Renée Warren's Blog

Don’t Shoot the Messenger

July 14, 2009 at 1:47 pm Leave a comment

Yah right!  In a society where the average person sees over 3,000 messages per day, it’s no wonder people are tuning out the crap and focusing on the relevant information.  Marketers are wasting millions on mass messaging this way.  So, how to avoid this pitfall on only a small business budget?  Speak to your customers personally. You must win individual customer share, not total market share.

To do this, you must understand your customer’s value: who generates the most revenues and profits? Why do these customers purchase from you?  Are they loyal to you and only you?  Gaining a better understanding of their attitudes, preferences and motivation that drives them to BUY BUY BUY can help you improve your relationships and, ultimately keep them as customers for the long run.

You need to find out as much as possible about your customers in terms of the following:

–          Purchase patterns

–          Product and service preferences

–          Response History

–          Overall trends

Once you tally up this data, you will then be able to segment, profile, and model your customers.  Result:  a database of rich information that will allow you to customize your marketing strategies.

Believe me, regardless of your industry, personalized marketing programs work.  Now you need to figure out what works for you so that your customers aren’t shooting the messenger…YOU!

Here’s a nifty marketing blog to follow:  Marketing Plan Queen.

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Entry filed under: entrepreneur, small business, small business tips.