For most small business owners, the internal dialogue around marketing is fatally flawed. And that’s because it usually “sounds” something like this:
“I need to market to my customers. What should I send them? How many emails should I send? How much is too much?”
Nearly every business owner I’ve ever worked has asked these questions. How far apart should I space my emails? Can I send 2 emails a week? And because it was my job to get their campaigns written, I gave them rough suggestions for when to send what.
And now I’m regretting it.
The more I write copy, the more I realize…it’s really not about the emails. We spend so much time and energy trying to come up with the perfect subject line, the perfect way to phrase an offer, the best ways to include a call to action. When really, what we should be looking at is the engagement with the contact.
What do they want?
Are they looking to hear from us again?
Have they “communicated” by clicking links or jumping on webinars?
When you’re busy trying to run your business, it’s difficult to think about your prospects as being human, as having specific desires. We send emails because it fills our own agenda. And as we automate those emails, we wonder how often we can send them without being marked as SPAM. No regard to what the prospects wants at all.
We host sales because we need a bump in revenue. But maybe you already had a prospect eager to buy from you, waiting for that opportunity. They opened every email, clicked every link, engaged with you in every possible way – except a sale. What would your relationship be like if you sent a promo code to just that one person? Rather than waiting for a “magic day” to launch a sale?
Look at what your contacts are communicating to you. If you can shift your thoughts to what the prospect wants, every engagement with them is going to build the relationship, and, eventually, lead to a long-term, profitable relationship with you.
Quick note here: unless you have a very small database, the only way to keep track of any of the information you “collect” is with a powerful automated system. We recommend Infusionsoft. But there are other systems out there with similar capabilities.
Engage with your prospects. Make your database personal and you’ll always know when and how often to reach out to your customers and prospects.
