1. Customer service is marketing. With more and more businesses using Twitter and social or digital media as a customer service portal, it becomes more important than ever to have great customer service. Your customer service is out there for everybody to see, so you better make it great. Addressing any potential issues publicly, quickly and effectively is a phenomenal marketing tool for your business.
2. Geo-targeted ads are gold. Successful marketing is about presenting the right message, to the right audience, using the right advertising vehicle. Marketing works best when targeted, and people are starting to use more geo-targeted methods to reach their audience, for example: start reaching out to consumers through mobile devices when they are actually out in stores and ready to buy.
3. Retention marketing. Don't forget to market to your existing customers, and to keep them happy. Professionals tend to worry more about developing new customers, and not enough about satisfying those they already have. A happy customer will get you more new customers, for costs you have already invested.
4. It's not what you know... Marketing that partners a brand with an expert or a celebrity can make a campaign go viral. Reaching out to influencers or subject matter experts and finding creative ways to partner can create mutually beneficial relationships and allow a business to reach outside of their current market.
5. Focus on your brand. No matter what you do, no matter how you do it, your marketing always needs to focus on your brand and stay consistent with your branding and business values. Creating and perpetuating a brand that customers like and remember requires consistency and perseverance. Keep moving forward, and remember that the tortoise may be slow, but he is consistent and usually wins the race in the end.
Eder Holguin is COO of Tyga-Box Systems, Inc, New York, N.Y. Tags: