In March we feel awakened to the sense that Spring is on it’s way! There are more daylight hours when we wake and when we end our day, as well as warmer temperatures with the sights and sounds of melting snow and birds returning. Even for those in areas of the country where the winters are mild, the sense that Spring is in the air still abounds. Your customers are also beginning to feel this sense of excitement as they emerge from their winter holidays and look forward to Spring. It is important to focus your marketing during this time to capitalize on this, especially if they haven’t heard from you all winter!
Below we have outlined 3 steps to ensure you have touch points with every customer:
1: Look Over Your Lists
Whether your customer lists are kept digitally, or hard copy on paper, now is the perfect time to look them over. Take the time to have someone from your team organize lists into segments. You can segment many different ways but the most common options for segmenting include, last interaction with a customer, service type, upsell opportunities, lost customer/existing customer, new prospective customer, etc. Having segmented lists will help you all season long.
Start with the task of separating your customers into two groups:
- Customers we have heard from in the last 6 months
- Customers we haven’t heard from in the last 6 months
Once you have completed the first task you will now have a good idea of where you need to focus your marketing priorities. From there, you can showcase your new offerings, services, or even target upselling opportunities.
2: Consider Types of Touch Points
The most common types of customer touch points can be broken down into three categories:
- Before a purchase
- During a purchase
- After a purchase
Consider all customers (regardless of when you have contacted them) as being in the “After a Purchase” category, unless you are still working with them on a project and then they would be in the “During a Purchase” category. And finally, any new prospective customers would be in the “Before a Purchase” group.
Next, create a marketing plan to reach each of these touch point categories with strategies that work best for the customer in each. For instance, what type of social media or online advertising will you do to target customers in the “Before” category. Consider showcasing the services you provide, the areas you serve, and include content on why now (in the pre-season) is the time to reach out and learn more about how you can help them meet their needs for landscaping, irrigation, outdoor lighting, or ornamental plantings.
For anyone in your “During” category you will want to have a more personal touch point. This could include phone calls, emails, paper mailing, or site visits to connect on where the team is on the project. Outline next steps so that your current customers know their projects won’t get left behind once new projects begin to fill up your time as the season gets underway.
And finally, and perhaps even most importantly, are all the customers in the “After” category. These are all the people you have done business with before. You may need to segment this list even further to include such categories as:
- Customers who need to be contacted to re-new annual packages
- Customers who had one-off projects, but showed possible interest in follow up projects (i.e. installed hardscaping last Fall (patio or walkways). Perhaps now they are looking to add lighting and ornamental plantings around the walkway and irrigation for the new ornamentals.)
- Customers who didn’t show interest in additional projects at the time, but could use a reminder/thank you for the work you did together previously. And a call-to-action to reach out if they now have other projects they need to do.
3: Execute Your Touch Point Plans
Now that its time to execute, determine the different ways you can get your message out: email, direct mail, your website, phone calls, digital ads, social media, etc. We always recommend promoting your message in multiple channels. This will help ensure your target audience is seeing the message multiple times. Consistency is key when targeting and communicating with customers. They may need to see a message several times before contacting you.
Rely on Central to help you accomplish your goals with innovative and effective solutions. Whether you need access to Subject Matter Experts to help you seal the deal with a prospective client, or assistance designing social media ads and printed brochures, Central has decades of experience and we are here to help you grow! Reach out to our marketing team at marketing@centraltis.com to learn more about how partnering with us can create long last results for your business.