Three Reasons Why Email Is Still Relevant

If you have an email list of current and potential customers, are you using it effectively? Many experts believe the email list is a businesses greatest resource because it provides a way to connect with a targeted audience who wants to hear from you. If your business is using email marketing, do you understand the pros and cons of email marketing and have you developed a strategy to accomplish specific business results from your email list?

Email marketing is more than sending and receiving email. It can be a fundamental shift in how business approaches marketing. Here are three reasons why you should leverage your email list.

1. Targeted Audience. Email marketing helps businesses deliver a specific message to a targeted audience while measuring the effectiveness of the content and understanding the bottom line impact. With email marketing, you chose who receives your email and speak directly to a group who wants to hear from you and what you have to offer. Email marketing allows you to share new products and services, content and stay connected to your customers.

2. Cost Effective. Businesses are always looking for the greatest ROI from marketing dollars. Compared to traditional media and social media advertising, email marketing is cheap. You can track who opens the email, what actions are taken and retarget a customer based on their email behavior. Email allows your customers to interact with you at a time that is convenient and you can measure customer behavior and make modifications to your email campaigns in real time.

3. Lead Generation. Decide when you want to create email campaigns. Consistent and relevant messages will keep your brand top-of-mind when your customers are ready to seek information or make a purchase. Email campaigns should be designed to move customers through a sales funnel while leveraging content and an offer to generate revenue.

Email marketing is highly effective, engaging and relevant. Your business must determine how to utilize email marketing as an effective tactic to reach your business goals.

Five Ways to Value Your Customers

Many businesses believe they value customers because of the products and services offered and positive feedback received. When asked what is the most important aspect of your business, how do you rank your customers? What are you doing to stay engaged with your customers? Do your customers really feel appreciated?

1. Be Authentic
Show your customers how you value their business and that you are committed to serving them. At every customer touch point, ask your customers are you addressing their needs, what can you do to serve them better and communicate that you are committed to helping them achieve their goals. Serve your customers from the heart; tell the truth and share your vision, which is essential to being authentic.

2. Take Time Off
Managing a business properly is a large undertaking. Business owners require organization, focus and commitment to serve customers on a daily basis. All business owners require downtime to re-energize and taking time off is a necessity, not a luxury. Time off allows you to hit the reset button and remain committed to your business mission. Educate your clients on your availability and stress your commitment to them. Implement systems that allow you to service your customers in a timely manner.

3. Get Help and Support
No one is an expert at every aspect of managing a business. Learn to focus on what you do well and consider getting help to manage the tasks you don’t enjoy and may take time away from growing your business. For example, if you don’t enjoy bookkeeping or administrative tasks, consider hiring an assistant. Remember that in order for us to be most effective, it may require asking for help from time to time.

4. Learn New Skills
To remain competitive and relevant in any industry, you must learn new skills. Business owners and entrepreneurs must constantly challenge themselves to offer products and services that are more effective while providing incremental value and service. Small business owners, with their intimate knowledge of their customers, are well positioned to innovate and learn new skills which can lead to offering additional services, better customer service and creating new and sustained revenue streams.

5. Tap Into Your Vision
How do you visualize the success of your business? What inspires the strategic direction of the products and services you will offer in years to come? What do you ultimately want your business to achieve? Your vision enables you to focus on what is important, properly allocate your resources to accomplish your vision and develop a roadmap, which outlines the path to your vision.

Your customers are your most valuable asset. Always show them how much you value their business.

5 Ways to Maintain An Authentic Brand

What does it mean for your brand to be authentic? Why is brand authenticity important? Why should you care if your brand is perceived as authentic?

Brand authenticity if fulfilling your brand promise at every customer touch point at every interaction with a brand on a consistent basis. In short, brand authenticity can be summed us as practicing what you preach. An authentic brand is trustworthy and faithful to its core mission and has a higher objective beyond profits.

If our brands are the foundation of our business, there should never be a question about how to live as an authentic brand. As a business owner, it is imperative to resist external forces, short cuts and quick fixes as we establish and manage our brand.

Here are five ways to maintain the authenticity of your brand?

1. Clearly Define Your Brand

What is your brand’s promise and is your brand promise relevant to your customers? How do you execute your brand’s promise during business transactions? Does your brand represent the ideas and vision for your business?

As a business owner, you must define your brand or others will do it for you. Your customers, competitors and everyone else you will talk about your brand. It is important to lead, engage and manage the conversation about your brand. An authentic brand is purpose driven and motivated to serve its customers with excellence.

2. Believe In What You Are Doing

The culture you create for your brand is important to how you will live your brand’s promise. Build and nurture your brand’s culture based on your ideals, beliefs, and vision. Conduct business with people who share a common purpose, who value your brand’s promise and who are passionate about your business.

Try not to embrace ideas, customers and opportunities that do not align with your brand. While it is important to generate revenue, make profits and build your brand, comprising your brand will not benefit you in the short or long-term. Remember, to thine own brand, be true.

3. Constantly Tell Your Story

In the book, “Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action”, Simon Sinek states, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.”  What you believe is why you started your business and how you will solve your customers’ problems and provide solutions is foundational to your brand. Your story is always relevant to your customers and they want to connect with you in unique ways. Your store is the differentiator between you and your competitors.

4. Create Friends, Not Customers

Customers require emotion, authenticity and loyalty from companies. In order for brands to thrive, customers require authentic relationships. When your brand creates friends instead of customers, a community of brand ambassadors is created. Your brand ambassadors will spread your brand’s message effectively and often. Friends will believe in what your brand is doing. The relationship with a friend goes beyond transactions and develops into lasting, reciprocal ways that can be mutually beneficial for all parties. When friends trust your brand, they do not hesitate to do what is right for your business and challenge you to serve as role models for them as well as other brands.

5. Innovate and Inspire

Customers are looking for brands to develop, implement and communicate new solutions to new problems and inspire customers to change their paradigms about existing problems while utilizing new solutions. An authentic brand is a catalyst for change and should be excited about discovering and developing new ways to service customers. Innovation is not only a competitive advantage for brands, but also fosters leadership with customers. When brands innovate, they can position themselves as industry leaders and serve as experts.

An authentic brand is a necessity to survive, grow and remain relevant.

Why Offering Discounts May Not Be A Good Idea to Grow Your Business

By Jennifer Ellis-Jackson

Simple Mantra Marketing LLC

Everyone loves and looks forward to a great deal. Many of us enjoy coupons; receiving an additional percentage off on a purchase or a having a discount code before we make an online purchase. We enjoy free shipping, Buy One, Get One Free offers and let’s face it—anything that says or implies we are saving money and getting a good price.

What Motivates Consumers

Some of us only shop during sales—One Day Sales, Back To School Sales, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the list goes on and on. We experience sales at a variety of venues—brick and mortar stores, online stores, direct sales, etc. We negotiate prices and inquiry about discounts during various sales transactions to ensure we are receiving a good deal. There is a sense of pride when we believe we struck a deal that will benefit us. However, discounts, sales and price reductions can often suggest the product or service was not properly priced from the onset.

Pricing Considerations

As business owners, we place a monetary value on the products and services we offer. Careful consideration goes into our pricing decisions using a variety of variables including customer service, industry expertise, marketing, sales, systems, suppliers, etc. Many of us are questioned and challenged about our prices often because our customers and prospective customers are seeking a deal.

What message are we sending when we discount our prices? Are we sending a message at all? Discounts can allow us to drive short-term traffic, reach more potential clients and spike sales and engagement. The flip side to offering discounts are less profits, risk of being positioned as a value brand and enticing customers who only shop on a deal.

Offering Value

Instead of offering discounts, we could consider providing more value like offering complimentary products or services, bonus offers or special features for upcoming product or service launches.

For a new business, it is critical to establish your brand, offering and expertise in your industry. Once you have a firm customer base, community and credibility, seek a variety of ways that may includes discounts to drive your business. Try not to get caught in the spiral of offering discounts without establishing your true value in the your industry.