I had the chance to share my perspective with Dynamic Business on which marketing strategies offer the best ROI, and this is a deeper dive into that idea.
When the purse strings are closed up tighter than an alligator's jaw, being even slightly approached by a business trying to sell them something automatically has them running in the opposite direction or worse, leaving them with a bad impression of your business that they’ll remember for months or years to come.
So, how do service-based businesses get a high ROI when your budget is tight?
Facebook Ads - unless you know how to manage and monitor them, will drain your bank accounts.
Emails - Great in reminding people you still exist and converting those lurking in the shadows waiting for the right deal, but we’ve since come back from months of everyone's emails getting flooded with Christmas offers. They will go straight to the bin.
Social Media - Is filled with new businesses every single day, people aimlessly scroll with no actual intention, making it so hard to stand out, get your message across and actually convert someone into a sale.
When we hear the word ‘marketing’, we immediately think of every possible solution that doesn’t actually involve directly connecting with our current clients.
Acquiring new clients costs five times more than keeping an existing one, and now requires multiple touch points with your business to even get them considering in the first place!
Therefore, your best marketing channel for giving you the highest ROI when the budget is tight is client retention, and it is so often overlooked in favour of paid acquisitions.
Believe it or not, but going back to basics and remembering that these ‘clients’ you want to re-sign are human just like you and me, and what do humans crave… connection, appreciation and feeling valued.
All things you can achieve by connecting back in with your human side and remembering you crave that too.
The easiest way to start to foster these connections is tangible, automated gratitude!
When client gifting is done poorly, without a plan or much thought behind it, yes, it can be a waste of money.
But… When client gifting is done with intention, gratitude and purpose, it not only becomes your fast track to client retention, it also becomes the starting off point for deep client relationships, better brand awareness (hello, sharing your gift online and telling all their friends) and competitive edge.
All of this gives you your strategic marketing advantage and when done well, will have your clients on retainer, re-signing for the next year before the current year is even done, and for the first time in a long time, you won’t be sitting at the bottom of the hill in January dreading the year ahead and wondering how you’ll find new clients.
- Emily
Owner of Momentum Gifting & Client Gifting Specialist