Marketing Hack – Build Email Lists

An email list is probably the strongest marketing tool a business can have in its marketing repertoire. From the first day itself, a startup must focus on building an email list. Email lists can be created using Gamification. Users can be offered freebies and incentives to induce users to share their email ids.

Email lists are a good marketing tool owing to the following reasons.

One to One – The communication between the business and the customer is personal and one to one.

Higher Engagement & Conversion – Emails can be sent on a regular basis to inform users about latest updates and happenings. This leads to increased engagement with the customer, which eventually results in a higher conversion rate as well.

Marketing Hack – Hit at the Customer’s Emotions

In this ever increasing competitive market, it becomes very difficult for a brand to build and sustain a place in the customer’s mind. Brands are now experimenting with different messages to the customer and one such message which leaves a mark is one which hits out at the customer’s emotions. Connecting emotionally leaves a lasting impact and enhances the brand’s value significantly.

Nivea is a leading brand for skin creams. In Brazil, the company experimented by integrating a Bluetooth beacon in their magazine ads, which could be torn out by parents and made into a wrist band for children. Parents could download an app into their smart-phones which, coupled with the wrist band, could be used to track how far the children would be from their parents when in public places like beaches etc. This sent a message to these parents that Nivea is not just a company selling products to it’s customers, but is one which cares about the customers’ children as well.

Marketing Hack – Try before you Buy

Sampling or trying a new product before purchasing gives a customer a whole lot of confidence and value for money spent. This is a great way for businesses to get additional visibility and to increase their customer conversion rates as well. Most FMCG companies either offer small satchets of products for free or at a nominal price. This is primarily to make customers try out the product.

An interesting application of this hack was seen by me in a startup based in Gurgaon, India. Fitnessathome is a fitness equipment rental cum sales startup. Customers can take an equipment, say a treadmill, for rent and if they like it, they can purchase it and the rental amounts they have paid will be deducted from the sale price. The startup’s main margin comes through fitness equipment sales and they have seen good results with this ‘try before you buy’ tactic used by them.

Sales Hack – Something Extra

Giving something extra to a customer goes a long way in delighting the customer. To a customer, that little extra something shows that the startup cares and wants to ensure a great experience for him/her.

In Beveragewala, we started sending tea samples with each order. The samples used to be chosen in such a way that they would be complementary to the tea ordered by the customer, so that the customer would have a greater chance of appreciating the sample and the gesture. In our first customer survey, more than 18% of the respondents mentioned about the samples they received.

This shows that a little freebie, which may not cost you much, may leave a big impact on your customers.