company “Safe Taxi”. In addition, in St. Petersburg, entangled in a web of canals and bridges, there are many who want to cross the Neva when the bridges have already been lifted (you can also swim on the BRDM). So we can assume that the new marketing tool is 100% one of the ways to attract new customers to the company.

Method 7. Life-long discount

We've already talked in part about the trend to personalize promotions and discounts. Personalization is an important component of loyalty programs for large companies and, as a result, one of the most effective ways to attract and retain customers. As an example, let us cite the experience of the American hypermarket Kroger, which commissioned Dunnhumby USA to study consumer demand. They studied sales statistics, identified the main product preferences of loyal customers. And then they presented them with an unlimited discount on the group of goods that the buyer regularly purchases in the hypermarket.

The success of this method was confirmed by the increased sales of the store. Such an effective way of attracting new customers was immediately taken up by other market players. A similar loyalty program was launched by the Safeway hypermarket chain.

Method 8. Reward for vandalism

The American airline JetBlue Airways has launched an original advertising campaign. Its essence was in "decisive" actions. It was necessary to rip off the poster from the stand and take it with you. New Yorkers were called to action by the patriotic inscription on the advertising poster: "Only real New Yorkers can do this." The advertising campaign included many prizes for participants: from ice cream and a ticket to a sports match to the main prize - a free flight on the route operated by the airline, which the client is interested in.

The lucky ones who won various prizes willingly shared their acquisitions and, most importantly, their emotions on social networks. Without a doubt, the advertising campaign was a great success, and residents of the city took part in it with pleasure in the hope of receiving the main prize - a lucky ticket to their destination. This allows us to speak of this campaign as a marketing method for attracting new customers.

Method 9. Mini-marketing for a mini-product

The Coca-Cola company presented its new product in a rather original way - a drink in a mini-can. The advertising campaign was created by the Ogilvy & Mather Berlin agency. On the streets of large cities in Germany, miniature retail outlets were installed - kiosks, which were an adult to the waist. Of course, such points of sale immediately attracted the attention of consumers, who not only wanted to buy a drink in a new mini-package, but also took a photo with a toy shop in the background. This promotion can also be seen as an original way to attract leads.

Method 10. Collector from California

And here is another original way to attract the attention of your target audience. This time we will talk about the series "Ray Donovan". How do you think the Russian TV channel REN TV raised the rating of the series? In the Moscow chain of restaurants "Kruzhka" on the tables appeared the business cards of the universal specialist Ray Donovan - fixer (as such specialists are called in the USA), who can solve any problem. The range of tasks, the solution of which by a brutal voice who called on the specified phone, suggested that the character of the series immediately take up, was quite wide: walking the dog, knocking money out of the debtor, and even hiding the corpse.

How to choose one or another method of attracting customers: step-by-step instructions

Step 1. Making a plan

Before you start choosing methods of attracting new customers, you need to plan the expected result: the number of attracted customers, sales volume, marginality. Perhaps the most important step at this stage is to define the target audience, its interests, and its needs.

The connection between your target audience and your product should be clear and transparent. With the help of your product or service, the client should receive some benefit, solve some problem, improve something qualitatively in his life. And for this you need to crystallize your competitive advantages, highlight the unique properties of the product.

So, the most detailed description of your target audience, the competitive advantages of your product, a list of needs that your customers can satisfy with the help of your product or service - these are the cornerstones of determining effective ways to attract new customers for your business.

Step 2.We form an offer

Based on the analytics that you conducted in the first stage, you should create an offer for your customers. In this case, it is important to focus not on the product, but on the ultimate benefit from its acquisition. In this regard, a new task appears: to convey information to your target consumer. In order to realize this, you can use the services of a professional call center.

Step 3.Assessing the profitability of customer acquisition methods

Next, you form a marketing budget, which involves calculations: how many customers you need to attract per month in order to reach a certain sales volume. Build on your desired monthly income. Further, based on the portrait of your client, you determine the most, in your opinion, effective communication channels with him. After analytics, calculations and determination of customer acquisition methods, you form a monthly marketing budget. Of course, analytics of the effectiveness of each communication channel will be required.

Errors in calculating customer retention rates

70% of executives consider the main task to attract new customers, while 20% believe that the most important thing is to retain existing customers.

Customer retention rate is an indicator of the effectiveness of a product, marketing, customer service and pricing policy. If customers are still loyal, it means that efforts can be redoubled. If not, it's time to change your strategy. It looks simple, but in fact, many factors affect retention.

The editorial board of the Commercial Director magazine lists 4 common mistakes that companies make in their calculations. Get to know them and keep them out of your work.

Why some customer acquisition methods don't work

Many firms, despite the huge budgets of advertising campaigns, are nevertheless dissatisfied with their effectiveness and complain about low returns. The study of successful and not so similar promotions allows us to highlight typical mistakes that significantly reduce their effectiveness.

• Too abstract definition of the target consumer group. The product for everyone simply does not exist. In this case, you need to start with market segmentation, which will allow you to limit the limits of the target group.
• You are not training the staff of your companies. Employees do not know the competitive advantages of the product they offer to the market. The product needs to be educated as well as the sales. For this, special trainings should be developed, and experienced specialists will help in organizing training.
• A small number of channels are used, the effectiveness of which is not analyzed. Meanwhile, it is necessary to skillfully manipulate, combine different methods to attract new customers, as well as study new ideas and practices of successful companies. You can successfully match ATL and BTL ad items.
• Lack of tangible competitive advantages that favorably distinguish your brand and products from direct competitors. The benefits should be obvious and translated into the benefits that your customer receives from purchasing your product or service.
• Low level of professional sales skills of your managers. They do not know how to fully and maximally profitable present information about your product to customers. This situation can be corrected by effective training in sales techniques.

To identify such errors, you need to analyze your business, study the effective practices of other companies, monitor the relationship between your choice of effective channels for attracting leads and fluctuations in consumer demand. All these simple tools will allow you to timely identify the reasons that prevent you from attracting new customers and developing your business.

Information about experts

Ekaterina Kuznetsova, Marketing Director, Alltech Development, Moscow. Alltek Development implements all stages of the life cycle of settlements, from concept creation to the management of completed settlements and infrastructure facilities. The company manages 6 facilities on Kievskoye, Rublevskoye and Novorizhskoye highways with a total area of ​​more than 400 hectares. The value of assets under the management of ALLTEK Development exceeds 10 billion rubles. The company has no unsecured financial obligations. It is part of the ALLTEK group of companies.

Maxim Gorbachev, expert of the Russian School of Management for b2b-sales. Maxim Gorbachev is one of the top 10 trainers according to the Sales B magazine rating. He has a legal and psychological education. Areas of competence: sales and negotiations, kickback management, sales representatives management, distribution management, organization of sales departments "from scratch", development and implementation of standards for working with clients, automation of the work of sales departments.