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One of the biggest questions I get asked is “how to keep in touch with clients on a regular basis, so they can keep us in mind?”. To achieve this, some call their clients, some send e-mails, some send letters (by post!), but much of this is as ineffective as it is time consuming. Besides, there are only so many “thinking of you” or “happy holidays” e-mails you can send before prospects start to feel like you’re fishing for business. |
One tactic that is seriously underutilised in the Middle East are electronic magazines (or ezines). This is simply a way of distributing your interesting content to customers and prospects directly to their e-mails. This could be articles on your blog that you have written about issues to do with your niche, tips, industry news, research, customer stories, reports and a whole bunch of other content that position you and your company as trusted leaders in your field.
The great thing about ezines is that they are cost effective and automate the process of keeping in touch with your clients. Suppose you meet a prospect and don’t close a deal with him because he’s not ready. Rather leaving it at that and letting the relationship turn cold, you can offer to send him a free report or some relevant research your company has carried out through your ezine. That means that however often you decide, he’ll get regular e-mails from you with interesting, valuable content. He may not be in buying mode just yet, but when he is, you can be assured that he won’t forget you.
There are some things to keep in mind when implementing an ezine:
lHave good content. It all starts from here: articles, video, audio on topics that are of interest to your customers. This content should be related to what you sell, but not necessarily promote it.
lChoose your tools. There are tons of ezine software applications out there – from free to paid monthly subscriptions. Speak to your web developer about which ones work best for your needs – but the important thing is to keep it simple and not focus on too much enhanced functionality when starting out. Aweber costs about $20 a month and it works seamlessly.
lBe consistent. Having an ezine is a commitment. Once you start it, your customers will come to expect its delivery on a consistent basis. We suggest to start small and build up. A monthly ezine broadcast that’s delivered consistently is much better than a weekly one that is sometimes not sent out.
lBuild your list. There is no marginal cost to adding subscribers to your ezine – once its set up it costs the same to have 1 or 1,000 subscribers. In other words, once you start your ezine, you should focus on signing up as many relevant subscribers as you can. Offer it at every opportunity – on your website, after meeting a prospect, to current clients, after a public speaking opportunity, and so on.
♦ Ahmed al-Akber is the managing director of ACK Solutions, a firm that helps companies to improve their marketing and sales results by offering more effective ways attracting customers and significantly better products and services. Ahmed has worked internationally in marketing, sales and strategic planning at companies such as the Coca-Cola Company, Philip Morris International and Dell. Questions or comments can be sent to Ahmed on [email protected]
