Communicate Regularly

A successful business promotional program includes regular and meaningful communication with both customers and prospects. However, this is not about direct promotion of your business or product. It is about how you can help improve your customers’ and prospects’ businesses. If you have something useful to say, emails, newsletters, and blogs are all effective tools.

Email

• Blasting mass generic emails has lost its power due to the recipients’ overloaded inboxes.
• Don’t get caught in the spam filters! Get personal on a mass communication scale.
• Use personalized salutations (i.e. Dear Bill). You should be able to find an email service that can automatically do this for you!
• Look within your database for similarities. Create homogenous groups and create a piece specifically targeted to each.
• Including tips within the emails helps to focus on your customer’s needs while positioning yourself as an expert.

Newsletters

• Help to showcase your talent and can be either printed or electronic.
• Communicate on a regular basis (i.e. quarterly, bi-monthly, or monthly).
• Create content that is useful for the reader. Having a compelling cover story is the key to each issue.
• Develop a creative and catchy name for the issue. Look at the content of your newsletter while brainstorming for help.
• Include in your content recaps on recent success. This shows customers and prospects that if you can do this for one person, you can do it for others.
• If you are having difficulty finding content, look at where you have expertise.

Blogs

• Great for talented writers with something to say that can help improve a client’s growing business.
• Remember: Blogs are a great way to publish your own ideas; however, posts on the internet go into cyberspace forever.
• Make sure to communicate very regularly (i.e. weekly). This shows customers and prospects that you are an expert and have time for them.