McDonalds does it. So do Sears, Nabisco, Bank of America, every professional sports franchise, and now your corner restaurant. Do you?
We are talking about building a database of customers and prospects for your business. Like it or not, consumers are changing the way they buy products. More and more of them are doing research before they shop, using the Internet to find out what costs are, available options, rebates, you name it.
Gaining an edge over your competitors is no longer a simple matter of outspending them on advertising. Today’s competitive market rewards the companies who obtain the best value from their advertising campaigns. Simply put, a business must convert more floor traffic into sales.
There is now an economical way to do this, while at the same time building that important database and reaching people who are still doing their online research. Combining the efficiency of the Internet for delivering high-impact email with the power of strategic database marketing yields exceptionally high returns for executives who are willing to accept new market realities.
More consumers have email access than ever before, and that number is growing by the thousands every day. More importantly, surveys have shown that consumers prefer that correspondence from companies be delivered via email versus traditional postal mail or telephone.
At the same time, the number of unsolicited commercial email messages is growing and becoming a controversial legislative item, with federal and state legislatures targeting this type of email marketing for civil and criminal punishment.
So what is a business to do? There are two options: forego email marketing and lose market share and future competitive advantage, or embrace email marketing as a powerful tool and use it appropriately.
Those who choose to gain the advantage and begin marketing via the Internet must assemble their own proprietary database of interested consumers. This eliminates any potential “spam” problems and generates a significant marketing asset.
How does a business build that
database? Here are several possible
answers:
The Internet – many people now check a
company's site before they leave their
home to shop. Every company should have an
area on their main web page that offers
visitors an opportunity to sign up for
additional information. What is the point
of driving traffic to a website if you are
not making a sale or getting contact
information?
Telephone leads – often buyers will call a
business before visiting the store. They
may be shopping price, checking
availability, calling from an ad, etc.
Whatever the reason for their call, they
should be offered the opportunity to
receive additional information and updates
via email.
Physical visitors – How many of your
visitors buy on their first visit?
Depending on your business, some simply
can’t afford a product or qualify for
financing. Some are planning ahead. Some
just weren’t sold. No matter the reason,
all of these people should be given an
opportunity to receive updates, news and
promotions via email.
Current customers – Too often, the only
time a customer hears from a company after
they buy a product is when the business
wants them to come in and spend more
money. Every person who visits the
business should be offered the opportunity
to receive future news, financing offers,
important maintenance tips, new model
announcements and incentives via email.
Referrals – people tend to talk about
their most recent purchase with all of
their friends and relatives. One of the
key advantages to email is that it can be
forwarded to family and friends with a
click of a button. A good newsletter with
valuable coupons and incentives can be
forwarded from your prospects to other
interested parties. This is known in the
Internet marketing industry as “viral
marketing” and can be extremely effective.
How you position your offer of email
updates will determine a company's success
in obtaining email addresses. Training the
salespeople is crucial to successfully
building a database.
If a salesperson simply walks up to a
consumer and asks, “Can I have your email
address?” the answer will usually be NO.
However, if a salesperson casually
suggests that the business often has
unadvertised specials that are emailed to
a select group of VIP customers, the odds
of obtaining the customer’s email address
increases substantially. The same is true
on the phone, on the Internet – even in
mass advertising!
The best email addresses are those that
are obtained from truly interested
parties. These are the people we outlined
above. Yes, you will begin with a small
list and work your way up to a larger
database, but your response rates will be
higher. Built correctly, this database
will grow and its yields increase over
time, providing both short-term and
long-term benefits to the dealer and the
customer alike.
About the author: Jay
Goth is president of Leadkeeper, Inc.,
a company that specializes in Internet
marketing solutions for auto dealers. The
company also has a general newsletter
division, The Newsletter Place, for all
types of businesses that want to
communicate effectively with their
customers. You can access more information
at
www.leadkeeper.com and
www.thenewsletterplace.com.
