John Jantsch, author of the small business marketing book and blog Duct Tape Marketing, gave this valuable talk on getting referrals and leveraging social media to connect with customers.
Key takeaways from the talk:
-Most people say they prefer face to face communication.
-High tech, high touch: the more technology becomes a part of our lives, the more we will crave personal interaction.
-A lot of businesses don’t have a system to get referrals.
-Bringing your customers together for an event like a lunch can be a great way to build loyalty.
-Throw a customer appreciation event for your customers and provide a camera crew to help them record a short video about their business that they can use on their site.
-A lot of small businesses look at marketing as an event or idea of the week rather than a process or strategy. Every business is a marketing business.
-A common reason that businesses don’t receive referrals is that they let the customer down somewhere.
-A great opportunity for referrals is to create a strategic partnerships with other businesses.