Today’s world is one of extreme personalization. From what we watch, listen to, purchase, read, and eat – everything can be carefully selected. Gone are the days of solely relying on the timetable of local networks to bring us our favorite shows. Newspapers and magazines curate reader-specific content and subscription services allow us to craft our viewing habits. Media consumption is on our terms – at the tip of our fingertips through remote controls and smartphones or the tip of our tongues through home assistant and voice-controlled devices. This extreme personalization knows no bounds and marketers need to pay attention to maintain share of voice.
Imagine if rather than receiving an email that has clearly been mass distributed, companies took the time to add a personal connection such as location, mention of previous purchases from that brand, or a thank you for customer loyalty by name. That may go a lot further than a simple, “Hello valued customer.” According to Salesforce, 91% of consumers unsubscribe from emails and as researched by NewsCred, 44% of direct mail is never opened. However, with an effort towards 1:1 marketing and being intentional about personally addressing clients and customers those statistics could be turned upside-down.
You may be asking yourself, “How is this possible without a fancy CRM tool and a huge budget?” Here are 5 simple ways to ramp up your niche marketing and increase personal connections:
- Reply to Comments on Social Media
What better way to increase engagement than to engage! Respond to comments, start polls, ask questions, reach your audience on the platforms they utilize every day. - Use Automation for Prompt Responses
Nothing will frustrate most customers more than poor communication. You are a part of your product and the customer service experience influences how people feel about a particular brand. Leverage automated response options through social media, websites and email. Most of these are free or have very minimal investment options. - Personalize Correspondence by Customer
Look at who is buying what, then organize your master customer lists into smaller buckets. Rather than send a general sales email, customize the content based on interest and/or purchasing behavior. And whenever possible, address people by name – it goes a long way!
- Consider Magazines or Community Publications
Most magazines focus on one topic or demographic. They are also subscriber-based, so the content is invited into people’s homes. Create tailor-made ads or advertorials to align with these niche audiences. Likewise, there are some very effective community-interest publications that track events, arts, and parenting. These publications are often much less expensive than a large, daily publication, but effectively reach pockets of the community with meaningful and timely information. Aligning yourself with them also demonstrates indirect support of the topics your consumers care about. - Host a Contest, Poll or Live Social Media Event
Get invaluable feedback directly from the public about how they interact with your product and what is important to them through contesting, polls and/or live events. Learning about the consumers who already engage with your brand can provide relevant insights and ideas that can be used for future engagements and promotions.
Using a combination of these tactics will be the most effective. Customer engagement is a journey. Find your niche and leverage that to match our ever-changing culture.
