13 free marketing tips to stay in touch with customers

Looking for quick and easy ways to keep your business front of mind with your customers? Read 13 free (or almost free) marketing tips to stay in touch.

Pareto’s Law says that 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers, so nurturing your relationship with your loyal and repeat customers is a cost-effective way to increase business and bring in more sales.

To help you keep in touch with your customers without hassling them (or coming across as over-zealous or desperate for work), marketing consultant Nicole Martin shares her tips.

13 free marketing tips to stay in touch with customers

To help you stay front of mind with your customers without needing to spend huge amounts of money, here are 13 simple and free (or almost free) ways to stay in touch with them.

  1. Anniversary cards – send anniversary cards. If you are in a long term and regular partnership then send it on the date they first started working with you. You can send an ecard, email or traditional card. You can also use virtual cards for groups to sign if you are working remotely.
  2. Newsletters – send regular newsletters (read my newsletter tips here). Once you have had the expense of setting up a template, generating monthly content is free for you to do and sending/using the cloud based accounts is often free.
  3. Survey – run a survey to make sure you are offering the right products and delivering the best service. This is free with tools like SurveyMonkey.
  4. Social media – connect with them on social media and suggest that they do the same with you. Setting up a page or profile is free or a nominal amount if you ask a marketer to do it for you.
  5. Call them – pick up the phone, call and say hello and ask how they are, and if they need any help.
  6. Email them – or drop them an email and say the same.
  7. Personal details – remember their personal details. If you know they have just been on holiday then ask how it was, or ask after the family if you know they have young children.
  8. Network – network with them or invite them to come along to one of your sessions.
  9. Meet for a drink – meet up for a coffee or invite them to you for a coffee or drink.
  10. Events – organise events or workshops for your contacts. These can be free events or fee paying ones.
  11. Training – offer them some free training if this is relevant to the product or service you are offering.
  12. Offers – offer loyal customers exclusive pricing or deals from time to time. This will cost you initially but the increase in business will pay back your investment.
  13. Christmas cards – send Christmas cards in December. These can be ecards or traditional paper cards

Remember marketing isn’t a magic wand. Marketing will cost your business initially in time and money, but the aim of any marketing campaign is that it will pay for itself and more over time – whether you do your own marketing or you outsource it.

Want more free marketing tips?

If you want more ideas about how you can successfully market your business, read these articles:

Nicole Martin is an experienced and reliable marketing consultant, specialising in small businesses. You can find out more about her services on her website and download her ebook here