10 Ways to Build Customer Loyalty and Retention with Opt-in SMART

One of the most common mistakes many small businesses make is that they spend a lot of energy trying to get “new” customers; while ignoring retention efforts to keep their “existing” customers coming back.

In other words, they allocate most of their budget to getting new customers to come through the doors, but hardly invest any of their marketing dollars on keeping their existing customers spending money with them.

To clear it up, a successful business is not about who gains the most new customers; it’s about who gains the most PROFITS in the end.  A true “loyal” customer is cultivated over time; not one who makes a couple of purchases and they’re gone.

Business owners who only focus on attracting new customers usually find out the hard way that many of their customers won’t stick around for the long-haul.

Therefore, instead of looking for a million of ways to attract “new” customers, companies must put more attention towards their existing customers.   

What is customer retention?

Simply put, this is the act of applying effective strategies and techniques that prompt your existing customers to use your company whenever they are in need of your type of products or services in the future; turning them into long-term, loyal customers.

Of course, customer loyalty heavily depends on how good (or bad) your products are – as well as how good (or bad) your customer service is. However, without solid processes that actively keep your existing customers coming back, even the best products and best customer service won’t keep your business afloat alone.

Some companies already understand that REPEAT business should be one of their top goals; so they are aggressively implementing powerful customer loyalty and retention strategies.

What does this mean for your business?

Well, if you are not on the same track, you could be losing some of your customers to your competition. Not only that, but those competitors are probably using customer retention tactics that will make your customers STAY with them. 

A loyal customer can be further described as:

• Someone who makes regular purchases from you
• Someone who purchases multiple products and services from you
• Someone who refers others to your company
• Someone who ignores the competition

Loyal customers are hard to come by; so HOW do you make it happen?

                                                                    

Ways You Can Build Customer Loyalty and Retention

You may be wondering “how” your company can build stronger customer loyalty.

With Opt-in SMART you can implement into your marketing strategies that will help keep your existing customers coming back to do business with you. By doing that that, but you will  “keep” them in a long-lasting relationship with you – ultimately leading to a boost in your bottom line.  

Every business should make a serious effort to devote adequate time and apply the appropriate budget to the area of “customer loyalty” if they want the best ROI.

Don’t know where to start?  

You’ve probably noticed that many businesses are using the paper punch card type incentive and rewards programs… While this is better than doing “nothing” in regards to building customer retention, there are many other avenues that will help keep your customers around.

Digital technology – such as your mobile phone and computer in conjunction with Opt-in SMART – makes building customer loyalty easier than ever before. Not only that, but these methods make it easier for companies to actually track data associated with those strategies.

In our next Blog- coming soon you will see 10 ways Opt-in SMART can help you can help you keep in touch, build relationships and get more repeat sales: 

Get SMART About Reviews

Get SMART About Reviews.

Get SMART About Reviews

Rule #1- Always ask for reviews, and not just from your loyal customers. The request for a review should be similar to giving out your business card: a spontaneous act of impulse. Doing this here and there is not effective; you should have an ongoing, steady stream of customers with never too many or too few at any given time. Otherwise, Google and similar services may “ghost” many of your reviews, and the entire act of obtaining solid reviews will just turn into another annoying thing on your to-do list to be completed when you “have time”

-Communicate to your customers that you’d like their honest feedback whenever possible. Having solid ratings is great but can occasionally look suspicious to prospective customers. You can use reviews as a way of looking flawless when you are not, or they can be used as a learning tool to help you improve – it’s up to you.

-Don’t push reviewers to leave you with certain ratings like “Good”, “Great”, “Excellent”, “4-stars”, “5-stars”, etc. I understand why this is tempting, but you’ll find that most are giving souls whom you don’t have to beg to illicit a positive rating from. If they’re not exceptionally pleased, odds are that they are going to tell you exactly why, which is an excellent opportunity for learning and growth. 

-Don’t ask too many customers to post reviews all at once. Ideally, it should be as near to real-time as can get, like, for lack of a better descriptive term, right “after purchase.”

-You should anticipate a few fair to poor reviews; they are going to be there no matter what. Even if this were not the case, receiving a few not-so-nice reviews is a minimal cost for getting your best fans to speak their minds.

-Don’t dictate to your customer exactly what they should say in a review. Simply explain to them that while more information is ideal, shorter reviews are also acceptable. Also, do not mandate that they mention particular keywords, as this could cause a backlash and get your reviews filtered.

-Get a basic idea of how many reviews your competitors have, where they are located, and their method of obtaining them. This will give you an idea of what the standard is in your particular niche and the level at which reviews are a contrasting figure between you and the competition. Companies in some sectors simply don’t get reviewed, for various reasons. Don’t go crazy trying to get 3 reviews per week if the competition is only getting reviewed 3 times annually.

-Do not give the responsibility of reviews to someone outside your company. It’s typically not a problem if one of your employees does this, but it’s best for the guy in charge to be the one to make the requests.

-Comment on all reviews, not just the negative ones. You don’t want to create the impression that the only way you respond is when you are attacked.

-You should request several different review mediums: not email, not just verbal, not just handouts. Experiment to find the ones that work well, and use those.

-Need top repeat Rule #! Here- Don’t ever stop requesting reviews – keep plugging away.

-You will not get it right 100 percent of the time. Not every request for a review will be honored. Even the ones who do comment occasionally have their reviews filtered. Some may write reviews that you aren’t particularly fond of. But who cares? You’ve built a company. That is a much greater feat than the gathering of reviews. True, it’s not easy but so is everything else that’s worth putting time into. You can do this.

-Some maybe even most people will need to be asked multiple times before they provide a review. It’s OK to ask more than once, just urge them on in a cordial, non-threatening manner. Even this is not always effective, but occasionally, you’ll be happily surprised.

-Save your reviews using two methods: 1. Copy and paste the text from your reviews into a place you’ll be able to easily access at a later date. 2. Take screenshots of reviews that were left on your site, as you do not, and won’t ever, own Google reviews. If you do it this way, you can at least use them as testimonials on your site if the reviews get deleted and you’re 100% positive they’re not coming back.

-Getting reviews can act as a measuring tool/ test of your entire company and practices. For example, if every single one of your customers states that they’d be pleased to leave you a review, but not one of them acts on that, it might be an indication that they don’t have the working relationship with you that you thought they had. Or, if you’re constantly getting 4-star ratings, and nobody hates your service but no one particularly loves it that might be an indication of something else worth taking a second look at. Your reviews aren’t just for the purpose of informing others about your company – they tell you about your company.

If you are in need of assistance in obtaining positive reviews for you company, check out Opt-in Smart Reviews. Smart Reviews offers technology that assists clients in obtaining and maintaining positive reviews for their business.

Grow your business with the OPT-IN SMART Solution!

The OPT-IN SMART solution was built exclusively for growth-minded small and medium sized businesses that know that they have to change how they are currently marketing and want to grow their business.  The OPT-IN SMART marketing revolutionizes the way small businesses drive and manage their growth. With a heavy dose of marketing automation and a touch of templates, the OPT-IN SMART replaces different, incompatible systems making it easy for you to understand your marketplace and send the appropriate messages.

 Is the OPT-IN SMART the right solution for your business, here are a few questions to consider:

• Would you like to increase your Marketing ROI?
• Does your website capture leads automatically?
• What are you doing to increase your share of your customer’s wallet?
• Are you spending money on traditional sales tactics like print advertising and email blasts with no ROI management?
• Can you stay in touch with your best customers using a focused targeted approach?
• If you could decrease your customer attrition rate, how would that impact your bottom-line?
• Would you like to know what you current customer base looks like- demographically?
• Are you ready to embrace the lucrative Digital Direct Marketing world?

Contact us today!

info@optinsmart.com

Online Visibility Equals Bottom-line Profits

It is a well known fact that the marketing efforts of your business can be the deciding factor in whether a business prospers or fails. Though most businesses these days have at least a small presence online, there are still many brick and mortar businesses that are still struggling with the shift from “traditional” marketing to the new “e-marketing” world. They are not realizing or taken advantage of the benefits which online marketing and social media can bring to their business.

We all know that Social Media websites have become a vital marketing tool that many businesses are using to gain customer loyalty. By using social media, a business shows its customers that they have interaction with them beyond just face-to-face transactions. It can also be used to let customers know about a new product, a new service, or an upcoming special.

If you really stop and think about it, most customers of any business are already online. So why not let them start talking about your business, your products and your service? Word of mouth goes a long way, whether it is conducted in person or online. If you provide valuable content through your social media usage, you will gain a reputation as being an expert in your niche. By keeping your customers updated on your business,
you will surely gain customer loyalty and experience more growth.

Visibility is the key to being online and an online presence will turn online relationships into walk-in customers. Google search results can bring you lots of business when customers are searching for information. Make the commitment – get on line today and make sure you have a consistent and professional presence and you will see the benefits in your bottom-line profits

Local SEO for Your Business

 “Business” and “Competition” are two sides of the same coin because when one exists, the other one is always there. Local businesses are in a continuous battle for new customers; and your marketing strategies determine who wins the war.

Large corporations have heavy competition, but fortunately for them, their target market is sufficient enough to accommodate.  However, for small, localized businesses, the competition can be pretty tough as you scramble to grab the attention of the same local consumers.  

In the struggle to beat your competitors, things become a lot easier once you implement effective internet marketing strategies such as search engine optimization (SEO).

The local SEO process is pretty straight forward; for starters, you simply need to claim and optimize your local business pages and make sure that your website is optimized for local searches.

Most people are using the internet to find local businesses prior to going out to make purchases. So if your business comes up higher in those search results, then you have a chance of getting some of that traffic. However, if your competitors are getting most of the traffic, the sales will follow. This could mean fewer customers for your business, which puts a dent in your revenue.  

SMB Advice-The New Opt-in World of Marketing- Get Your Share of Wallet

SMB Advice-The New Opt-in World of Marketing- Get Your Share of Wallet.

SMB Advice-The New Opt-in World of Marketing- Get Your Share of Wallet

Optin SMART is the simplest most affordable system that allows anyone to leverage the new opt-in marketing paradigm including Social Media, e-Mail and Mobile Marketing by creating and sending to a list of those who opted in – have given you permission to put them on the list – and may be the most powerful marketing strategy available to Small Business owners today. Think about it for a moment. Email has become the most basic form of communication for most people because of its ease and convenience. And mobile marketing is becoming the go-to choice for business owners because it offers them targeted effectiveness and fantastic affordability. Social Media is growing every day and businesses are starting to find out how to use it. Using Optin SMART for all three you have an unbeatable combination of marketing tools.

When you use Optin SMART your communications will only be sent to recipients who have demonstrated genuine interest in your business, reflected by their decision to opt in and receive your valuable information and offers. Optin SMART opens up a productive means of communication through which you can offer your opt-in lists products and services to generate sales, provide information or offers that will produce revenue in the future, such as an invitation to an upcoming Free Trail, Webinar, product demonstration, open house, or a sales event.

Marketing specialists recommend that small business owners start their own targeted opt-in list via their website, rather than to buy a third-party list. This makes sense because:

• You want a targeted list, and those who have visited your site and shown enough interest to sign up/opt-in to your list are the potential customers you want to reach. It is impossible to find a third-party email list that is targeted for your content and the promotions you are offering.
• Those who have signed up to receive communications from you through your opt-in or double opt-in system will almost always be more responsive to your message than random recipients.

As you build your opt-in member list here are the keys to success:

• Give every visitor to your site multiple opportunities to opt-in, and use this process to aggressively collect member contact information.
• Promptly remove all invalid contact records and the records of those who have opted out of your member list.
• Personalize every email with each customer’s name, and other pertinent information they have provided you with.
• View and evaluate the results of each email campaign using tracking software or other systems.

Small business owners everywhere are discovering the tremendous value of effective and affordable permission-based digital marketing. Optin SMART understands the demands you face running your small business and advertising to your target market. You can use Optin SMART to design strategies that effectively produce a growing and productive members’ list that leads to more first time and repeat customers. Get your opt-in list started by enticing people to subscribe through offering them content of significant value such as free trials, special reports, discounts on purchases, or white papers detailing new products or services that will be of special interest to your audience. Get Started with Optin SMART and start opting for greater success today by developing a quality opt-in list that will broaden your customer base, revenue and profits significantly. Think “Share of Wallet”.

Customer Communications Must Provide Value

Every business owner on the face of the planet regularly ponders the same question: How do I get my products or services in front of the public in a way that is compelling, producing more customers and greater sales? In short, what is the most effective means of marketing available today? Without going through all the options, let’s cut to the chase. Marketing specialists are nearly unanimous in pointing to leading edge digital marketing as the key to success. High quality, targeted digital marketing is both affordable and effective. But note well: All digital marketing is not the same. Because all of us are now bombarded by a daily overdose of digitized information, it is crucial that your digital message stand out from the pack so that is does not get deleted along with the constant stream of junk emails, junk SMS messages, and the rest. And there is only one way to get your recipients to pay attention to your message – it must deliver something of value every time.

Studies show that if email/message recipients receive just two communications in a row that do not come bearing gifts, i.e., significant added value, they will likely never open another one again from that sender. Content that delivers only information along with a sales pitch will not get the job done. Consumers view such messages as a waste of time, and to look at every similar message that comes down the digital pike would lead anyone to a severe sense of digital overload. Consumers appreciate the initial opportunity to opt-in when a company’s offerings attract their attention. But when nothing more is delivered than tired advertising pitches, an “opt-out” attitude is produced. An “unsubscribe” email back to the sender is usually the next fatal step in the marketing efforts.

When a consumer opts into your message, they make no long-term promises. They agree to listen to your next message, and nothing beyond. The good news is that there are proven ways to keep them listening, opening your emails and viewing your texts. When those communications offer tangible benefits they will stay a part of your audience, even if they don’t jump at the first opportunity. The essential point is that they know you are offering them something of value, and in time, they are far more likely to become first-time or long-term customers of yours, rather than of your competitor.

So what does a value-added communication look like? There are several proven ways to motivate your contact base members to take the step and make a purchase. The most obvious is to offer them a coupon they may redeem that will significantly sweeten the deal, not just a token amount. You know your profit margins and what you can afford to do, but make it attractive. As you monitor your competition you’ll have a good idea of what it will take to be the value leader in your market. Asking them to take a simple step as a means of receiving the coupon or discount gives you the opportunity to market to them in the process. Prepare a winsome product/service description video, and provide the coupon code at the end. Ditto for those who complete or update their profile with contact information or areas of product interest (so future marketing to them can be very specific), or who download attention-grabbing information regarding what you have to offer. Announce a short-term members-only sale, or an online-only sale and give them the code to access it.

Creativity is vital, and delivering that innovative, value-added message in your digital communication will put you miles, and perhaps light years, ahead of the other guy competing for the same sale. Don’t just go digital – go digital with cutting edge, value added creativity and grow your list of enthusiastic, loyal customers.

The Key to growing your business? Your existing customers!

Marketing to your existing customers with a consistent stream of communications that offer them value is a powerful strategy for developing the kind of quality relationships that will increase the frequency of their purchases from you. The OPTIN SMART System offers you the right combination of tools to effectively promote your business and increase sales. The OPTIN SMART System is capable of delivering increased sales for your business that may amount to hundreds or thousands of dollars each month. OPTIN SMART’s productivity surpasses that of other advertising and marketing services by employing superior, leading edge methods of reaching customers and motivating sales. And it does it with affordability the competition simply cannot match. As a small business owner, it is essential that you have the expertise, tools, and value the OPTIN SMART System offers. This easy to use, affordable strategy is the industry’s most successful solution for building outstanding customer retention and dramatically increasing the average amount each customer spends. That track record has been achieved by understanding today’s most effective marketing tools and developing the methods required to use them effectively. What can OPTIN SMART do for you? We can’t wait to tell you! It’s not enough just to tell you that the OPTIN SMART System is creating a lot of positive buzz in the retail market space, or that retailers using it are enjoying increased sales and the best customer retention they’ve ever experienced. Here are 5 important reasons to schedule an appointment today with a OPTIN SMART System representative. OPTIN SMART is becoming the System of choice for small business owners interested in building and retaining the most productive customer base in their market, because OPTIN SMART: 1. Delivers Measurable Results. Our tracking statistics consistently show verifiable and healthy increases in sales for our clients. We’d love for you to be our next success story! 2. Motivates your customers to return with greater frequency and spend significantly more. OPTIN SMART is the leading retention tool available today for your small business. Just one reason for this is the use of Loyalty or Rewards programs that are proven to increase sales from members by 20% or more. 3. Promotes Communication as the Key to Relational Marketing. People are using digital means more frequently than any other methods of communication, including email, SMS/texting and Social Media. OPTIN SMART is the innovative leader that uniquely taps into that trend with integrated digital direct marketing that reaches customers more effectively. The marketing messages our clients send to their customer base get viewed more consistently, with greater response leading to increased sales. The wonderful thing about OPTIN SMART is that it does not require our clients to purchase additional software, and it saves them time with the convenience of loading all their contacts and sending a dynamic message containing news of events, promotional offers, or other high value content with just a few clicks. 4. Develops Customer Loyalty for Increased Future Sales.The OPTIN SMART Team coaches our clients to consistently send their existing customer base marketing messages that will be received with enthusiasm. Messages with no value, filled with sales pitches, will turn off customers immediately. The customers of OPTIN SMART clients receive value in every marketing message, including the basics like discount offers or value-added offers, but also invitations to special members’ only sales events or quality informational/how-to seminars. Creativity is essential, and we make every effort to insure that your customers view your sent messages as “must open” material. Studies show that effectively marketing to your current customers will produce greater sales. We help each of our clients maximize that opportunity while reducing the risk, so that their advertising dollars produce maximum return on investment. 5. Provides the Tools to Build a Highly Productive List. The OPTIN SMART System provides four effective ways to add customers to your list, including POS sign-ups, tap typing on your website, filling out a paper form, or providing their data at the balance center. The result is a database, or list, of customer information that is securely stored and easily accessed by our clients. The OPTIN SMART System features an easy login process for our clients that provides them access to our highly effective marketing tools, including email and text messaging, as well as a presence on the major social media sites like MySpace and Facebook. Targeted marketing has never been so efficient or effective. 6. Requires No Technical Skills. Let the OPTIN SMART Team be your high-tech marketing arm while you keep the main thing the main thing, running your business and satisfying your customers. We’ll help you learn the OPTIN SMART System quickly so that you’ll enjoy the convenience and ease of communicating with your customers when it works for you, using our user-friendly Client Portal. OPTIN SMART Clients Have the Competitive Edge because we understand today’s business climate and how to best position your business to succeed. Consider this synopsis: • The average small business in America makes about 500 sales per month. • Those businesses lose customers every month because they are not inviting loyalty through high value communication and marketing. • Average small businesses vastly overspend each month on ineffective methods in the pursuit of new customers, while having essentially no strategy for customer retention. The OPTIN SMART System addresses these issues by putting the tools at your disposal to produce industry-leading customer retention rates and the ability to reach new customers with tremendous affordability. The OPTIN SMART System is based on 3 basic marketing facts: 1. If you are not connecting with your customers on a regular basis, the old adage “out of sight, out of mind” probably applies. They’re not thinking about you! 2. Getting your marketing message in front of your customers on a consistent basis is the key to producing consistent and growing sales from them. 3. Most businesses fail to capture customer contact information, especially digital contact information, squandering the most effective means to productively market your goods and services. Every time a person visits your retail site or your website they must be offered something of value in exchange for information that will allow you to digitally communicate with them. When this happens, studies prove that current customers will become more productive customers, and casual shoppers and website visitors will become sales-producing customers. You simply cannot afford to miss this ready source of increased sales! Understanding these three facts is the key to growing your business through communicating with a motivated customer base. The OPTIN SMART System gives you the tools you need to do this for less than $5 per day! Consider the effect on your bottom line if: • Conservatively, 15% of your current customers made 1 to 3 more purchases per month? • Your current customers referred just a few of their friends to you each month, and they became loyal customers? • You were able to both spend less on advertising AND experience greater return (ROI) on every dollar spent? • You had joined the OPTIN SMART plan this time last year? The OPTIN SMART System is helping our small business clients reach new levels of success with great affordability. Take hold of success by getting in touch with an OPTIN SMART Team representative today!