Connecting with your customer base is a must if your company is to achieve the sales levels and brand recognition you’re looking for. To help you reach out to the relevant people, here are four of the most effective ways to engage with your target audience.
1. Use face-to-face sales
Unlike many other forms of marketing, face-to-face sales involves a two-way process of communication. As field marketing experts Appco Group point out, as well as giving companies the chance to highlight the benefits of their goods and services, it provides customers with a chance to ask questions and get immediate responses.
By having open, friendly and informative discussions with potential customers, your business stands to build up a potentially lasting emotional connection with them – and this could translate into impressive levels of repeat custom.
2. Reach out via social media
Social media has opened up a whole new channel of communication between companies and consumers. By being active on sites like Facebook and Twitter, you can keep in constant contact with your audience. Bear in mind that it’s important not to be too salesy in your tone when you’re using these channels.
Consumers will simply stop following you if you bombard them with marketing material. Instead, you should see social media as a chance to provide people with useful, interesting and sharable information. You can also use it to engage in conversations with consumers and to enhance your customer service by responding directly to people’s concerns and questions.
3. Send newsletters
Newsletters offer a tried and tested way to stay in touch with your customers – and you can send them out either via email or through the post. If they’re online, you can include share buttons for social media sites to increase readership.
Whether you use these resources to offer your audience industry insights or to provide details on new product ranges and special offers, or you do a mixture of these things, newsletters can keep you on people’s radars and raise your profile.
4. Conduct market research
Market research can also be an important part of the mix when you’re trying to connect with customers. By getting insights into the opinions of your consumer base, you can hone your products or services and increase their appeal.
You can also get feedback on your current marketing techniques and messages to see how they could be improved. There are a number of market research methods available, ranging from simple online questionnaires to detailed focus group sessions.
5. All business is personal. Show the human side of your business
At the heart of all business transactions are two personal relationships. Reach out to your customers from time to time to make sure you deeply care about their business. Find out how issues they face when using your product or service.
Talk to them. Interact and seek feedback. The more you know about your customers, the more of their expectations you can meet. To achieve that depth of experience for every repeat customer, go a step further and offer amazing customer service.
