The Fastest Marketing Return on Investment
It’s easy to throw money at marketing and not see any results. Sometimes it’s best to just watch where your money is going and make sure that it has the best chance at success. There are many ways that you can measure the effectiveness of your marketing strategy, but here’s our favorite: Return on Investment (ROI). The higher your ROI, the better your business is doing.
What does this mean for your business? It means if you’re spending money on advertising or other forms of marketing, then those investments need to lead directly back into sales—either through repeat purchases by existing customers or new customers who don’t currently know about your business but might be interested in what you have to offer.
The fastest way to a marketing ROI – Sell to your existing customers
You already have a group of past customers that know, like, and trust you to do work for them. In a service-based business, services need to be performed on a regular basis and this is what makes retargeting so important for businesses.
The lifetime value of a customer is not just the first carpet cleaning or hvac repair ticket, it’s in the overall life of the client. Selling them new flooring when their carpet wears out, or a new HVAC system when their system dies.
Some of our favorite retargeting strategies:
- Email Marketing
Send emails to past customers. You can target specifically on their preferences or past purchases, general newsletters, and even cross-sell other services you offer.
- Text Message Marketing
Text message marketing gets a 98% open rate from people that already trust you. It is an amazing way to get in front of your past customers to re-engage them to buy again or refer you.
- Call to check in
A simple call wishing them happy holidays or seeing when their next service should be is a nice touch for customer service but also build a closer relationship between customer and business.
- Physical Mailers
Mailers are still a thing that can work. Typical response rates are 1%, but can be a way to reach older customers that may not text or use email.
- Retargeting Ads
Upload a list of past customers and run ads targeting those specific people when it becomes time for them to receive service again.
Start with an email list
You can capture emails from past customers on your website or in a customer database like QuickBooks, a CRM you use, or even outlook/email. It’s best practice to require an email when setting an appointment so you can send reminders and do email campaigns to the customer in the future. You can also give away free content or free estimates in exchange for contact information to build up a customer database.
Send follow-up emails to past customers
The first step in sending follow-up emails is to decide what you want to accomplish with them. If a customer has made an initial purchase from you, they may not be ready to make a second one at that moment, but it’s still important to keep them engaged and give them some reason to come back later.
You can send an email with current offers or discounts, plus information about new products or services that might interest them. We like to include recent project or case studies you completed to show off your work and give them ideas of services you offer that they have not completed yet.
The key here is relevance: you don’t want to be spammy, but you want to be top of mind. Even if they don’t need the service again for several months or years, they can now become your raving fans and tell others about your service.
Offer referral discounts to friends, neighbors, and family of past customers
One surefire way to get raving fans out in the community is to offer referral discounts. If a person refers others and they make a purchase, they get a discount on the product they purchased themselves and the referrer gets some form of compensation as well.
Many businesses have found that offering referral discounts is an excellent way to get more customers while also increasing brand awareness. In fact, one study found that 52% of consumers are likely to recommend brands because they received discounts or deals from friends and family members.
Cross Sell New or Other Services
Retargeting allows you to cross-sell other services or new services you offer. Some businesses use this to test out ideas or interest in adding on new products or service with a test group of people that already trust them.
Email & Text Marketing for Service Businesses
If you’re looking for a way to increase your marketing ROI, there are many ways to do it. One of the best ways is by using retargeting. Not sure about where to begin with your retargeting campaign, set up a free 30-min strategy session with one of our consultants to discuss your business and brainstorm ideas.