I am happy to share this guest post from my friend Susan Ranford, I hope you find it of value.
Marketing is essential for the growth of any business, but it’s also important for yourself as well. Utilizing effective marketing strategies in your career endeavors is an important aspect of growing professionally. With modern times evolving at almost the speed of light, sometimes the classic ways are just as good.
The following four strategies have been proven to work overtime and are just as reliable today as they always have been. Though there may be a few new, modern ways to make the most of these strategies they will still work just fine the way they always have well into 2019 and beyond.
Personal Responses and One-to-One Interaction
More than anything else, personalization is something people always have and always will continue to seek out. This is especially for managers or those of you in sales. People want to feel special and like they matter to you.
Interacting with customers one-to-one is a great way to make new and potential customers feel that they are valuable. It also gives you the chance to learn their real questions and concerns so they can learn to trust you. There are also many ways to create these situations:
- Phone Calls – Calling a prospect directly can leave a strong impression and let them know that you’re there to answer any questions they might have.
- Business Cards – You can always hand out some business cards directly during a conversation or as an introduction. You can also leave them around places where your target customers would be. Community billboards, libraries, and other public spaces can also be great advertising, especially for seasonal and local services type businesses.
- Social Media – Posting to social media is vital for anyone looking to find success, but the interactions you have after you post something, or the responses you give to anyone that has contacted you through social media, are the most valuable. You have to respond to comments so people learn to trust that they can rely on you. You paint yourself as an expert by doing this.
Memorable and Evergreen Content
Content is both a way to provide value to customers and a way to get your name out there–if it’s done right. Two types of content are always going to be great for managers and sales professionals as marketing tools, and they can overlap.
The best content is memorable. That means it has to have an active emotional component of some sort to be incredibly useful and comprehensive. If it’s in this latter category, that also makes it “evergreen.” These types of pieces are most likely to be shared on social media or bookmarked for future reference, leading people to regard you as an authority on the subject.
Direct Mail
Direct mail is far from dead, though mass mailings to everyone and anyone may be (or should be) a thing of the past. The way to use direct mail effectively is to make it personal and use it to leave an impression on someone you have decided would be your perfect customer.
Direct mail, on its own, is also beginning to stand out more. Though the overall volume has been decreasing, spending on direct mail has increased over the last 10 years. More importantly, 42% of consumers ages 25 to 34 open and read direct mail immediately after receiving it. Email only has an average open rate of 25% , across all industries.
Partnerships
Another way to generate new, targeted leads is to team up with another professional similar to you and begin promoting each other. If a customer likes you they will trust your recommendations. Find someone to refer you and reciprocate by referring them.
Just make sure to choose your partners wisely.
Another way to generate buzz is to team up with an important cause or charity that resonates with your values. Make sure that there is a strong emotional and logical connection between you and the cause you choose. The stronger the relationship, the more memorable your role will be.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt that technology has made it easier for managers and sales professionals to reach their target clients. But, if you do what everyone else is doing, your potential customers might choose your competition. Instead, take some time to look back at the basics. It might mean the difference between closing the sale and leaving another prospect in the pipe.