Although most companies use their permission-based email marketing campaigns to promote different aspects of their business — products, services, valuable information — they’re perfect for getting customers involved in your business and building stronger relationships with them. Steve Adams, vice president of marketing for Protus, a provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) communication tools for growing businesses and enterprise organizations, explains how to go about it:

• Emphasize the forward to a friend button. Let customers know how much you appreciate them, and also let them know that if they like your content, someone they know might too. Ask them to forward the email to someone who they think would also enjoy your content and offers.
• Ask questions and ask for advice. Every good question deserves an answer. Try asking your e-newsletter subscribers different questions around the topic of your email. It may take a couple of tries to get responses, but the right question will definitely keep the conversation going. It will also build stronger relationships with your subscribers — they’ll see your personality, curiosity, and commitment to getting things right. Opt-in email marketing newsletters also should be used as a survey tool for gathering advice and customer feedback. Let your customers know that you are listening to them by telling them what you’ve learned and what you plan to do to continuously improve your campaigns. What do they want to hear about? What issues are top of mind for them? What can you do to improve their reading experience?
• Promote a contest. Contests are a fun and easy way to engage customers with you and your business. They are also a good way to get them to remember you — especially if you’re creative. Promote your contests by sending daily, weekly, or monthly updates and reminders. Promoting your contests through your e-newsletter will keep your contest top-of-mind, especially if your subscribers aren’t visiting your Web site or store often.
• Feature customers in your e-newsletters. Devote a section of your e-newsletter to a customer perspective or profile. A customer Q&A is another good option because it gives him/her the chance to talk about you, your products or services, and your business. It’s a win-win: you get to demonstrate your value while giving your customers the chance to get some exposure.
• Consider charitable giving. Businesses large and small like to find ways to contribute to their communities or special causes, especially around the holiday season. Targeted email marketing can be a great way to communicate your charitable giving plans and programs to your community of customers, associates, and investors — and invite them to join you. You can provide regular email updates on goals to reach, noting progress along the way. It’s a great way to show your customers that you care and to build customer pride, loyalty, and good feelings associated with your brand.

Word of Mouth is the Cheapest, Yet Most Effective Marketing in the World

The concept of referral marketing is to generate of a large portion of new customers by providing exceptional service to existing customers and because of your excellent products and services these customers gladly recommend you and your company to others.

There are several reasons why this is an intelligent way to market. First, quality attracts quality. Psychologists say that you are basically the sum of your five closest friends. In other words, people will refer people who are similar to them and in their sphere of influence.

If someone is a big spender, guess what? They will probably refer other big spenders. Every good customer should be actively pursued for referral because they will usually generate other customers of equal quality and value.

Another reason referral marketing is good business is because some marketing and advertising is met with skepticism and with referral marketing that skepticism is a mute point.

Know this – people are more likely to believe in you if someone else endorses your business than if you yourself begin marketing to them.

What you’re really doing is leveraging off of someone else’s credibility. People who take the recommendations of their friends are now coming to you already convinced of your ability to serve them in the manner in which they want to be served – before you even have to open your mouth.

Finally referral or word of mouth marketing is target marketing. Basically, you’re only going to be getting people who already are in the market for what you’re offering. Mass marketing does not have this effect. If you run an ad on television, you get everybody who watches TV.

But with referral marketing, you’re pretty much only getting people who are already great matches to your products or services. This means your closing rate will go up without having to learn one single bit of salesmanship. You’re just getting people who are already more likely to say “yes” before they even enter into the store.

Okay, know my rule of thumb when it comes to referral marketing – every good customer should get three direct chances to refer someone else to you.

I have found in order to get the best results, you have to ask someone three times to make a referral on your behalf. If you do nothing else, you should do this.

However, to really make it effective, there are two more things you need to do: make it easy for them to refer, and make it worthwhile to refer. I’m going to show you how to do all of this and more, as I outline what I have found time and time again to be a profit pulling monster when it comes to referral systems. (Con’t).

For a free copy of the complete report, send an email to: strategicmarketingprofits@gmail.com and put “Referral Marketing Report” in your subject line.

Martha A. Herring