My top three marketing tips and how they got me some free stuff

So I was at the Devon County Show today and I struck up a conversation with one of the traders. It turned out we both hailed from the same place.

He eventually asked me what I did for a living and when I said media and marketing he responded with: “Okay, give me your top three marketing tips”, which I did.

And whilst they are fresh in my mind I thought I’d share them through my blog.

Tip 1

Look for referrals: I asked him what he did to encourage his satisfied clients to encourage others to buy from his business and, apart from some passive email marketing, the answer was not a lot.

However, it transpired he had a database of 10,000 email addresses. Now, of course, not all of these will be useful but when it comes to driving referrals, this data is gold dust.

For, of those 10,000 people, he knows those who have spent the most, those who have been regular spenders and those who have been responsive to previous communications.

So I asked him: “What if you took your top 50 customers based on the criteria we have just discussed and gave them an incentive for referring you and another incentive to the people they refer you to, such as discounts and vouchers.

“You are already contacting them with information and updates on new products, and they are happy to receive that information. Why not ask them, if they are delighted with your products, to recommend them to someone else and reward them for doing so?”

He smiled and scribbled a note.

Tip 2

Give something away before asking people to buy. This is what is called two-step marketing and it is a philosophy that is growing in popularity.

The premise is that you make something available that has some intrinsic value to everyone whether they buy from you or not. In fact, this blog is an example of that.

Now this guy had a business making personalised children’s gifts. He and his wife were designers by trade and had applied their skills to creating a range of fun merchandise.

I suggested he could make available free downloadable templates of some of their designs for people to use themselves or post hints and tips that parents may find useful.

He smiled and scribbled a note.

Tip 3

Be your own publisher. I asked if the business had received much publicity and the answer appeared to be not really. Now, they are not alone in that. It is difficult for small firms to command column inches as newspapers often have more material than they can publish.

Why not then, I asked, be your own publisher?

He and his wife have a Facebook and Pinterest account but are not on twitter. They have a website and produce a newsletter but there is no blog.

Now more than ever before, businesses have an amazing opportunity to reach large, worldwide audiences through a plethora of incredible, free and powerful platforms. It constantly baffles me why more businesses don’t buy that.

He smiled and made a note.

And then, unprovoked, he said: “I’m going to send you some free stuff. What comes around goes around. Thank you.”

And in that one sentence he embraced two-step marketing; he has gained a referral (his company’s web address is below); and hopefully he and his wife will soon have a twitter account and, maybe, a blog.

So there you have it – my three top marketing tips… and proof that they work!

Visit my new friend’s website here http://www.littlefolk.co.uk/index.asp

For a free two-hour consultation contact marc@astleymedia.co.uk