With ROI as a constant focal point, business owners must implement strategies which accomplish multiple objectives.  However how many have considered this approach with their customer retention and new business marketing efforts?

Combine Customer Retention and New Business Strategies

According to a recent study, 41% of small business owners said their top short-term priority is maintaining their current customers. While 26% say they are focused on growing their business. These statistics come from OPEN Small Business Monitor, the semi-annual survey of small business owners conducted by American Express.

That’s two-thirds of all small business owners surveyed that identified satisfying current customers and new business development as their top priorities. I must admit to being surprised the percentage isn’t higher. After all, not many priorities would be more important to any size business. The question that comes to mind though is how many companies actually combine these efforts under one strategic approach?

The Internet and Social Media platforms provide businesses with unique opportunities to combine customer retention efforts with business development initiatives. When a company provides relevant and compelling information, shares its expertise, exchanges ideas, offers solutions and answers questions to consumers it allows itself to build relationships with both current and potential customers.

Companies which maintain an active and evolving digital presence create a consultative approach with their current and potential customers – one that they actually learn to appreciate. It provides an opportunity to communicate with customers during all phases of the sales cycle – without being intrusive. When done properly, it’s an approach that provides transparency, gains credibility and builds trust with your target customers. It serves multiple needs for a business including the important areas of customer service and lead generation.

Does your company incorporate strategies which connect simultaneously with your current customer base and your target market? I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts.

Your content marketing strategy will determine your ability to attract and retain a target audience. Sure the communication platform or media channel will formulate the dynamics of your conversation and the tone of your message. It will also dictate the expectations of the audience. However in the end, it’s what you say and how you say it that will determine your ability to engage your target market. It’s the information that you provide that will resonate with your potential customers.

Content marketing is becoming the difference maker today. Emerging technologies and changing media landscapes will continue to challenge business owners and marketers with reaching their target customers. However, if you focus on delivering compelling information to your target market, you will become relevant to them.

Do you have a content marketing strategy in place?

Regardless if you are communicating in person, online or through other mediums, building credibility with clients takes time and effort. When communicating with a potential client in person, the objective should be to discover and understand that client’s specific needs. Once understood, your goal is to provide information or advice on solutions that best meet those needs. Depending on the business, product and service this process can take several days, weeks or even months. It’s a consultative approach which I believe works best.

The online approach should be the same. I recently wrote that sharing expertise, exchanging ideas, providing solutions and answering questions allows for building lasting client relationships. Brands and companies that provide useful, transparent information become relevant and credible. Again this takes time and some commitment.

Providing compelling content to your prospects via your website, blog, eNewsletters and other communications increases the ability to influence the perception of your company, and ultimately the behavior of your target customers.

How are you developing creditility with your clients online?

Digital and social media’s level playing field does not however ensure victory – they simply allow you to compete. Those of us who participate in or follow competitive sports know that talent, decision making, execution, and desire to win all make the difference once the game is on.

In today’s information age, relevant and compelling content is the key to engaging target customers and thus becomes the talent in our sports metaphor. Creating original content on your website and increasing online visibility via inbound marketing strategies all contribute to establishing your company’s digital presence.

Choosing media channels and topics of conversations to connect with your target customers are significant components in the decision making process. Writing blogs and e-Newsletters, using Twitter, Facebook or other social media networks all can be effective tools for small businesses to compete if used in proper context.

Frequency of producing content becomes the execution piece to the equation. How often you update content on your company’s website and chosen media vehicles is essential to managing your online presence, maintaining the interest of your customers and maximizing SEO.

Small businesses that provide useful, transparent information become relevant and credible. This increases their ability to influence perception, and ultimately the behavior of target customers – the obvious desire to win reference.

Many small businesses possess the expertise of their products and services as well as the passion for providing solutions to their customers. This is the beauty of doing business with these organizations. The small business challenge however, is how to participate competitively on this newly created level playing field of connecting with target customers.

Is the talent within your company to communicate effectively? Can you afford to assign someone the time to focus on the marketing strategy? Can you afford not to?

The game is on – is your company participating?

Over the past several years many forward-thinking companies have formed a consultative selling approach.  In short, consultative selling is solution-led rather than product-led.  The idea is to emphasize customer needs and meeting those needs with solutions combining products or services.  A consultative seller provides information or advice on which solution best meets the clients’ needs.  When properly and genuinely executed, the salesperson becomes a valued consultant in their respective field to their client, which in turn leads to a successful partnership.

Content marketing has several descriptions.  However I think we all can agree that the concept of content marketing is totally focused on customers’ needs and interests.  It’s the art of engaging a target audience by delivering relevant information about a subject of interest or need, and then influencing a behavior. That’s my description.

Content marketing allows organizations to provide current and potential clients with useful information or advice.  In other words, content marketing is a solution-led selling approach.  When done properly, content marketing positions your company as an industry expert (consultant), it builds trust with your customers, it generates leads, and it leads to doing business.  It’s a solution-provider technique.  Sound familiar.

There are many forms of content marketing which companies can incorporate into their marketing and sales process.  The challenge, like with any strategic approach, is execution.

How is your organization handling communications through emerging technologies?  How are you connecting with current and potential clients?