Guest Post:  Elian Evans

I’ve talked before about connecting with your clients through a website for your business and have mentioned the use of an email contact service like MailChimp. I love MailChimp for their humor and I refer my clients to them all the time. Best of all, for small lists, their service is free.

Connecting and establishing positive rapport with your customers is so very important. You want them to shop with you over and over again. You want them to refer all of their friends to you. You want to be “top of mind” to them. You want them to be your RAVING fans regardless of what company you represent and what products you offer. By developing and nurturing your relationships you will create that long term connection. Some quick tips to do that:

Make it visual (think Pinterest)

Pinterest is one of the fastest growing social media sites. It is all about pictures. Google + and Facebook are now very visual as well. The magazines and catalogs you enjoy looking at grab your attention with beautiful pictures and great headlines. Be sure to use pictures that tie into what you are talking about.

Make it real

Some easy ways to create connection is talk like you are writing just to them. Use their name if you can. Write in short paragraphs. Online the rules are a bit different than when you wrote that term paper for high school. You have permission to have a one sentence paragraph!

Make it interesting

Be sure to keep things interesting. Be sure to change your format up once in awhile with video, a survey or something new. You can use Google docs or Survey Monkey to embed a survey. Have contests. Keep it fun (and simple).

Make it about THEM

Your raving fans want to feel special. Make everything you do be for them. It’s not about you! Do things you know they like. Stroke their ego. Make them feel like a million bucks. This past weekend I went to a very upscale, highly rated hotel in Charleston, SC. One or two people there made me feel welcome. But many of the staff were not friendly. Whether you are in person, on the phone, writing an email or blog post, make them feel that it was worth their time to interact with you. Make them feel great and they will love you for it.

About the Author:

Elian Evans is a social media marketing specialist for small business, groups and organizations (for and non-profit). She provides consulting (and some services) with regards to websites, Facebook, Twitter, QR codes, mobile and traditional marketing. Learn more at www.ElianEvans.com.

 

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