So, you’ve added forms to your website and captured your prospective clients on a lead management system, but you have no idea how to convert these leads into brand loyalists or customers.
We’ve set out some of the ways in which you can use your customer database to reach your current customers and reach audiences that are similar to your customers. Before you dive in though, we have one piece of advice: Segmentation, segmentation, segmentation.
Segmenting your customer database into existing customers and prospective customers is a great start to customising your message to your target audience. A specific message with a single goal in mind to the right audience determines whether or not your marketing campaign will be a success.
Facebook Custom Audiences
Facebook’s Custom Audience is a type of audience that you can create from your existing customers. One of the main benefits of using custom audiences on Facebook is that you can increase your brand engagement, convert customers who haven’t completed a transaction, and reach customers who never open your emails.
Some other ways to use your Facebook custom audience includes:
- Enhancing your existing email promotions
- Generating competition entries
- Generating survey responses
- Preventing converted customers from seeing your ads, and
- Upselling to your existing customers
Once your database is segmented, you can upload your list to Facebook by going to the Audiences tab in Adverts Manager. Visit Facebook’s custom audience support page for a step by step guide.
Google Ads Advertising Channels
Google Ads has several audience creation tools that you can use to reach potential customers. One of these is customer match, which targets audiences that are similar to your most valuable customers.
Customer match has helped many marketers achieve the following business goals:
- Reaching new audiences on YouTube that are similar to your customers
- Improving email marketing performance by placing ads in your customers’ Gmail inbox along with newsletters you’ve sent out, and
- Improving ROI by adjusting Search Advertising bids on your custom audience.
To start off, you’ll need to export each of your prospect segments and upload the lists in the Audiences tab in the Google Ads shared library. For more information on the file requirements and how to troubleshoot list errors, you can visit Google’s Support site.
The customer email lists do not have to be Gmail addresses, as Google will attempt to match the uploaded email list with specific users and some online marketers have found that Google has a 50.4% match rate. Keep in mind though, that Google has a minimum list size requirement of 1000 users to protect the users’ identity. With a 50% match rate, you’ll need to upload a list of approximately 2000 users for your custom audience to be active.
Email Campaigns
Email campaigns can be used for more than just notifying potential customers of your current specials. With a well-planned email campaign you can help your prospects through the buyer’s journey by providing them with value before commencing with your sales’ pitch.
The major benefits of email marketing are:
- Better targeting due to prospects’ indication that they are interested in what your selling
- Increasing brand awareness and engagement
- Easy sharing with friends,
- Measurable email marketing, and
- Cost effective for all kinds of businesses
Keep in mind that the success of email marketing campaigns is dependent on the quality of the email list, the segmentation of the list and matching your marketing message to your audience’s needs.
For example: existing customers will be more interested in new developments in your products or service offerings, where potential clients are still asking whether they wish to do business with your company.
There are several bulk mailer options available, or if you doubt that you have the time to invest in consistently creating email marketing campaigns you can make use of an email marketing service with an online marketing company.
SMS Campaigns
With bulk SMS services, you can import your database to keep your customers informed of new developments, or even service interruptions that you might be experiencing. Keeping customers in the loop will reduce the time spent on managing support queries that relate to the same problem, and will improve your company’s credibility as you indicate that you are proactive in solving your customers’ problems.
Other smart uses for SMS marketing include:
- Sending promotional content such as coupons or special offers
- Advertising your events
- Getting survey responses
- Appointment reminders
- Giving customers the option to make reservations via SMS, and
- Reactivating inactive customers
Building your customer database is the first and hardest step to start growing your business. But with well executed marketing campaigns that use and combine these 4 tools you can start increasing your profits in no time.
