CBS New York notes that carpet cleaning can drastically improve the appearance and life of your carpet. While you likely know how it can reduce pollutants, dust mites and mold to improve the home, it’s up to you to get that information to your customers. Marketing is an important method of communicating with your customers, but the way you go about doing that makes a substantial difference in how your message gets received.
Most Important Trends
According to Forbes, there are several marketing trends for 2015 that every business should be aware of. It essentially comes down to making sure every customer is treated as unique, make the best use of technology, create better brand engagement and focus on your content.
Millennials Matter
Millennials are a growing market that needs careful attention. Many of the marketing trends of 2015 have grown in response to this specific market. They desire communication and a friendly, conversational tone that speaks their language. When you speak to the Millennial generation, you need to get past the traditional marketing techniques. According to Forbes, Millennials are more concerned with experiences and less concerned with milestones like buying a car or house.
Real-Time Expectations
Customers today want real-time interactions, and for the most part they don’t want to pick up a telephone. They would rather use live chat so that they can stay occupied in many different activities at once. By staying updated with the current trends, companies need to gear their marketing toward providing products and services that customers can enjoy immediately. If you’re a retail store, consider offering customers who place an order online with a coupon to come down and get a free item or discount at your store that day. It’s a great way to leverage the online and brick-and-mortar world of purchasing.
Provide Information
CBS New York notes that carpet cleaning can drastically improve the appearance and life of your carpet. Carpet cleaners likely know how cleaning can reduce pollutants, dust mites and mold to improve the home, it’s up to them to get that information to your customers. Marketing is an important method of communicating with your customers, but the way you go about doing that makes a substantial difference in how your message gets received. The same is true of the medical establishment. If you run a practice, you need to help your patients by providing general advice and help through your social media pages.
Offer Sales
Microsoft notes that having a sale is still one of the best ways to get customers into your store. Be careful if the sale isn’t anything substantial though. A mediocre sale will only bring in the casual customer who was likely planning on visiting anyway. A huge trend from the recent Black Friday specials was that younger kids didn’t care as much about the discounts unless it was at least a 50 percent reduction in price. Money is not all that the newer generation values, they also value connectedness, information and emotional value of items.
Promotional Events
It’s still a good idea to have promotional events, but make sure you don’t make them overly promotional. It’s better to advertise your event as a festival or a store event. This sends the message that you’re not just trying to get your customers to buy. Use a method of passive sales where the items are clearly listed as discounted, but discuss the value of the product instead of talking about the discount. The moment you tell a Millennial that a product is normally much more expensive, you will lose their attention.
Most importantly, be real in your marketing. Infuse personality into your product offerings, and make sure you always focus on what your company can do for the customer. Don’t focus on how they can help improve your bottom-line, and you will begin to get loyal customers that share your products and recommend you to their friends. Millennials often speak about companies that don’t oversell you or focus on how much a product costs because the relationship matters more.