In ancient times – so on the business landscape, this is anything before 2010 or so – the metaphor used to engage customers was the good old “radar screen”. And for decades, it was the right image, because the goal was to be noticed and remembered, thus be on "their radar".
Fast forward to today, and the competition for customer attention isn’t just substantial: it’s ferocious. A study by researchers at the University of South Carolina found that each person is inundated – and at times, overwhelmed – with 174 newspapers’ worth of information EVERY SINGLE DAY through the web, emails, TV, and so on.
What does this mean for businesses that don’t just want to capture their customers’ attention, but need to do so in order to stay successful – and in the long term, survive? It means the radar metaphor doesn’t do it anymore, because simply being a part of a target audience’s world isn’t enough. Getting and staying top-of-mind is what the game is all about now. Below, we highlight 3 proven ways to make this happen:
Staying Top of Mind Method #1: Automate Outreach
Manually pushing out content (e.g. emails, social media posts, etc.) isn’t just error-prone, tedious and costly. It’s also a prime opportunity for customers to slip through the cracks because lists aren’t updated and accurate – either because someone hasn’t gotten around to updating them (can you blame them?), or because different lists are living in various spreadsheets and systems. Automation pulls everything together and makes sure nobody and nothing slips through the cracks.
Staying Top of Mind Method #2: Deliver Value
This should go without saying, but since it’s probably the biggest problem on the inbound marketing landscape, we’re obligated to point it out as a Public Service Announcement: customers are self-interested. That doesn’t mean that they’re selfish or self-absorbed. It simply means the top of their mind is reserved for things that are relevant and important to them (i.e. “did I leave the iron on?” is better than “why did those people on Gilligan’s Island pack so much stuff for a 3-hour tour?”).
The implication of this for businesses is clear, hasn’t changed, isn’t changing, and will never change: to stay top of mind, deliver value! This doesn’t mean that blog posts, ebooks and infographics must be profound and life-changing. But yes, they do have to answer the fundamental question “WIIFM?” (“what’s in it for me?”). If customers can affirm that it’s in their self interest to read, watch or listen to something, they typically will. Otherwise, getting top of mind is virtually impossible.
(Seriously though: why did they pack so much stuff for a 3-hour tour? Who does that?).
Staying Top of Mind Method #3: Use Search and/or PPC Effectively
Lastly, sometimes staying top of mind is being at the right place at the right time – and that’s where search and PPC enter the picture.
Basically, both of these strategies are designed to connect with customers at a time when they’re amenable to starting or deepening a relationship. For example, regularly publishing well-written and keyword-optimized blog posts can help businesses generate valuable visibility and credibility for selected topics and themes. Customers who come across these posts as part of their web searches are likely to take notice and be impressed (i.e. if four web searches conducted over the last week all point to the same business, customers are more likely to consider it as an authority in the marketplace and worthy of a deeper look).
Similarly, PPC can also help a business stay top of mind through re-targeting. This is when a business sends targeted ads to select customers hours, days or weeks after they’ve visited a website (or web page that may at another URL, like a landing page or microsite).
Learn More
At Leap Clixx, we help businesses across the country get – and stay – top of mind with their customers. We know what works, and just as importantly, we know what doesn’t. To learn more, contact us today and schedule your free consultation.
To further ensure you stay top of mind with customers, download this FREE eBook "A Guide to Inbound Marketing Best Practices":
Topics: Inbound Marketing
