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Why Great Customer Service Is a Powerful Small Business Marketing Tool

 

Customer Service is a great marketing tool

With the power of the Internet and the multitude of review sites, it’s difficult to avoid honest opinions about your company. Those reviews, both positive and negative, are just a Google search away, and whether the complaint or review is valid or not, people may still take it as gospel.

According to Fonolo, 68 percent of businesses plan to increase the amount of money they invest in customer management because the customer experience is so important. Additionally, positive feedback can be very useful for marketing purposes, especially when customers share how their issues were resolved efficiently.

Companies can use that testimonial information to develop customer service strategies, and show their customers that they’re appreciated. This in turn creates new and repeat business. Here are some ways to turn customer referrals and testimonials into increased business:

Take Care of Your Customers

The best type of marketing is word-of-mouth by your customers. The best way to create a positive buzz about your company is to provide great customer service. People will remember how you solved their problems and helped them find whatever they needed. Not only will they return to your company but they also will tell their friends about their positive experience. This is the easiest way to market your company because you let your customers do the work for you.

Reflect Your Caring for Customers

Taking care of customers is a vital marketing issue, perhaps even more so than buying billboards or advertising. When customers feel cared for, many are quick to share that experience, reflecting the hard work of your company. Every customer is a gatekeeper to evangelize your brand. Showing your appreciation and generosity for loyal customers builds solid support for your business.

Marketing customer service requires long-term vision “to move the needle on customer service operations, in order to keep customers satisfied and loyal to your brand,” states Kate Leggett in an article on Forrester.

Loyal customers deserve your attention. Those who receive a top-to-bottom customer support experience could become repeat buyers. Your company can go above and beyond the typical customer service requirements by showing appreciation to loyal customers. When you reach out and thank them, it comes across as a genuine attempt to make them feel special. One way to do this is to send something like a gift basket and a hand-written thank you note. You can brand any number of useful and desirable products with your logo and colors to use as giveaways – the promotional products field has items at all price levels ready to be imprinted, engraved, embroidered or branded with your company logo and message. Also, print wear is a great idea – loyal customers will be happy to receive and wear a quality clothing item screen printed or embroidered with the attractive logo of a company they appreciate.

Locate Testimonials

If your company pops up in Internet searches next to negative terms, then that gives people an early reason to look elsewhere for comparable products or merchandise. But, if your business connects to positive search results, it gives people a reason to trust you.

With customer review sites such as Yelp and Trip Advisor, people can see what others said about you, and, luckily, you can use positive reviews to your advantage. Figure out who your most sustained, loyal customers are, and ask them to honestly share their experience in a video testimonial for your company’s website. Wistia offers advise and tips for creating video testimonials for your business such as being prepared but not scripted. If you don’t like videos, then you also can ask repeat customers to go onto Yelp, Angie’s List or other review sites to honestly talk about their experiences.

In your advertising, emphasize the real-world experience of your most honest customers, and more people will get a sense of what you’re all about.

 

Strive to buy your print locally! A community printer will understand communication and design, with a special emphasis on your local market. They should be able to provide you with the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for communicating your message through print, design and typography, signage, apparel, variable data printing and direct mail, integrated marketing and environmentally responsible printing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.
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Embroidery or Screen printing? Tips to Keep Your Brand in Style

Custom Apparel

Branded custom apparel and accessories are affordable, powerful marketing tools. What makes them unique in the world of marketing is their desirability…. embroidered or screen printed with your logo, tagline or mark, they are something you do not have to work to put into someone’s hand. Like all promotional products, custom branded items are useful and appreciated by your customers. What other type of advertising media could you seriously put a pricetag on and sell as merchandise?

3 Ways to Promote Your Brand with Custom Apparel

  • Reward staff for a job well done or customers for their loyalty. It will both express your gratitude and serve as a highly visible reminder of your quality and generosity.
  • Provide staff and employees with branded “uniforms” or work attire, regardless of the type of business. Screen printing and embroidery offer a stylish, crafted finish to almost any garment you could need. You recognize the UPS drivers immediately – do your customers recognize your employees? Even if you feel your business is not suitable for a uniformed workforce, an embroidered shirt in your brand’s color for employees who deal with the public is attractive.
  • Consider offering branded clothing and accessories in a sort of “gift shop” for the public as well. For instance, if you are in the restaurant or food business, why not offer customized aprons, chefs hats, oven mitts and kitchen towels for sale? When customers wear your brand or use these items in public, there is no better form of effective advertising… and best of all, that’s FREE brand exposure!

You’ll have no trouble finding a huge array of clothing and items to choose from when investing in custom apparel. All types of quality merchandise in current styles are available: t-shirts, polos, oxfords, fleece, sports gear, caps, scrubs, gloves, blankets, linens, tote bags, accessories and more. Use your imagination to decide what works best with your brand in terms of color, style and usage.

Once you choose the items you want to customize, put some thought into what will work best for both your budget and the look of the finished pieces. The type of item will usually determine whether screenprintng or embroidery should be used. Use the tips below to help you decide:

Screen printing

  • Best for T-shirts, shopping bags and other comodity items
  • Pricing is based on quantity, as well as number of colors and sides printed
  • Group multiple products into one order for quantity breaks. Best quantity breaks are at 25, 50, 75, and 100 pieces.

Embroidery

  • Best for higher-quality items like button-down shirts, polos, jackets and caps
  • Pricing is based on number of stitches and number of locations on item to be embroidered
  • Quantity price breaks are not as significant as with screen printing, but great for small orders. Can do as few as ONE!
  • One-time set up fee to digitize logo – can be used on multiple product

Rely on your printer for advice and direction in deciding between what options are out there for creative ideas that fit your marketing budget. They should be able to provide you with the latest information and innovative ideas in print, signage, apparel and integrated marketing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Shop our full ImageSmith catalog online here. We can work with you to find the best option to suit your needs. Please note, prices in online catalog do not include decoration, but call us for a quote at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.