If you are like most business owners and entrepreneurs (and your momma raised you right) at this time of year you focus on how to thank those who do business with you all year round. Beyond gifting now in the holiday season, there are five things you can do to show your thanks and appreciation.
These practices also make your customers, clients and patients the center of your marketing, giving them recognition and celebrity status while helping you to build your brand. (Win, win, win and win!)
Besides sending an actual gift of thanks (note to my vendors: I like things that sparkle), put one or two of these practices in place to grow trust with your customers, clients, patients and prospects:
Smile pretty.
Forget stock photos. First of all, they look terrible. Second, they are a waste of money. Third, they look terrible.
In your marketing, use pictures of actual customers on your website, in your ads, your marketing materials, etc. We’ve split-tested it for our clients and the actual customers win every time when it comes to results.
Make their stories your stories.
In the content you share in your marketing, such as newsletters and blogs, instead of making your marketing about you, feature the successes of your customers. Tell the story of their problem before working with you and then after they had success with your business. If you can include actual tangible results, even better.
Related: 9 Ways Startups Fuel Great ROI From Their Existing Content Marketing Strategy
This practice elevates your customer to celebrity status, making them the center of your marketing, and gives your prospects “someone who says so besides you” proof. And the ROI for pieces like this can be huge. A piece I wrote about our…
