When I was leading a local chamber of commerce a few years ago, a company came into my office and offered to give us 50 t-shirts with the name of our city on the front and ads of local businesses on the back. All I had to do was sign and agree to receive the t-shirts. The shirts seemed like a great give-away that would cost us nothing.
Driving visitors to your website and increasing your social media followers is exciting. But how do you turn those visitors into donors, volunteers or clients? How do you use social media to fulfill your non profit organization's mission?
One of our clients took the plunge to invest in inbound marketing. They found with a mix of blogging, social media and now video they have reached new audiences, increased donations and increased the number of people who come to them for services.
On the outside, inbound marketing looks like a lot of work backed by a bunch of crossed fingers. You write a few blog posts, throw out some links on social media and wait--hopefully--for the leads to start pouring in through your website.
A survey last year by Custora shows customer acquisition via email has quadrupled over the last 4 years. For small businesses, one of the major roadblocks to starting and sustaining an email marketing campaign is building their list. If you never start, you’ll never reach your goal, so let’s get started with a good list of current customers who want to hear your message.
If you’ve noticed, all the big box stores are asking for your email address. Why? Because they know customers respond to email marketing. When a customer buys from your retail location or schedules a service with your company, ask for their email address. You can start by emailing a receipt or a thank you for your purchase email.
Photo curtesy of: http://www.azjerome.com/
You had some great creative trade show ideas, you prepared for it ,and you went. You engaged with people at your booth and on social media. You gathered a whole slew of emails, and now it’s over. As your trade show season is coming to a close, it’s time for the real work to begin. Many of you probably came home with a long list of new leads, and the challenge facing you now is following up with all of them. If you’re struggling with your follow-up strategy, know that you are not alone. Implementing a few of these steps will get you well on your way to making sure your show was worth the time and money.
When sales teams (and often owners) meet with us, their main question is: “Will your services increase my sales?” When marketing pros meet with us they ask us, “How can you improve my online image and customer engagement?”
Earlier this year I sat in a marketing meeting led by an agency focused on helping Mississippi businesses (and really businesses across the Southeast) realize the potential of social media and digital advertising. One of the presenters made the comment, “Yes, Facebook is pushing businesses to spend money on advertising, but it’s really good for us as marketers. It affirms our position that social media is a relevant advertising media.”