24 Oct Maybe it’s time for us to steal from the credit card companies
Andy Boyd is works in the credit card industry. But you can still trust him.
Do you own a small business? If so, there is a good chance you are facing an uphill battle when it comes to your marketing campaign. But as we all know, getting your message in front of the right people is essential to your long term success. The way that you do this depends on many factors including your industry, knowledge, and overall goals.
Why not take marketing cues from companies that are currently running successful campaigns? For example, credit card companies are well known for marketing their products with a high level of success. By taking the principles of what they are doing and combining with your current strategy, you can formulate a plan that will yield the results you have been searching for. Here are three ways that credit card companies market themselves. As a small business, you can learn from these strategies.
Be Consistent
How many credit card offers do you receive in the mail every year? Like most people, you probably don’t know the exact number because you get so many of them. However, you are sure that you receive these mailers on a regular basis.
Credit card companies are consistent (and persistent) with their marketing efforts. They continually put their product in front of you, time and time again, in hopes that you will eventually do what they are asking.
No matter your business or industry, if you have a great product or service and stick with your marketing campaign it will eventually yield results.
Use as Many Methods as Possible
As you know, the credit card companies spread the wealth when it comes to their marketing dollars. From direct mail to internet advertising to television commercials, they are doing practically anything and everything they can to get their message in front of as many people as possible.
Unlike them, small business owners don’t have near unlimited marketing budgets. Along with this, most do not have the budget to advertise in nationwide publications, radio or television stations. With that in mind, you can learn from the way that credit card companies market in many different ways.
Avoid getting stuck on one method of marketing your company ‚Äì even if it has been proven successful. By focusing on several different avenues you are giving yourself a better chance of success, especially if one of your marketing channels goes sour. Google’s recent ‘Panda’ updates, originally targeting content farms but now killing off thousands of smaller websites, is an excellent example of what happens when you rely too heavily on one particular channel. On top of this, you can get a solid idea of what does and does not work for your company and industry.
Give Potential Customers a Reason to Get in Touch
Imagine this: you are opening a letter from a credit card company. What are you going to find? In addition to a letter of introduction that offers basic information, you can be rest assured that there is a “hook.” This could be anything from a zero percent balance transfer offer to free reward points for doing nothing more than signing up.
What incentives can you offer your customers? When you offer something for free or at a discount, you will more than likely see an almost immediate increase in the number of responses received. Couple this with a push on the social networks and your message, brand and offer can quickly be in front of thousands of potential customers.
This article was submitted by Andy at Credit Card Compare. His Australian-focussed website helps businesses get a credit card with rewards and other benefits.