Does it seem like your business has reached its peak?
Has your sales remained stagnant for quite some time despite the fact that your product or service is still very much needed today?
Is the size of your target market increasing but the number of your customers remains unchanged?
If any of these is true for you, then you need to re-examine your marketing strategy. Your marketing tactics may have worked in the past, but they may no longer be effective today.
No business succeeds without any kind of marketing. Your marketing strategy though must be regularly fine-tuned to adapt to an ever changing world.
So, if you’re running a small business offering a potentially good product or service but are not drawing enough customers, there are some effective marketing tactics, like the ones discussed in Camino Financial’s article “5 Marketing Tactics To Drive Sales”, that may be just what you need to help bring in more sales.
Article Chapters
Know And Understand Your Customers
Who are they?
What needs do they have that your product or service can meet?
Can you find them in the internet or in the real world?
You can start answering these questions by conducting regular surveys to get an indication of what your customers think of your product and what role it plays in their daily lives. Or, you can also meet them in person so you can have a more relaxed discussion with them. Offering incentives or appreciation tokens will encourage them to have these discussions with you.
As you identify the specific customer need your product or service is satisfying, you’ll logically get a clearer picture of who you should be targeting.
For example, let’s say you sell home-cooked meals.
If your clients are saying that buying your product saves them they’d otherwise use cooking, you’d be looking at a market group who don’t have too much time in their hands for cooking and preparing meals. Most likely, these are busy working individuals whose age range may run from 21 to 60.
This will also tell you to focus on them and not to spend too much time with teenagers, senior citizens and people who spend most of the day at home.
5 Marketing Tactics That Will Help Your Business
If you already know who your clients are, then it’s time to start thinking of some marketing tactics you could use to boost your sales.
1. Grasp of Your Competitive Edge
In today’s business world, products and services from different providers are so similar that customers can’t take too much time trying to identify the best one.
This is where a clear and distinct product differentiation needs to be strongly communicated to your target market. If your competition, for example, is also offering convenient, time-saving and delicious food, compare it with yours.
Does yours offer more time saved?
Is yours tastier?
Does your packaging seal in and preserve the content’s quality better?
Does your product have one feature not found in others?
Do you have a friendlier, more personalised customer service?
Whatever it is, make sure it’s persuasively communicated to your target consumers in a way they’ll perceive your product to be superior.
2. Personalise All Your Approach
It’s a digital technology-driven world that we live in today. With all the electronic devices and gadgets, smartphones and tablets surrounding us, the personal touch is fast vanishing.
Boosting your sales requires personalising your approach every step of the customers’ journey, online or offline.
This boils down to having your marketing, sales and client service teams working hand in hand towards having a better understanding of who these customers and prospects are and how to best handle them.
Get into your customers’ shoes. You’ll have a better perspective of how they see your company, product brand, and service.
Craft your message well and meet them where they mostly hang out.
3. Keep Your Customers Happy
Among the many marketing tactics, this is one that is often taken for granted.
Many businesses make the mistake of focusing too much on acquiring new customers instead of keeping current ones. When you make a sale, you create a relationship between your business and your customer.
That relationship should be mutually beneficial and maintained with great effort.
Gone are the days when people lined up for your product or service (unless you are Apple!).
Nowadays, you have to woo them to consider your product or service.
Customers who feel they have been neglected or forgotten will no longer buy from you again. Worse, they’ll tell others of how bad your business treated them.
On the other hand, customers who feel they are valued by your business will surely return and by word of mouth, inform others to also buy from you.
Treat your current customers like you would treat a friend. Listen instead of arguing with them, especially if they have problems with your product or service. Send them a text or e-mail to ask if the product they bought from you is serving them well or even just to say “hi”.
4. Get into Email Marketing
This is one of the most effective marketing tactics. It’s so easy, you can get it started today. And thankfully, it won’t cost you an arm and a leg.
The premise, of course, is that you’ve built a list of customers, prospects, and subscribers. You then market your product in a personalised, friendly manner (not an in-your-face hard sell) by e-mailing them regularly so that you stay on top of their minds when they need your product or service.
A very popular form of e-mail marketing is the newsletter. It’s where you can talk about product news, promotions, big deals, customer reviews, and testimonials.
When done interestingly, with lots of customer-relevant features and valuable information, a newsletter can help generate sales and profits.
5. Develop a Social Media Strategy
With just about everybody spending at least 3 hours in front of a computer or a smartphone for leisure, social media management is a great medium to use for your marketing tactics.
You can reach potential customers and clients on sites like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. You can then drive them to your website and blogs that should provide the answers to their questions, issues, and concerns.
Address as many of these as you can.
As you regularly do this, it will enable you to build and establish trust and to foster relationships that should ultimately result in more sales.
It’s Time to Use Marketing to Your Advantage
These are tried and tested marketing tactics small and medium-size businesses have adopted in their day-to-day operations. As they see their sales volume growing and over-all business expanding, they religiously continue to apply these.
Isn’t it about time you tried at least one too? You won’t regret it and your sales will boost so much you’ll never go back to the olden ways!