An Extremely Viable Marketing Strategy That Small Businesses Need To Practice

I have a table calendar resting on my personal table at home with my name, and birthday wishes printed on it. It always makes me smile a little whenever my glance reaches that calendar. You guys must have guessed about it being a gift, correct?

Yes, it was a gift, but not from any of my friends, or a loved one, but from a mobile network company that i have been using since years. It’s amusing, isn’t it? They also sent a personal birthday card with this gift. A little too much from a telecommunications company it seemed then, but today when I give it a thought, it was one of the purest examples of personalised marketing.

A number of friends had asked me about that calendar and were in awe of that company’s efforts to give a special treatment to their customers. A few of them even switched their network. There! Yes, right there the tele company succeeded in launching this subtle, yet exclusively efficacious personalised marketing strategy.

But that’s something big sharks could afford. What about small emerging ventures? If the startups and established small businesses don’t embed personalisation into their marketing strategy soon, and if you too are one of them, there is a high probability of you being devoured by those big sharks. Yes, you do have a point, there is no way small businesses could afford bringing this level of embodiment, but there are disparate ways to do so.

You just need to find a unique way through some basic techniques!

I feel awesome when my mail reads, “Hey Leonard, we have a special discount for you on formals!” or “Hey Leonard, it has been a while! We have updated our collection with your favorite styles!” If not buy, I certainly land up checking their collection. When a store, regardless of what it sells give a personal touch to their consumers, you will definitely witness a progression in customer engagement as well as sales. Give your customers a hint of recognition by adding their first names to personalized newsletters and experience the wonders. I manage a content writing firm and to handle a bunch of freelancers’ email is a tough task. Trust me.

For people who doubt this traditional strategy of marketing, here is a fact for you: email is still the biggest source of generating revenue (for every dollar invested, email marketing produces a $40 ROI, says DMA) and being the most cost-effective technique to reach customers, this should be your core approach if you own a small business. The only challenge that you might face is that of keeping this campaigns eccentric, simple, and attractive.

And, for that, your own data will help you.

Manipulating Data To Use It Congruously

Analytics has changed the entire scenario of launching marketing campaigns. Every company has relevant data in abundance collected from e-mail marketing, social media, website, etc. However, what most of the smaller businesses don’t quite understand is how to use this data. Let me give a personalised example!

I am obsessed with black. I usually search for black, be it clothes, jackets, shoes, watch, or anything. Now, my search engine will definitely reveal my love for black to the e-tailers I have signed up for. A smart online seller will use personalized marketing, target all the black lovers in a single campaign including me, and will add an inviting header to the newsletter and lure the crazy black lovers as me.

Similarly, you can sort the data revealing past searches, previous orders, usual searches, and mine that data, put it into different segments to serve exactly what your users are interested in. Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor, and other such e-mail marketing tools will assist small businesses to combine and share data from various sources.

Using The Power Of Native Place To Grow

Standing out on social media platforms is essentially important and every recently launched venture should take care of it. Each business starts with the help of local customers and tempting them to use your services will assist you in growth. Follow your own city’s social media pages and make the locals feel special by treating them differently on social media.

If you own a burger joint in Trenton, weave the local public in your social media posts by offering something special on getting the gig. This could be anything! You can declare on social platforms that whoever wins in Friday quizzes on Facebook will get a free burger.

Or any local customer that shows to your physical cloth store will get 20% off on his next online purchase. There are innumerable ways of giving a personal touch to your consumers on social media platforms that results in increased visibility and customer engagement online. And remember, visibility steadily leads a man to success.

Evolve Creatively By Experimenting

Every one of us unsubscribe from the newsletter service of a company at some point of time, usually when they test our patience. I did it just this morning. It’s natural. If you want to circumvent this feeling, and want your consumers not to get irritated by your mails which seem irrelevant to them, make your newsletters creative. Otherwise, it would end at “Bhavik Sarkhedi is weirdly annoying.”

The crisp touch of art mingled with relevance using mined data will be your way to excel in business. Evolve in creating personalised marketing campaigns, but always put yourself in your customer’s’ shoes to get an idea of receiving the number of mails that you are planning to send in a week.

That’s it. You are all set to boost your small scale business!

Attaining success through personalised marketing approach doesn’t have to be stressful or complex. The bull’s eye here is your consumer’s happiness and satisfaction not only with your services, but also with your marketing strategies. Keep your focus on reaching the correct audience and this one thing will change your title from small business owner to a business owner. This is how I have achieved such huge readership, I served only what the readers expected in the platter.

---

About The Author

[The author of this post is Bhavik Sarkhedi, founder, Write Right]