Low Cost Marketing Tactics - Part 2 - Adult B2B Marketing Tip

[AdultB2B]

Low Cost Marketing Tactics

First of all, it was great to see everyone at the XBiz Summer Forum in Las Vegas! Probably the best XBiz Summer Forum ever for doing business.

Way back on Tuesday, before the show I gave you some low cost tactical marketing strategies. Here are more:

• "Personalize" your customers' shopping experience

With a properly developed and managed database, you can track of your customers' purchases, which will then allow you to better direct them to other products or services that might interest them. Amazon.com tracks customer purchases and uses software to automatically recommend new books or music to them based on their past selections. This can be applied to any number of businesses with a little bit of creativity and imagination.

• Stay in touch with your customers

Postcards can be an effective way to stay connected to customers and keep them apprised of sales or special offers. If your product or service warrants it, send all customers a post-purchase thank-you note. I've seen companies that add a personal touch to this strategy by sending customers birthday postcards that give discounts on any purchase made the month of their birthday. Coupling this strategy with the previous strategy will allow you to focus on offers and gifts that are best suited to each customer individually.

• Encourage referrals

Existing customers may be the best way to attract new ones. Give your existing customers coupons or other incentives for referring new people to your client's business. Better yet, give your customer the gift up front and they’ll feel obligated to give you a referral.

Give new customers a taste of what you have to offer

With the increase in advertisements that a consumer comes in touch with on a daily basis, it has become more difficult to cut through the clutter to attract new customers. Aside from referral programs and advertisements, sometimes all it takes to get a new customer is to offer them a taste of your product or service.

Here's an example: Let's say you are a massage therapist who only had enough business to fill up 2 to 3 days of the week, but wanted to double your business over the next couple of months. You could visit businesses and make a deal with the office manager to allow you to give each of his staff members a free 10 minute chair massage. This allows you to get in front of prospects and give out your card after they get a taste of the service and the business manager gets a perk out of it to - happy employees. It's a win-win situation.

This can be used in any industry. Car dealerships offer prospective customers a test drive of the vehicle they want to buy. Some now allow you to keep the car overnight. With a little creativity and imagination, you may be able to provide similar "trials" of your product or service to win over new customers.

Leverage your own expertise

If you are a Professional, you can market the business by raising your profile as an industry expert. That way, when your future customers have a need for someone in your area of expertise, they will naturally turn to you. Volunteer your time and expertise to community and industry events, workshops or associations. You also can see if any of the media in your target market would allow you to publish articles in their publication or give tips on their radio station.

However, don't do this just to push your business or services at these events - it could damage your credibility and make people feel they were cheated. With creative thinking, you can enjoy the benefits of well-planned marketing efforts without a huge price tag. Take the time to know what your customers want, and make sure to provide it to the customers you already have. With that goal accomplished, you can focus on winning new customers via focused research efforts, or establishing yourself as the local source of expert advice.

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This week on Adult Marketing Talk join host Bruce Friedman as we review last week's XBiz Summer Forum with guests J-Sin from Sin 2.0 and Joel Hoskins of Commercegate/DHD Media. Join us this Wednesday at 5 pm Eastern and 2 pm Pacific on .