Miles Ahead Marketing

Imagine no longer wasting time and money on ineffective marketing, networking and cold calling! One of the big topics on every business owners mind is customer retention. Every business suffers from some level of customer attrition, but most also understand that simply keeping a customer is no way to maximize your profits. It is through an increased level of repeat and referral business that your profits will truly soar.

Aside from rising healthcare costs, I’d say that most business owner focus a great deal of time on how to become better marketers. The truth of the matter is that most advertising is boring and simply doesn’t work. So what is the answer – how do most companies build a more profitable business? The answer is a customer newsletter. A regular newsletter helps you stay top-of-mind with your current customers. Your newsletter also gives you a way to tell current customers about products and services you provide that they may not know about. And your newsletter gives your customers a way to refer you powerfully and almost effortlessly.

The problem for many companies is that writing and designing a great newsletter can be a challenge – until now! I have just released my first book, Newsletter Secrets Revealed – How to Use a Newsletter to Make Your Profits Soar, and this is an amazing one-of-a-kind book that will make producing a newsletter that gets results painless! I’ve taken all the guesswork out of how to create newsletters that get results, and it doesn’t matter what product or service you’re selling (as long as people actually want it). I not only show you everything you need to know about creating great newsletters, I also give you easy to use forms and checklists that you can use over and over again with each newsletter!  So, if you’re interest in increasing customer loyalty and boosting your profits, I suggest that you get a copy of my book at http://www.newslettersecretsrevealed.com/ and start communicating with your current customers! 

Thus far in this series we’ve established that customer testimonials are a “must have” for your marketing system. We’ve talked about the difference between heralding your own good qualities and having a satisfied customer do the talking. We’ve also looked at examples of quality testimonials and why they work.

With the background established, it’s time to discuss exactly how to employ these tactics uniformly across all of your marketing efforts.

Marketing guru Ben Hart puts it very simply: “Be a relentless collector of testimonials.”  This is the first and most important rule in testimonial marketing – you won’t get very far if you aren’t able to reach out to your clients and ask for their support.

So don’t be shy.  Get out there and request that testimonial, preferably at the time when your customer is happiest with your product or service (but be able to approach customers at any point). For important clients, don’t be afraid to offer a small incentive as a show of appreciation for their help.

In this age of multimedia, be sure to cover your bases. Don’t settle for a simple written testimonial; if possible, videotape your conversation with your client, going over their needs and how you succeeded in meeting them. With this video, you’ll not only have their words captured, but you’ll also have audio and video clips to use on the web and in other media.

As these ideas suggest, you should not settle for simply placing testimonial blurbs on your website or in direct mail pieces. Marketing experts suggest placing testimonial quotes on AdWords landing pages, in print ads, and any other media you use to communicate with potential customers.

Dan Kennedy suggests cutting customers off at the pass by offering a “preponderance of proof.”  Some of his clients even include mini flipbooks, full of testimonials, in their direct mail pieces.  Getting creative with your quotes can go a long way.

See a sample sales letter.

In my next blog, we’ll discuss seven brilliant ways to increase response using testimonials.