7 Unique Ways To Stay “Top Of Mind” With Your Customers
With almost every business in your neighborhood marketing online, it can be daunting trying to gain facetime with your customers.
You want to market through tried-and-true methods like billboard advertising or snail mail, but will it work?
And when your competitors are in your customers’ email inboxes, then it is unlikely that your brand and the services you offer (or products you sell) are staying top of mind with your customers.
In order to stay top of mind with your customers, you’ve got to put in a little leg work. By coming up with a creative marketing plan, you can stick out—in a good way!
Here are 7 unique ways to stay top of mind with your customers in this new, digital era, followed by why you need a digital marketing strategy to stand out!
7 Unique Ways to Stay Top of Mind with Your Customers
1. Listen
We know, the first unique way of staying top of mind with your customers is to listen?
Hear us out.
No matter what type of marketing your company is using right now, there are endless marketing campaigns being deployed every second of every day. This means that your target audience is currently being bombarded by mixed marketing messages.
One of the best ways to stay top of mind is to actually listen to what your customers want. By listening, you are hearing their pain points loudly and clearly, and then you are able to execute a plan, deliver a product, or offer a service that addresses these pain points.
You will be surprised to learn that not many companies are doing this. Instead, they are coming up with a product that they think their audience wants and forcing it down their throats.
By listening, you are offering a glimmer of hope to your customers. No matter which avenue you choose to market it from, you will get traction.
Action Tip: Listening is a unique trait. Listen and your customers will feel welcome and respected. Offer unique benefits, including discounts and punch cards, around the pain points that your customers are aiming to resolve.
2. Offer Unique Insight
Nowadays, customers do not expect to always be sold to. They see the marketing industry for what it is—a little bit cut-throat and always doing whatever they can to make the next big sale based on the most unique idea.
Sometimes, you can take a break from this. No matter which avenue you choose, make sure to include the unique insight that your customers would not have gotten anywhere else. You don’t need to overthink this part. Just recognize that many of your competitors are trying to do the most when it comes to marketing that sometimes they forget to provide value.
Providing insight into your industry, including trends, things to look out for, and exciting changes can make all the difference. Keep the information accessible and promote it omnichannel for the biggest reach.
Action Tip: Unique insight is hard to come by. However, if you provide it regularly and reliably, then you can be known for that. By emailing a regular newsletter full of interesting insights, customers will know that they can expect great information from your team.
3. Report Much-Needed Statistics
Not everyone likes working with statistics (this might include you), but statistics work. Funny enough—we could not find the statistics on why statistics work.
Statistics allow our complex world to be translated into seemingly simplified concepts. Proportions tell us the ratio of people who think one way or another. And by simplifying these findings and reporting them, we glean better insight into how this world works.
Not all statistics are accurate, but when done correctly, they can be informative. Provide this unique insight to your customers in the form of advanced reports or email marketing campaigns.
You can also use statistics to inform when you should be promoting certain deals. This way you are capitalizing on an effective tool for predicting when users might want to buy a product or schedule a service.
Action Tip: Statistics help your customers to see things clearly. Come up with statistics related to the products or services that you offer. Keep it simple and provide honest statistics, rather than statistics that always skew to the benefit of your company and/or industry.
4. Connect Emotionally
As mentioned in the intro, your customers are experiencing an endless supply of emails, ads, and sponsored content that is recommending X to fix Y. But why? A lot of these marketing strategies are not value-based and instead are driven by desperation and sales numbers.
Slow down and connect with your audience. Not only should you do this regularly, but you should try to connect with them on an emotional level.
There are ways of connecting emotionally that people are receptive to. Here’s how to achieve that:
Always aim for honesty and authenticity
Seek out trending topics that speak to your demographic
Try to be empathetic (because we cannot fully understand what other people are going through)
Storytelling allows your customers to know that you are going through struggles too
Earn their emotions—don’t force them
You don’t always have to stick with negative emotions
Action Tip: Emotions are powerful but should not be abused. Try to develop a tone that your people will recognize as being tied to your brand.
5. Have Your Basic Digital Marketing Covered
At the end of the day, there are targeted marketing campaigns that you should be taking advantage of. The truth is that if you aren’t online with a website, contact information, or newsletter, then you’re not in the places where your customers are looking.
2020 statistics from DataReportal suggest that "81% of people search online for a product or service” and more than half the global population is using social media to connect with people.
Even if you sell services to a local area, you need a website and some representation on social media so that you are showing up where your audience is. Without showing up, you can’t make an impact.
Action Tip: Work with a smart digital marketing team to get all your digital marketing set up. Their knowledge and expertise are well worth the investment, and they will save the headache of having to set up a website, become SEO optimized, and start ad campaigns on your own.
6. Be Consistent
Consistency is key. No matter how you show up or what you look like, showing up consistently can make all the impact. If you aren’t available in your customers’ inboxes, with that sign on your lawn, or on Google Local Search, then your customers will forget about you.
How you show up is up to you, but you may be surprised to learn that not many brands continue to show up consistently.
They often think that they will make a difference by giving out big splashy campaigns. However, sometimes it's truly unique to simply be available, reliable, and not in your customer’s face.
Action Tip: Try to come up with a tagline that your customers can turn to. They should hear it and have a sense of comfort and familiarity. Keep a consistent physical marketing campaign active too so your customers know who you are. They will begin to suggest your work through local referrals and in their own personal work.
7. Use Loyalty Discounts
Loyalty programs work because there is some sense of giving and taking involved in the program. The fact that a company has a loyalty program in the first place tells customers that you care about the customer experience and are dedicated to making it right, even if the solution won’t happen right away.
Loyalty programs provide perks, including rewards points, cash, and discounts to customers involved. And if you offer a range of services, customers will continue to go back to you because they know that they can use the loyalty program and reap the rewards.
Action tip: Loyalty programs offer comfort. Use your loyalty program as a way to differentiate your recurring customers from one-offs. Use that avenue as the only way to provide discounts, perks, and insider tips.
Why a Digital Marketing Campaign is the Only Way to Stay Top of Mind
The seven items listed above will work, as long as they are included in a digital marketing campaign.
A digital marketing campaign is a strategy that is designed by your team and your marketing team to deliver success. The strategy not only aligns all of the ideas within your company to a specific purpose, plan of action, and outcome, but it also gets all your teams on the same page.
If you decide to implement any of the 7 unique ways listed above and you don’t have a marketing plan, then you are destined to fail.
Having a simple strategy can make all the difference. Here’s what that might look like:
Come up with one main marketing outcome. This outcome should be tethered to both short-term and long-term goals so that it makes sense comprehensively for what you want to achieve.
Decide on an avenue to market your product or service. You can use multiple avenues, but if you’re just starting out, then you want to make sure that you are comfortable with implementing a plan on a given channel consistently and successfully. Once you have done this, you can begin to add more.
A/B test copy, branding, design, and delivery method to ensure you hit all targets. You want to test with small groups, including friends and family or even just internal to start. By testing, you are getting all of the clunkiness out of your strategy so that it is delivered flawlessly.
Generate a schedule that makes sense according to your outcome. Are you going to post on social media X amount of times per week or month? Look into the science behind the timing of what you’re posting and where to get it right.
Coming up with a simple strategy will help your team stay focused, and it will give you a basecamp to revisit when the strategy needs tweaking.
Rationale
In order to stay top of mind with your customers, you’ve got to put in a little leg work.
Here are 7 unique ways to stay top of mind with your customers in this new, digital era, followed by why you need a digital marketing strategy to stand out!
Listen
Offer unique insight
Report statistics
Connect emotionally
Have your basic digital marketing covered
Be consistent
Use loyalty discounts
By coming up with a creative marketing plan, you can stick out—in a good way!
Deploy these ideas through a unique marketing campaign, one that has a marketing outcome, a primary avenue, a regular schedule, and is tested for accuracy.
Kyber Digital
343 Harbor View
Forked River, NJ
(215) 305-8769
