Small Business Archives - 25Penn Marketing

The 3 Best Ways to Keep in Contact with Your Customers Through Social Media

June 9, 2020 Samantha Mooney

In today’s society, social media has become a major component in people’s lives. Whether it is to stay up-to-date on family and friends or to discover new things, there is something for everyone on social media. For small businesses, social media is an excellent way to engage with customers on a daily basis. Below are 3 effective ways to keep contact with your customers by utilizing social media.

Stories

Instagram or Facebook Stories are a great way to keep your customers updated on a day-to-day basis. Stories are best used for daily updates due to their 24 hour posting period. With Stories, you can easily promote daily deals for your customers to discover as well as highlight new products or services. Or, if you would like feedback, create polls to get a feel of what your customers would like to see more, or less, of. Stories allow several ways to create opportunities for followers to voice their opinions!

Live Video

If you want to keep your customers updated in real-time, live video is the perfect way to reach your customer base. Use live video to show off new products, answer questions, or provide your customers updates about your store. You can even use live video to allow an open discussion with your customers to ask for input on your store. No matter what the reason is for utilizing live video, it is a great way to communicate with your customers.

Contests

Nothing gets customers more excited than a contest. Hold a contest that encourages customers to explore your website and discover all that your business has to offer. Do a giveaway that encourages interactions in the comments with your followers. Utilizing contests is an efficient way to continue communicating with your customers!

Overall, social media is an effective way to continue communicating with your customers and encourage interactions among them!

Do you have questions about social media? Visit www.25pennmarketing.com or call us at 717.496.8302!

Simple Steps to Enhance Customer Loyalty (Part 3)

March 12, 2018 25Penn Marketing

Oh the tangled webs we weave! For some business owners it may feel that some customers are continually going through a revolving door – they need your service/product, they come in and purchase, they don’t need your product for a length of time, they go dormant, then they are back again and you start over! This is not the end of the world… this is the nature of the sales beast. So, don’t beat yourself up over numbers and figures and that never-ending sales pitch. Instead, recognize these two facts and devise a plan to implement them into your marketing strategy.

Use multiple channels to serve customers well

This is a substantial point in marketing ANY product. Your customers are everywhere. Therefore, your customers are receiving messages everywhere. On average, your customer should hear your message SEVEN TIMES before they will act on it! Do you really want to put all of your eggs in one basket and only send a message on one platform?! NO! It just doesn’t make sense. Instead, diversify your messaging across multiple platforms in order to reach customers, remind customers, and get them to act now!

(Bonus: Research shows that customers who engage through multiple channels exhibit deeper loyalty. Isn’t that our whole goal here?)

Win back lost customers

Research shows that you’re twice as likely to sell to a lost customer as to a new prospect, which makes sense since your old customer knows what you do and/or what your product is. On average, a business can lose more than 20 percent of its customers every year. Create a strategy that not only for acquisition of new customers – but a way to win back old customers. You have already started a relationship with them. So, make a plan to get them back on the active customers list.

The bottom line is that customer loyalty is all about reaching your clients, getting them to recognize your brand, walking them in the door, and … Building. A. Relationship. If you want loyalty, start there – then work on the rest.

Simple Steps to Enhance Customer Loyalty (Part 2)

February 13, 2018 25Penn Marketing

They say you can’t please everyone all of the time, but you can please someone some of the time … but in the case of sales and customer service, pleasing people is your job. So why is it so time-consuming, frustrating and difficult to find customers who stick?

Customer loyalty is a difficult topic in itself – given that customers and their experiences are so varied. It adds up to a potential headache for small business owners. But there are ways to make it more understandable and even, dare I say it … better.

Serve first, sell second

Customers are smarter and better informed than ever. They expect business with you to be hassle free and gratifying for them. If you don’t deliver, they’ll find another source.

Don’t forget to listen to the customers rather than talking at them. According to Leadership Mentor Michael Hyatt, we should always remember “Marketing is really just about sharing your passion.” When it comes down to it, the less you worry about the big “sell,” the more your customer will feel a connection. Conversation can begin – more you share your passion the more your customer wants to be involved, wants to buy in, and wants to be a part of it.

Seek out customer complaints

This may seem counterproductive but is truly a great way to build trust and head off any potential catastrophes. After all, bad news travels fast! Generally, only 10 percent of complaints ever get articulated by clients. And over time, complaints turn to resentments and become highly negative. Ask what you/we can do better and customers will appreciate it. communicate regularly with customers, weaving successes into case studies and other content that showcases exactly how their respective companies provides value and solves problems. Focusing on the problems customers are having emphasizes a your expertise in the field.

Stay responsive

Responsiveness is closely tied to the perception of good service and technology has grown expectations of immediate response. Quick response has become more critical. We are in a digital era and are expected to be available quickly – whether the customer has good news or a complaint. Make sure that you have a process in place to hear out the customer, make amends if needed (or accept praise!) and continue the open conversation. It is amazing what a difference just being available can make!

In fact, years of experience tells CEO Tom Cates that “Strong customer relationships drive sales, sustainability, and growth.” And isn’t every relationship full of ups and downs – but also is built upon trust. Get your clients and customers to trust in YOU and trust in your product. They will come back for more.

CVAEMA Website Has Officially Launched

February 6, 2018 25Penn Marketing

When the board of Cumberland Valley Antique Engine & Machinery Association (CVAEMA) approached us to create a new website for them, they had a vision: a refreshed website with an updated look, enhanced functionality, the ability to showcase who they are and what they have to offer, and they hoped to attract both event attendees as well as draw in new members with an interest in agricultural history.

To do this, they were looking at becoming even more user friendly by highlighting their annual events. They wanted to make navigation easy for attendees andvendors to learn where to stay and what features to expect at the event.

We jumped right in to research, design, code, setup, and handle modifications for this amazing new vision. Our team wanted to give their website the “WOW” factor they desired– by using their organizations’ photos and a style to blend them into a retro feel that still felt fresh and exciting.

All of these components make for a complex project – how do you pull together years of information but make it look new? How do you make the site user-friendlywithout losing information necessary to the organization?

To create the new CVAEMA website we did our research, investigated the event-planning software they currently use and are comfortable with, and then started the fun part:

Design
Coding
Logo Design
Community Calendar Creation
Blog Integration
Content Management
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The end result is a fully responsive website with a modern yet classic feel that is simple to navigate. The NEW website for Cumberland Valley Antique Engine & Machinery Association (CVAEMA) is ready to serve as a valuable tool for the organization.

Need help?

Our team can create compelling and awesome graphics for your website that make your brand standout across all devices. We encourage you to visit www.cvantiqueengine.org on all devices to understand the improved responsive technology.

Have an idea or vision for your website but not quite sure where to start …let’s talk.

Simple Steps to Enhance Customer Loyalty (Part 1)

January 19, 2018 25Penn Marketing

There is nothing more emotionally driven in our consumer-laced era than customer loyalty. It is a phenomena based on connectivity, friendship, and trust. And, according to the folks at BeyondPhilosophy.com, it is the result of consistently positive emotional experiences, physical attribute-based satisfaction and perceived value of an experience, which includes the product or services.

What all of this means is that your customers are looking at you (and, in effect, your business) as a friend. You have to prove that you and the customer have a connection, that there is some interaction that builds their trust to you and loyalty to your brand.

So how do we do this? There are some important things to remember about those oh-so-fickle customers:

Know your loyalty stages

Customers become loyal to a brand one step at a time. Understand their stage and move them to the next level. Prospect, first time customer, repeat customer, client, and advocate. Each step is an important part of the process and is a great opportunity to connect with them, learn their business, and anticipate their next need.

Steve Jobs explained it best when he said: “Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.”

(Remember: 42 percent of Americans will stop shopping with a brand after just two bad experiences – so you can’t mess up, or if you do, be ready to spin the bad experience into a good one! You can keep them on track, but you have to be diligent and aware.)

Practice the 80/20 rule

It is said that roughly 80 percent of revenue is generated by 20 percent of your customers. Monitor those customers to make sure they’re happy.

The fact is, customer engagement is what leads to customer retention. Customers who are engaged are five times more likely to remain loyal to you. Invest in your relationship with the 20 percent of revenue-generating customers and you will have loyalty for sure!

After all, wouldn’t you trust your friends? That is what your truly engaged customers react to – a friendly vibe that makes them want to be a part of your brand. And that is definitely worth your time!