Not too long ago I was at a place in my business where I couldn’t hit consistent five figure months. No matter what level you are financially in your business there comes a time when every business owner wants to exponentially grow.
What I mean by that is they want to create lifetime customers not necessarily one-off sales. I’m pretty sure that you can relate.
If you’ve been in business a while then you’re probably not having a problem with getting sales, the problem is getting the sales consistently. Getting sales consistently enough to where you’ll be able to scale up in your business. Scaling up so much that you take back your time. This is a problem that most entrepreneurs face.
One of the ways a business builds its brand is to tug at the emotions of their audience.
Oftentimes people assume that this is done once you get a person to spend with you the first time. This is absolutely wrong. Creating long-lasting relationships with your clients happen in the marketing stage. It’s called emotional marketing.
Today I’m going to share with you 8 ways you can start cultivating these relationships with your audience before they even signed on the dotted line. This way you will find yourself retaining more customers.
Let’s jump in!
1. Show Them That You Know Them
The more research you do into the needs and desires of your target audience, the more your audience will be able to tell that you’re interested in them. When you show interest in them, it will make them interested in your business and you. When you discover something about your audience, let them know through your content and your actions. One of the things that I can say when it comes to my business as I always think about my audience first when I see something even when I’m driving down the street I would say who the ladies would love to know about this.
2. Treat Them Right
So many times business owners have sales and special events to get new clients. What about the clients you already have? Keeping them is far more important than getting a new client, and less costly too. Do something special for your existing client base or fan base that shows them that you care about them. Give them a discount, a special freebie, or something else that attaches them to you in a special way. Don’t be cheap with what you give.
3. Be Transparent and Honest
One way to endear yourself to your audience is to always be transparent and honest. If you make a mistake, own up to it. If you change your views on something, it’s okay to admit it. Doing so will help you captivate your audience and make you appear so much more trustworthy to them. I can’t tell you how much you being transparent with my audience has helped me cultivate a close net community. In the beginning I was scared to share so much. We always wonder will we lose people because of what we share? Will they not like us anymore if we share too much? This is where I have to urge you to take these questions out of your head. Your ideal client needs to be able to connect with you immediately and being transparent and honest is the best way to get that happen.
4. Put People before Numbers
While you do things to help promote your business, it’s important to keep your morals and remember that people are more important than numbers. If you put people first in your business, including yourself, you’ll find that you naturally improve your bottom line. The more people trust you, the more they’ll buy from you. Gary Vaynerchuk always says that if you stay focused on providing consistent value for your audience it’s like guilting them into wanting to purchase from you. This is so true. The idea here is to know who your audience is, know how you serve them, and show up for them consistently.
5. Be Fun When Appropriate
No one wants to feel as if they’re communicating with a robot or someone who is not real. Be funny when it’s appropriate so that you can show your humanity. Your humanness will shine through when you add some humor and fun to posts, emails, and even sales pages.
6. Be Responsive
Your customers expect to get an answer when they have a problem, and they expect it to be quickly. Provide many different ways for your audience to contact you. Explain to your audience at each method how long they can expect to wait for a response. Then follow up and do what you said you would do.
7. Engage with Your Audience
Find ways to engage with your audience. Ask for their advice or ideas when it comes to a new product or service you’re going to launch. They can help name it, help define what it should be, and even how much you should charge for it. Your audience can also be your best source of word-of-mouth marketing.
8. Consider the Communication Format
Also, it’s important to try to get an understanding of how people communicate within their environment. Communication online in chat, instant message, Twitter, or a blog, is far different from communicating on the telephone or in person. Even email is different from other methods of communication. It’s imperative that you determine what is different and then make up for that with the type of communication they’re using.
Building customer relationships that last is part of the goal of emotional marketing. When you’ve formed an attachment with the consumer, they will stick with you for years – through price increases, trials and tribulations, and more. You can’t go wrong with building relationships.You also want to consider the words you use when trying to emotionally connect with your audience. I’ve created a list of words for you to get started with. Download the list.
What to do next?
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