Keep in Touch - Discrete Marketing Tactics

As a small business, marketing is extremely importantIndependence Day to send out fond sentiments and
to get your name out there and attract customers.good wishes. Or, take a more universal approach and
Once you have built up a clientele, you want to keepsend out cards for the New Year.
their interest in your company piqued. At the same3. Event Hosting: Wine Tasting
time, consumers are becoming more and more awareGet your clients together at a popular event like a
of the marketing and advertising constantly beingwine tasting. You could find a local venue that hosts
thrown at them. Here are five ideas of how to keepwine tastings, or even host it out of your own office
in contact with your customers without seemingvenue to save on the expense. Light hors d'oeuvres
overbearing.and good music are always a plus. Your customers
1. Hand Written Thank You Noteswill remember the evening, as well as your company's
Write a simple thank you note for customers'great hosting skills, generous attitude, and classy, fun
previous orders. You can accomplish multipleambiance-leaving them more likely to look to you first
objectives by expressing your gratitude for theirfor further business.
business and reminding customers of their experience4. Email Surveys with Incentives
with your company. You might even include a smallSpam email gets sent in masses every day. Most
incentive like a discount coupon for subsequentpeople don't even check their junk boxes and try to
orders. Satisfied one-time customers tend to needfilter out as much as possible. That being said, there
only a small prod to become repeat customers.are plenty of mass emails that people do care to
2. Holiday Cardsread. Sending a quick survey asking about the service
This is a very traditional idea of how to stay inand satisfaction of your customers, while offering a
contact with customers. Holiday cards have forsmall incentive (like a discount on their next order) will
decades been a huge trend and widely used forget you feedback on how to improve and reach out
businesses wanting to stay in contact withto customers.
customers. A nice sentiment during the holiday5. Birthday Card Mailings
season spreads happiness and goodwill-and remindsEveryone loves getting mail on their birthdays. One
customers that you are there. Be careful not toof the great things about being a kid was the gifts
make your holiday send outs too branded, or theyyou got from family and friends. Aside from the
will seem like another piece of advertisement thatexcitement of having new things, there was the
fits best at the bottom of a recycling bin.warmth associated with those who care about you
You can also switch it up, and send out cards for aenough to give you a gift on a day that was all
holiday other than Christmas. With all the issues ofabout you. Capturing a little bit of this by sending out
offending people by focusing on a holiday thatbirthday cards and maybe even small gifts (like a gift
initiated with religion, you can avoid it altogether. Pickcertificates or coupons) will make your customers
an American holiday like Thanksgiving orfeel special, and give them a great reason to return.