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<\/a>our customers will do what we want them to do. They will notice our advertisements, will read our direct mail, and will take the calls of our salespeople. In short, they will buy what we sell them.<\/p>\nWe all know that perfect worlds don\u2019t exist. In this imperfect one, words are often unheard, misconstrued, or forgotten. They are not tangible; they are by their very nature ephemeral. Messages, however interesting or important, get lost all the time.<\/p>\n
So what do you do then to keep your message alive?<\/strong><\/p>\n The problem is that conversations, sales pitches, and sales calls are all words. They disappear as soon as you\u2019ve said them and quickly thereafter, they are forgotten as if they never existed! The solution is to get your words to stay permanently in the minds of your customers.<\/p>\n How do you do that? You structure your marketing communication strategy in a way that keeps your message alive in the minds of your customers, employees and everyone else with whom your business interacts.<\/p>\n 1.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Create unobtrusive follow-up messages:\u00a0<\/strong> Use am email marketing service such as Constant Contact or Mail Chimp to stay in touch with your customers.\u00a0 Create quick, easy to read useful tips and reminders that will keep conversations alive without a hard sale.<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Send personalized newsletters:\u00a0<\/strong> Depending on your business, budget and list, you may want to take your newsletter OFFLINE and send a real-life printed copy.\u00a0 Keep newsletters informative, educational and fun.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be afraid to share bits of your personal life and tie them into the message of the newsletter.\u00a0 Be sure to offer gifts, tips or coupons as well as to drive readers back to your web site.<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Create a list of top 10 reasons and focus on those.<\/strong>\u00a0 Talk about getting a bang for your marketing effort; write a single article that outlines the 10 reasons customers should choose you and your product.\u00a0 Make them obvious, fun and snappy.\u00a0 Then use that list to create individual articles, presentations, messages and promotions.\u00a0 It will keep your message focused and make it easy for customers to refer you.<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Set up a referral system.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0 Check out \u201cPay with a Tweet\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 it\u2019s a terrific way to get your online community talking about you and your offer.\u00a0 Simply set up an account, put a button on your site and offer a product or service that your community can pay for by tweeting about it.<\/p>\n 5.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Give webinars and teleseminars.\u00a0<\/strong> This is so much easier than you think.\u00a0 Create a \u201cconcept\u201d presentation that teaches your audience something valuable and then partner with other people in your market space.\u00a0 You offer to give your webinar to their community and then they can give one to your community.\u00a0 This is a great way to expand your list and offer great content to other experts on the web.<\/p>\n Keeping conversations alive is unique different from pesky and annoying advertising.\u00a0 Marketing and advertising messages are often too focused on getting people to simply \u201cBuy something\u201d\u00a0 it gives the audience the impression of being disrespected and used.\u00a0 On the other hand, keeping conversations alive actually achieves the same thing as a sales message \u2013 it reminds your customers that you are there.\u00a0 But instead of just selling them day after day, you are building relationships, educating and being a useful part of their life.\u00a0 And this, usefulness is what keeps your brand at the center of their attention and keeps them choosing you when they are looking to buy what you\u2019re selling.<\/p>\n