MODERN MARKETING
stall) (2) They get to meet with Nido
personally on their tour, and (3) The
students get personal valet service
so they don’t have to walk across
campus late at night.
[SIDE NOTE: one way you can
incorporate technology to
create tighter bonds with your
customers and prospects is to
use technologies like chat (which
provides interactive web chat
with live operators) and call back
buttons which they can click and
a live operator will phone them
immediately back to answer their
questions or concerns]
Make it more personal. Here
is a simple way to get both your
employees and your customers
personally involved… their pets.
Have a pet of the week contest.
Customers and employees can
submit their pets photos, their
information, and any funny stories
about their pets to you. Choose 2 or
3 of them per week and have them
posted on your website. Everyone
loves pets – and this is a great way
to get them coming back – and to
get them telling their friends about
their pet, Spot, whose photo and
story is up on this website.
Have a before and after or
makeover contest. All the rage on
reality shows these days -tap into
it! Find ways to incorporate before
and after photos, stories and case
studies with your customers. Give
them lots of publicity and get the
press involved as well.
What do your gift bags contain?
A unique idea that few people
online are using is to give away real
live gift bags with either purchase
or form completion. Gift bags can
26 ModernBusiness
November 2016
contain all kinds of sales materials
for your own products, our partners
products, and your other associated
websites and offers. Many times
you can have gift bags created and
filled for free through the use of coop programs and marketing funds
from your suppliers.
contest – anyone who enters the
contest and predicts the exact
score wins a _____. Have fun with
this – sports fans will do anything
for their team!
Shopping isle placements. Much
like retail stores and big box outlets,
you can place special bundles, hot
sellers, or low priced items in easy
to find places. These are usually
done strategically to get them in
the buying mood, and then to subtly
(or not so subtly) add more to their
cart until their order is 5-10 times
what the first item they bought was
worth.
In the Digital Age, people are
looking for something more than
the same old same old.
Jackpot anyone? Put an
automated roulette wheel or slot
machine on your webpage. Let
them roll the dice or pull the handle
and see what number comes up –
that number will be their discount
off their first purchase. While
discounting is not my preferred
method of increasing sales, it can
certainly help put a spike in the
numbers and add a significant
number of new clients to the
database.
Sports teams. Hire a local sports
celebrity and have them represent
your business with photos, simple
videos, endorsements, etc. If
a local star is not possible or
financially feasible, look into past
sports stars. Give away team
memorabilia with purchases (based
on purchase volume – volume
determines how much memorabilia
they get as a bonus). Have a ‘crazy
fans’ contest – have them do crazy
videos about how much they love
their team. Have a ‘pick the score’
Yes, these ideas may seem off the
wall – but that is the point.
They want a unique experience –
and are willing to pay for it. They
want a community to bond with.
They want more fun in their life. And
they want a place to escape from
the everyday realities they may not
want to face. I hope this list gives
you an idea or two that you can
put to use on your website to make
more money, and to build closer ties
with your customers.
To your success,
Troy White
Troy White is a Calgary based
entrepreneur who has been involved in
sales and marketing for over 25 years.
In just the past decade he has helped
hundreds of small business owners
generate more leads and improve their
sales conversions with the ability to
“Turn Words Into Wealth.”