Advertising - Is it the Only Road to Brand Awareness?
June 29th, 2009 |
Every day, probably just like you, I get a mailbox full of paper advertising.� Everything from motorized scooters to catalogs from companies I’ve never ordered anything from.� Every business out there is doing some kind of advertising, trying desperately to snag some new customers.� Let’s be honest.� Raise your hand if you’ve ever thrown out one of those Value Pack envelopes stuffed with mini-flyers and special coupons.� I�have.
Many forms of advertising are losing some appeal because there is just too much of it.� Do a search for something online and it’s difficult to find major sites that aren’t littered with ads in all shapes and sizes everywhere on the screen.
The truth is that advertising doesn’t buy consumers’ loyalty. Instead, long-term loyalty comes from consistently fulfilling a promise and creating a great customer experience.
Advertising alone doesn’t build your brand. Customer satisfaction and quality do.
Sales is the goal of any business so why not elevate your sales through your very own customer base? Email address acquisitions should be one of your goals as well.
Example: I’m on an email list for a certain company that sells bath and beauty products. They send me a notification each time there’s a sale coming up. Why? Because I’m already a customer and they know if I see a sale on one of my favorite products, most likely I’m going to go in to their store or go online and make that purchase.
Here’s an example of just the opposite: I recently went to one of those home clothing shows just because a friend asked me to go. Usually I steer miles away from those things, but she’s a good friend so I went to make her happy. I ended up buying something and gave the show representative my email address on the sales order. Did I get a thank-you email or any acknowledgment of my attendance? No. Big mistake. Then several weeks later, I received a notice from her that certain items were going on sale. I deleted that email.
Get my point? A nice personal thank you after a sale goes a long way toward customer loyalty.
Consumers choose to engage with your brand and will likely participate more than once if you can show them that you appreciate their business. In addition, they’re likely to tell their friends about the experience as well.
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