The Real Value Of Customer Surveys

You may now know how to create customer surveys but you could be questioning their value. Well, marketing research shows that keeping existing customers is a lot easier and cheaper than gaining new ones. There are a host of clichés relating to the world of marketing:

• Gaining a customer can take months or even years while losing one can happen in a split second
• It’s 400% more expensive to get a new customer than keep an old one
• If you retain 2% of your customers, you’ll save the same money as if you cut 10% of your costs

These may all be hackneyed sayings but they’re invariably true. Customer surveys are incredibly valuable because they reveal the mindset of your clients. Surveys can actually show you that certain customers are thinking of leaving you. Above all, customer surveys help you get to know your audience better and are one of the best forms of marketing that you can do. When you read any advice about marketing, you’ll always find that locating your target audience is a great time and money saver and is one of the first pieces of advice you’ll receive.

Hear Their Concerns

Companies often forget that customers love being listened to. Being asked for their opinion really pleases customers and they will often react well to such an invitation. From a consumer’s point of view, there are few things more frustrating than not being heard. When you send them a customer survey, at least they know that someone is listening.

Negative And Positive Comments

One of the main reasons why companies avoid sending customer surveys like the plague is because they are afraid of negative feedback. No one likes being told that they’re not good enough but negative comments can actually benefit your company if taken in the right spirit. While there will always be a few troublemakers who post nonsensical criticism, there are often valuable comments posted by dissatisfied customers. Such criticism could actually uncover flaws in your business which have escaped your notice. Now would be a good time to fix them!

Finally, customer surveys can be extremely uplifting for companies if they receive positive feedback. There is nothing more rewarding than having a random customer extol the virtues of your business. A positive comment can transform a gloomy winter morning where nothing gets done into one of the year’s most productive days.

With a customer survey, you are getting into the minds of your customers. You are not omnipotent so it’s necessary to gain a greater understanding of your clientele. By doing this, you will discover what your company is doing well and where it is going wrong. When you find out about problems with your service, you can fix them and further improve your business.

Having a degree in psychology is not necessary when it comes to creating a successful email marketing campaign but it would certainly help! One of the most important things in any marketing drive is writing copy that has the ability to get inside someone’s mind. How often have you read web copy or a marketing email that really gets your attention? Generally, consumers are subjected to the same gimmicks and fluff and quickly grow tired of it. Email marketing’s sole purpose is to make sales and in order to do this; you have to gain a person’s attention.

RAS

Creating a subject line with an incomplete thought is a terrific way to begin. Did you know that our brains are designed to go crazy at the thought of incomplete information? The brain’s reticular activating system (RAS) ensures that we aren’t satisfied until we complete a puzzle. How often have you half-remembered some trivial information and went mad for hours trying to remember it all? If you can craft a subject line such as: ‘Did you know that small businesses increased their revenue by 80% when they…...’ you could gain a person’s attention and cause them to open the email?

There are a number of other ways to trigger the consumer’s RAS within the email. Involvement devices work well in copywriting and also in email marketing. Ask the reader to write something down because this sends a signal to their cerebral cortex which tells them to pay attention. So instead of having a prospect read the email while half-asleep, you automatically gain their interest.

Ask A Question

Another terrific involvement device is to create a very quick survey in the email, perhaps even one question, and get the recipient to answer it. Make sure that the question you get them to answer directly relates to whatever it is you’re trying to sell. Perhaps you could also get your email recipients to take part in a poll, the result of which is of real interest to your members. Such an action gives your mailing list a chance to interact with you and have their say on something that may be of importance to them. This certainly makes a change from the litany of begging emails they receive on a daily basis.

Activating the RAS of prospects is only one small psychological device you can use to increase your conversion rate through email marketing. You need to make customers feel like they’re being heard. This can make all the difference when it comes to making sales.

Anyone who runs a brewery or a bar knows that keeping customers is becoming increasingly difficult. The era of the ‘regular’ in bars is coming to an end as customers seek the newest and most chic places to socialize. From the point of view of the brewer, it can seem like an impossible task to take on rivals who have larger distribution channels and a greater marketing budget. However, email marketing is the great equalizer. Once you know how to use email efficiently, you will be able to take customers from breweries and bars many times larger than yours.

Email Advantages

The main advantage of email marketing is of course the fact that it is extremely inexpensive. However, its main weapon is its ability to speak to a specific audience, something that more traditional forms of marketing can’t do. It enables brewers and bars to speak to a local audience as well as delivering the highest return on investment of any form of online marketing. The data generated by email marketing also allows you to make important changes to cater to your target audience.

Getting Email Addresses

The first step is to get customer details. This is surprisingly easy. A great idea is to set up a business card collection box in a visible area (the counter for example). Use an incentive such as a discount or prize to get people to fill in the cards you supply. On your website, you should also have a competition or a poll which will help you gather yet more email addresses. This is a simple way to build up a formidable subscriber list.

Now that consumers have willingly given you their email addresses, you can start that email marketing campaign. There are a huge number of services which can help you email thousands of customers for just a few dollars a month. The best services also have analytics which provide you with statistics relating to the response rate of the email recipients. This data is analyzed and you alter the campaign’s emails if necessary.

Make It Count

The first rule of email marketing is to always show the recipient that there is value in opening the emails. Most people receive hundreds of emails a week so yours needs to stand out in order to be taken seriously. Whenever possible, mention special offers, discounts and other promotions to keep them interested. However, you should also make an effort to send emails that just contain items that you know will be shared such as a link to funny photos or hilarious alcohol-related stories. Always make sure these photos are tagged with your company’s name.

Once you have a customer’s email, it’s your duty to treat them properly. Don’t test their patience by sending emails every day. Only email them when you have something interesting to say. Show respect for their time and they may reward you with future business.

It’s easy to be so engrossed in crafting new messages for your email marketing campaign that you completely forget the importance of allowing customers to have their say. Your profits may well be down or up and it could be a complete mystery unless you stop typing and start listening. After all, how are you supposed to know what’s right or wrong about your product/service/business unless a customer tells you? Without the consumer, there is no business so start considering the prospect of creating customer surveys to find out what the public really think of your company.

Planning The Survey

You’re used to painstakingly creating email marketing messages so taking the time to carefully plan and execute your survey should be no problem at all. You may have 100 questions that you would like to ask your customers but it’s best to keep it to 20 or thereabouts because most people’s attention tends to wander after this point. If you issue a survey that takes half an hour to finish or threatens to do so, very few people will bother completing it. Begin by explaining the purpose of the survey and the benefits. Perhaps you can offer potential prizes to those who complete the form. Many companies issue discounts which are awarded to a certain number of people.

Don’t Annoy The Customer!

Have a few gentle introductory questions and don’t go fishing for personal details straight away. It’s also important to ask one question at a time and not confuse the issue by posing multiple queries in a single sentence. This has a habit of irritating and confusing the respondent which will see the survey left incomplete. Assuming you are allowing multiple choice questions, please ensure that you have exhaustive answers that cover all bases without overlapping one another. When two or more answers appear to be virtually the same, this is an example of a poorly designed customer survey.

You must always use neutral language in the surveys to ensure that you don’t come across as biased. The questions must be posed in such a way that your preferred answer is not apparent. Essentially, you have to think carefully about the questions you ask and the order they appear in as well as offering all-encompassing choices. The purpose of customer surveys is to learn more about your company through the consumer as well as knowing more about potential customer’s preferences. Hopefully, the information you gain will greatly improve your company’s prospects in the future.

Avoiding Spam Filters

When email marketing, you have to be careful not to get your message tossed into the junk folder. The amount of computer viruses and scams that take place online means that people who receive emails are wary. The CAN-SPAM Act became law in 2003 and had a number of revisions added in 2008. The Act is designed to fight against spam, viruses, pornography and other internet problems. Also, email servers have become more vigilant and have added virus and spam filters which block out unwanted emails. Some of these filters are so powerful that even legitimate emails can be blocked. Clearly, this would be a disaster to your email marketing campaign, so what can you do?

Filtering

Once upon a time, getting your email opened was the single most important thing in email marketing. In the modern era, getting your email delivered is even more vital. No longer can you assume that everyone on your mailing list will receive the message you send. The filters in email programs enable people to add emails which contain certain words to their junk mail list. It’s also possible to create a blacklist which blocks emails from certain senders. You need to be aware of this if you’re planning an aggressive email marketing campaign. Too aggressive and you will be blocked forever.

They’re Only Words?

When you’re creating emails, you have to avoid the use of certain words. Obvious words and phrases such as ‘Free’, ‘Winner’, ‘Investment’, ‘Sale’ and ‘Cash Bonus’ should not be used. Most email programs will filter out messages with these words. In actual fact, there are hundreds of words and phrases that should be avoided to guarantee that your email passes spam filters. Terms like ‘big bucks’, ‘get paid’ and ‘call now’ may see your message blocked by filters. You should also avoid the use of $ signs, exclamation points and words that are all capital letters. Failure to do this will see your messages go to the email equivalent of purgatory and never get opened. You can use symbols between words to beat the filters. For example, say ‘ca^sh’ instead of ‘cash’.

If you’re worried about the email you’re sending, there are dozens of content checkers online which will tell you if the email will potentially be blocked by spam filters. It should be noted that there is no program online that is 100% accurate. Most of them only check emails against the filtering rules of certain spam filters. This is why you should leave out a word or phrase if you aren’t sure of its validity.

What do you think is the most important part of email marketing? Some people still believe that using certain keywords is essential. Why? You’re sending someone an email, not trying to get seen on search engines! Keywords are irrelevant because the email is being sent to thousands of people. This doesn’t mean it will be seen however and having compelling content is not nearly enough. The vast majority of emails sent by customers to prospects never get opened because the subject line isn’t compelling enough.

Make Them Curious

People are exposed to thousands of adverts per day. Whenever they receive an email, they immediately look at the subject line. If it contains a generic phrase it will be discarded. If it appears to be some sort of advert, it will be binned. You need to create emails which have subject lines that arouse curiosity. Some great subject lines that have been used successfully by companies include ‘You got me worried’ and ‘Are the rumors about you true?’ because they seem personal and have made you want to see what’s inside.

Don’t Follow The Herd

Certain companies who attempt email marketing campaigns go overboard when it comes to personalization and start to use the recipient’s name in the subject line. While ‘Hello John’ may have worked at one time, so many companies are now using this device that it is deemed to be generic and is immediately deleted. When crafting a compelling subject line, remember that there is a CAN-SPAM Act which prevents companies from using deceptive practices in a bid to get the recipient to open the email. Therefore, you can’t use a subject line which is completely different to the contents of the email or else you will violate the principle of being non-deceptive.

Join The Dots

As we have already mentioned, it’s vital that you avoid making your email look like an advert. This includes the subject line which must be devoid of phrases such as ‘profit’, ‘free’, ‘sale’, ‘buy’, ‘discount’ or similar terms which give off the scent of commerce. Include any of these terms in your subject line and you can be sure that the recipient will delete the email without opening it. One of the best devices to use in a subject line is an incomplete thought. The human brain hates an incomplete puzzle and is desperate for information that helps it close the topic. Only by opening the email can the brain rest.

Don’t worry about what to put in the email until the subject line has been sorted out. Once it is and an interesting title has been found, you’ll have completed the most difficult part of email marketing which is to get the prospect to open the email and start reading.

Have You Forgotten About Email Marketing?

A mistake most companies make when the time comes to launch a product or service online is to rely mainly on SEO content writing as their main plan of attack. While SEO content is vital, missing out on the power of email marketing really is criminal. It is a form of marketing that can reach more customers than any other, is inexpensive and when done correctly, will see your profit margin dramatically rise.

Customer Retention

One of the best things about email marketing is its ability to help you keep existing customers. SEO content writing helps you get the customers while email marketing enables you to keep them. According to industry statistics, it can cost 400% more to market to new customers than old ones. Your regulars know your company and use up less of your customer service time. They are also familiar with your product, know what they want and tend to purchase more than new customers. Therefore, it makes sense to market to those you know before targeting a new audience. With old customers, all you need to do is provide them with updates on new products as well as offering the occasional incentive.

Be Personal

Did you know that almost one trillion emails are sent per day and that more than 50% of email users check their email at least four times a day? Email marketing gives you a greater opportunity than any other form of advertising. One problem is the number of spam each email user endures. As a result, your email should sound like it speaks directly to one person. This doesn’t mean that you must spend all your waking hours typing individual emails to each person, it just means that you avoid sending generic emails that scream out ‘SPAM’! Remember, modern internet users define spam as unwanted email. In days gone by, spam was seen as unsolicited email.

Remember Your Purpose

Email marketing is nothing like writing web content. There are active spam filters and you need to avoid making your emails sound like adverts even though their sole purpose is to generate sales. To get your email opened, you need a great subject line which arouses interest. To keep them reading, the content must be concise and to the point because people don’t have time to read verbose emails. No matter how flowery your prose is, if you don’t make sales, the entire email marketing campaign has been a failure.

We have 52 Tips for emailing every week of the year. Let us know if you would like us to send that to you. You can call (512) 870-8413 ext 202 to make your request for your 52-week marketing plan.

You don’t need to be a marketing expert to know that Christmas is one of the most lucrative times of the year for businesses. Consumers go wild with excitement when purchasing gifts for loved ones and they are far more likely to make impulse purchases and snap decisions. This is one of the reasons why email marketing at Christmas can be profitable but only if you use the power of email wisely. Here are some quick email marketing tips that will provide you with wide scale benefits over the festive season.

Timing

Remember, your email marketing campaign revolves around your customers, not you. Always focus on commencing your campaign at a time that best suits your customers. The great thing about the holiday season is that people are off work and have more time to check their email. Then there is always the fact that employees often get half days. Therefore, it’s better to send your emails in the afternoon rather than the morning where they will remain unopened for hours. This benefits you because your email will be one of the first they see and open.

One Offer

Remember that consumers are inundated with advertising during the holiday season. This means you have to make your offer stand out and the best way to do this is to concentrate all your efforts on a single offer. A number of businesses make the mistake of having several offers which serve to confuse the consumer. As a result, none of the offers are taken up. By having one generous promotion, you can focus all your efforts on delivering a memorable marketing email which will be remembered ahead of the rest of the dross in the average person’s inbox.

Consumer Friendly

As the major benefit of using email marketing during the holiday season is more access to people who are in the mood to spend, it’s no surprise to learn that company’s ratchet up their marketing efforts during this time of year. It’s a massive mistake to increase the frequency of your emails however. This is a stressful time of year for most people and they may construe extra emails as an overly aggressive marketing strategy. This is never well received and you can expect to have a horde of people unsubscribing to your emails if you do this. If you must increase the frequency, let the recipients know beforehand and explain to them the amazing offers the extra emails will contain.

The holiday season may be the best time for email marketing but if you overdo it, your conversion rate will remain dismal. This is the perfect chance to end the year on a high so don’t blow it!

According to recent research by Postling, nearly 80% of real estate agents are using Facebook to market their practice and properties.

“Social media has definitely become the wave of the future for real estate advertising,” says Melissa Savenko, aRE/MAX Commonwealth realtor in Richmond, VA’s affluent Fan District. “I use Facebook to promote my listings, to market open houses and to notify other agents and the public about price drops and additional incentives. In this economy, I think many agents have embraced the social media world to promote their brand and their listings because it is free, easy and efficient.”

In addition to offering cost-effective methods of promoting properties, Facebook also offers a range of new opportunities to grow and cultivate a robust community of prospective buyers and sellers.

Here are five best practices for using Facebook in real estate marketing.

1. Use Facebook To Connect with Potential Clients

 

Social media makes it much easier to make a fast, personal connection with people you meet.

“I used to hand out cards or had to ask for a phone number or email address — now I try to remember people’s names so I can find them on Facebook or LinkedIn and connect that way,” says Katy Dinner, a top San Francisco-based agent and founder of Katy Dinner Real Estate. “It’s a softer way to connect — instead of sending them an email from my business address, I can connect on a personal level on Facebook and then invite them to my business page.”

On that note, you may want to consider developing a separate business page on Facebook that allows you to target your content and your audience more effectively. To get started building your fan base, Dinner recommends uploading your email database to Facebook once a quarter and inviting everyone to become a fan, and then inviting new friends and contacts as you meet them.

That being said, many agents still opt to use their personal Facebook account for posts rather than setting up a business page.

Savenko originally set up a business page on Facebook, but then decided to just focus on building her personal network. “I realized that I just didn’t have time to manage posting in two places, and using my personal network was working just fine,” says Savenko. According to Savenko, about 75% of her personal network postings are business-related and include relevant articles, links to her blogs posts as well as photos and ads for her listings.

2. Maintain a Consistent Flow of Communication

 

It used to be that a monthly newsletter was enough to keep your network updated on your business, but with the advent of social media, you now have the opportunity to stay top-of-mind on an ongoing basis.

Dinner posts two times a week to her personal connections — once with a listing, and once with a relevant article or piece of data — and uses an RSS feed to automatically share four to five of her blog posts a week with fans of her business. She also keeps the picture banner on her business page updated with recent properties she’s sold, changing these out every few months to keep it fresh.

“You always know that I’m doing business,” says Dinner.

Even if you’re just getting started using Facebook, make sure you’re at least mixing in some real estate-related posts with your personal feed — because your extended network is often your best source of new business. Justin Bedecarré, a commercial real estate adviser at Cushman & Wakefield, Inc., says that “while you don’t want to bombard your friends on Facebook with your work, the worst thing would be if a friend didn’tknow what you do and used someone else, only because they didn’t know you were in real estate.”

Dinner agrees. “It used to be that real estate agents wore a badge everywhere they went, so people knew they were agents. I teach my agents that they need to wear their real estate badge online,” says Dinner.

3. Integrate Facebook Into Your Existing Marketing

In addition to giving people the ability to follow you on Facebook from your website, think about other ways that you can integrate Facebook into your marketing. For example, if you’re blogging, set it up to automatically post each new article on Facebook.

You can also integrate Facebook with your email marketing. For example, Dinner uses Constant Contact’s Facebook app to make her monthly newsletter available to friends and fans on Facebook.

“Newsletters can easily get stuck in spam filters, and with all the email people get, not everyone opens the newsletter each month,” says Dinner. “This way, I know that my entire Facebook network is also getting my newsletter content.”

When marketing a particular property across multiple channels, Dinner suggests using different lead pictures for each. For example, the MLS listing might show the front of the house, your email might show the kitchen, the Facebook post might show the view and the Facebook Ad might show the garden.

“If the person wasn’t attracted to one element of the home, they might be attracted to something else,” says Dinner.

4. Consider Using Facebook Ads

 

Facebook Ads have also become a popular way for agents to market both themselves as well as new properties. To get the most value, there are a few key things to keep in mind.

When designing your ad, Facebook recommends that you write clear, targeted ads with concise text that speaks directly to the audience you will reach.

Secondly, be smart about the image you use in the ad. “People want to see properties, not your smiling face,” says Dinner. “They’ll also click on graphs if the information is focused, relevant and not available elsewhere.” Dinner recently conducted a study of the impact of parking spaces and garages on home prices in San Francisco and used a graph of the data in a successful Facebook Ad campaign.

Finally, consider how you target. Dinner recommends setting up the ads to target your fans’ friends — because the people within your sphere of influence are more likely to become clients and be in your target demographic.

But not everyone is a fan of Facebook Ads. According to Savenko, “There are so many free online resources right now, the economy is weak and agents are really suffering … so people are being very cautious and targeted with their marketing dollars. I know I am.”

5. Create and Maintain a Professional Image

Be careful what you post to Facebook — pictures of you drinking a cocktail or posts about a wicked hangover aren’t likely to inspire trust.

“Everybody on Facebook is a potential client,” adds Dinner. “It’s critical that you pay close attention to the image you’re creating with your posts and pictures.” In addition to being thoughtful about your posts, Dinner also suggests using Facebook’s privacy settings to specify what content different sets of friends are able to see.

Finally, she also recommends keep posts positive and informative. “The last thing clients want to see is how tough the real estate market is,” says Dinner. “Use your presence to educate and inspire instead.”

Two ways, the first of which is by using Social Media. Your brands Facebook and Twitter pages work as a direct line to your audience. Use that community that you've grown over time and tap into them. Run promotions that require the audience to get involved, and this will spread among their friends and followers, garnering you more eyes on your campaign. Your consumer base is more likely to enter contests around this time of year because it's been hardwired into our society to think of giving and gifts, so design your contest to look the part.

Check back next week for part 2, where we will discuss email marketing!