One of the most effective ways to grow your business is by monetising your existing customers. Here are some tips to help you better monetise your existing customers
Get to Know Your Customers
Taking the time to get to know your customers can produce immense results. By better understanding your customers you should gain valuable insights about their interests, problems, upcoming events, desires and more.
This can help you tailor a marketing strategy and message that will have a higher chance of resonating with them. You can also learn what additional products and services that you can sell your existing customers.
You can do this through:
- Interactions with social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
- Observing your customers behaviours online and offline (ie: what networking groups are they a part of, what do they discuss online, who are they connected with?
- Meeting up with them physically, arranging to get-togethers.
Remember in business it is always easier to sell an existing customer than create a new one. Another added benefit is that if your customers have a pleasant experience, chances are that your existing customers will help spread the word to those in their professional or social circle, which can bring you even more business.
Identify the top 30% of your customers
All customers are not created equal.
Identify your “power customers”. Identifying who the top 30% of your existing customers are and customising a marketing and communications plan specifically for them will yield better results than having the misconceived notion that all customers should be treated or communicated with the same.
Launch a contest and share images of the winners on your social media
Keeping your existing customer engaged through a contest could be a fun and powerful way to grow awareness of your business.
If you sell a product or have a membership website or social group, consider having a contest where the existing customer who generates the most sign up or sales gets some sort of prize. Once you do have a winner or winners, make sure that you take pictures and place them on your blog and social sites. This is a fun way to raise awareness and engage your existing customer base.
Incentivise them to spread the word
Affiliate marketing can be a very powerful way to grow the right business. Consider starting an affiliate program for your existing customers that would enable them to generate additional income by sharing their experiences and appreciation of your product or services.
The contributions of each affiliate can be tracked in a number of ways, but often is done through a unique referral link.
Harness the power of Social Proof by seeking out testimonials
If all of these people are doing business with you and having such a good experience, it must be something worth exploring for them as well. Seek to acquire testimonials from as many happy customers and influencers as you can to fully leverage the power of social proof and increase your credibility.
Offer your top customers special deals
Offering your top customers special deals that could be exclusively for them, or consider enabling them to share these discounts with others in their network.
Send out Promotional Products
Sending top customers promotional products or a branded care package can be a great way to activate them to increase your brand awareness amongst their circle of influence. If they are on social sites they will often share this news with their network and post pictures.
By receiving tangible products it makes a brand more real to the individual. Getting creative here can also pay dividends. Strive to align your promotional product with the benefit of your brand.
Associate with other brands your customers enjoy
By aligning yourself with other complementary brands your customers have an affinity for you can gain points. This can be done through a formal partnership, co-op marketing initiative or informally through a giveaway of a ticket, product or service offering from the other brand.
Engage with your customers to strengthen relationships through Social Networks, Groups, Blogs and Email Campaigns
Increasing the number of touch points and frequency of impressions your brand has with your existing customer base will help keep you top of mind. Take time to build rapport with your audience. Don’t get stuck in the idea that you have to be on a given social network. Facebook is by far the most widely known social network with hundreds of millions of people on it, but if your strategy is more B2B then LinkedIn may be a better alternative.
There are millions of niche blogs, forums and online groups that could provide a fertile environment to connect with your existing customers and form relationships with new ones.
Finding refreshing ways to connect with your customers through destinations they frequent both in person and virtually is a great way to activate your existing customer base.
Try a few of these tips and see which make the most difference to you when developing your growth plan and then implement more and more to see a tangible difference.
