ShowMeCreative.com

1.   Think about what makes YOU spend money when money is tight!  Now use that knowledge to tap into your customers’ buying habits.

It’s not that people don’t spend money during tight recessionary times—it’s that they spend it more carefully.  Your challenge is to ensure they think of you and your business as one of the places they’ll get real “value” for dollars spent.

It could be as simple as running several short duration sales.  Creating a sense of urgency is one of the oldest marketing strategies around—but if you carefully select the items for the sale and promote them properly you’ll not only survive—you’ll prosper.

Maybe you put items on sale that typically never go on sale.  Or, maybe you bundle your best sellers with a slow mover at a huge savings.

Spend YOUR dollars wisely on promoting your sale to select target markets and you’ll get the attention of savvy customers who truly understand the value of “value added” products and services.

2.  Do you really know your customers?  Do a bit of analysis to ensure you’re meeting your customers’ needs.

Do you know what your customers read, watch, listen to?
Are you selling what they want to buy--or what you want to sell?
Are there certain groups of customers who need extended hours to shop at your business?
Do your customers respond well to incentives to buy additional items?

There’s no better way to meet your customers’ needs than to faithfully analyze your customers every quarter (at a minimum twice a year).  Look for sales patterns and opportunities to capitalize on trends.  Knowing your customers allows you to customize your marketing plan. Seldom does “one size fit all” unless of course you’re selling Hawaiian Muumuus.  Getting the right message to the right customers takes analysis, setting goals and targeted marketing—the essentials for maximizing your return on investment (ROI).

3.  Now is not the time to cut your advertising budget - but it is the time to rethink how you spend your marketing dollars.

You’ve no doubt heard that it takes at least nine impressions before someone remembers you.  But did you know that it takes about 30 impressions to ensure they see or hear that infamous nine?

So, instead of cutting your display ads or radio/TV commercials, think of ways to target the message to the audience.  The time of day a radio/TV spot runs can make a difference in who hears your message.  Rotating ads among several publications or reducing the size but not the frequency keeps your message out there.  Or develop a unique look for your ads so they get noticed regardless of where they run.  Never underestimate the power of a great logo or a strong brand! 

4.  Direct marketing is alive and well if done properly.  Everyone pretty much understands that sending one message to the “universe” is not a good use of marketing dollars.

But sending three customized messages to three distinct groups of customers is a very smart use of marketing dollars! And to do that you need to develop a customer list. 

Once you know your customers preferences and buying habits, the next step is to “code” them for distinct categories.  You can code your customer list by gender, age, income, location, or buying habits.  Probably easiest way to get started in direct mail is to segment your customers by “buying status.”  You’ve got active customers (Code A). You’ve got former customers (Code F). And you’ve got prospects (Code P).

The next step is to develop and send targeted offers that match the needs and buying habits of each group.  It’s not as difficult as it might seem at first glance.  You can send these as colorful postcards, letters, or electronically if you have their email addresses.  Remember to measure results!  You’ll want to do more of what works and modify what doesn’t work so well.

The goal of each of these promotions is to get customers to think of you as a destination.  Making the actual sale will depend on whether you have what they want to buy at a price they want to spend, and how well you deliver customer service.  But none of it matters if you don’t get them in the store (or to your website)!

5.  Develop an “e” relationship with your customers.  I don’t know anyone who likes SPAM in the inbox; but I do know lots of folks who love knowing about a good deal that just happens to be what they are looking for!

The challenge for business owners is to make sure your e-postcards, e-mails, and e-newsletters are well-designed so they make it to the inbox, brief and to the point so they get read, and full of products and services with all those value-added features and benefits that take the reader from curious to customer. Done well, it’s an inexpensive way to get colorful, targeted messages to
your customers.

6.  Don’t let lack of time or the high price of gas keep customers away!  Now is the perfect time to develop a vibrant website or update your current site with online shopping features.

I’m the first to admit I love to touch the merchandise (or kick the tires for you guys reading this) during enjoyable shopping sprees.  But for many folks who are time challenged—or gasoline challenged—online shopping is the only way to shop.

There are so many options in website development these days—from a simple “here’s who we are and how to find us” to a full blown “store” complete with product video demonstrations, full catalogs of products and services and easy checkout processes—all designed for a fast, pleasurable shopping experience.

7.  Keep it new and fresh!  An active website is only as good as its content.  If your site always looks the same it won’t take long for customers to stop visiting.

Get in a routine of changing the home page often.  Add specials and previews of new products.  Update your catalog with a “just in” section and be sure there’s a “going, going, gone” section for bargain shoppers.

You’re not done yet.  Don’t forget that a cool website needs cool marketing so people know it exists!

8.  Word of Mouth Advertising Really Does Work!  It’s human nature to want to share something wonderful with your best friends.  And likewise, to share (more likely to warn) your friends of bad experiences.

When was the last time you actually did an audit of your customer service?  Try a secret shopper approach to get a really unbiased review of how your staff handles customers and how your service compares to your competition.  Implementing a customer care program that ensures your customers have only wonderful things to tell their friends is money (and time) well spent.  It’s trite but true—exemplary customer service before, during and after the sale builds relationships that bring customers back—and they often bring their friends too!

9.  Do you know the Lifetime Value of your customer?  Knowing this key metric will be very helpful in planning a marketing plan/marketing budget.

This is a figure you’ll want to know in order to calculate how much you can spend to acquire a new customer.  The formula for figuring the Lifetime Value (LTV) of a customer is (Frequency of Purchase) X (Duration of Loyalty) X Gross profit = LTV.

Assume the average duration of loyalty for your business is 10 years.  If over that “lifetime” the average customer spends $8,000 then it’s easy to see that spending more on getting a new customer is money well spent by the return on that investment.  On the other hand, if your LTV is 2 years and $200, then you need to do two things:  carefully target your new customer initiatives and begin working to improve the average duration of loyalty.  This can be done by making sure you are selling what your customers want at prices they want to pay, delivering exemplary customer service and keeping customers informed of sales, new products and special values.

10.  Keep that inventory moving!  It’s a win-win when you combine great customer savings with inventory reduction strategies. Customers love great deals and you want to move that inventory.

Keeping your inventory fresh and new in slow times is a challenge.  That’s where the “2 for 1”
or “free with purchase” incentives can really help you.  In addition to enticing customers into the store with value added specials, you are also moving inventory. And of course, when the new inventory arrives you’ve got the perfect reason to place ads in your local media (especially good for getting the attention of new customers).  And don’t forget to send targeted (personal) messages by email or postcards to your loyal customers, maybe with a special discount for early purchases.

Regardless of the nature of your business, you must tell people who you are, what you sell, how to reach you - and you must do it often.  How you tell your story will make a huge difference on your success.