“The Money is in the list” – they say

In the good old days, if we had a store, a customer would enter the store, possibly purchase something and then leave and never come back. A one-timer. When that customer was gone, he/she was gone. We had no way of building a relationship with him/her and no possibility to give more value to generate more sales.

Today, marketing is different, it is all about building, having relationships and giving our customers value. Create a conversation. Today, we build relationships with our customer and make sure that they would come back through different tactics, one of them is to build a list.

Start a conversation online

We live in the Information age and we need to reach our customers by giving them valuable content, content that can help them with their purchasing decision throughout a sales process. Research show that our customers have changed their purchasing behavior, showing us that they are doing all their research online before making a purchasing decision. As a business owner, this needs to be addressed and adapted to, especially since the customer now is considered to have traveled 60% through the sales process before they contact a company for a service or product. Since our customers want the information available online, you as a business owner need to be able to provide that online or you will miss out on sales. Start a conversation online. Have you taken action to adapt to these changes?

Let us get back to the store

Ok, I had the example about the store, let us continue with that. What if the store had an option for their customers to sign up with their email? What benefits would that give the store? Well, suddenly the store has the opportunity to start a conversation with the customer, give them more value and have the possibility to tailor offers that are right for their specific audience. Which in return would give the store valuable insight in how to target their customers in their marketing.

The value of a customer

A current customer is as important as a new, probably even more, because a new customer costs a lot more to get. A current customer can also be a very good brand ambassador that recommend your brand to its friends and family, i.e. generate more sales for you. They also need less persuasion to make a purchase. So these need to feel valued. You are no longer just in the “running a store business”; you are in the “relationship business”.

All the best,

Carina Asp
Marketing Coach