Your customers are still flocking to social media sites like Twitter, FaceBook, and YouTube. Your competitors are also flocking there in droves to participate in the online “conversation” that is happening amongst the members of your target audience. Most companies have a very limited understanding of how to effectively engage their target market through these social sites. And, in addition to being lost in the Social Media environment, they are also neglecting basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) best practices.
Here is an extract from a great article covering a multi-point plan for getting online customers, keeping them and getting repeat and expanded business. These principles could be applied to any online jewelry business.
- Website Design With a Purpose – make sure that your website is well thought out.
- Website Marketing – your website can be well thought out but the world needs to know you exist.
- Execution – this is the key to keeping and expanding client relationships.
- If you have an online store – is your ordering process secure? Is it an easy, convenient process? Is it a one-page check-out? Are there multiple secure payment methods? Do you provide guarantees or warranties; are your terms and conditions easy to understand? Do you provide confirmation via email and tracking information if applicable? Do you provide shipping choices if applicable? Do you provide client testimonials? Do you provide qualified phone assistance if necessary?
- If you are generating leads – is the lead form secure? Is it simple and to the point? Does it provide enough information so that your company can take action? Are you ready to take action through phone or email? Is your follow-up immediate? Searchers want immediacy … after all, they are the ones that decided that they are now interested.
Do you have online live assistance? This can be very useful for those that don’t want to pick up the phone but still want immediate answers.
Leveraging the Customer – assuming you have all of the above mastered, this is where you can make a difference on a gut level.
- Follow-up – is your response time immediate or at least prompt.
- Make the customer feel like you are there for them.
- Develop the mindset that you want customers or clients and not sales. Clients buy over and over. Sales are one-hit wonders.
- Are you following through with your client actively to make sure “things are going well?”
- Are you committed to problem-solving? … Showing the client that you are not just service-oriented but that you are results oriented.Customer Marketing
i. Client Newsletters – a monthly newsletter (e-newsletter is the most cost effective) sent to your clients is both inexpensive and greatly effective done correctly.
ii. Blogging – regular blog posts to your website blog are another great way to keep your name, your products and ideas in front of the customer.
iii. New Website Content – as with blogging, and RSS feed can be established so that when new content is added to the site, whether it’s a new product or service or an article or new online or corporate policy, the client will instantly know because they are getting the feed.
iv. SEO – all of the above have the additional advantage of improving search engine results because your are enriching the content of the site which is critically important to the search engines as they scan your website.
Analytics – whether through SEO, email marketing, blogging, e-commerce, direct online access or bookmarking, all of this can be tracked through analytics. As opposed to traditional marketing, you have the first and only completely accountable “client marketing monitoring program” available. Properly installed and maintained, you can clearly measure your ROI for all of these online methods of consistent customer contact or interaction using Analytics. With analytics it is possible to measure the degree of online customer interaction through every phase of your continuing marketing efforts. Analytics can tell you about repeat visits to your website, repeat orders from your website, and number of clients opening your e-newsletter, reading the newsletter, following links from the newsletter to your site. Analytics can tell you which pages of your website is holding interest and which ones need to be improved.*
*Extract from article by Arthur Cooper – How to Keep Your Customers Coming Back, Optimum7 – Paid Search Advertising and Management