promote your consulting services as products.
by august j. aquila
price it right: how to value accounting services
we’ve discussed marketing tools, how they can be divided into three main types (one-way messages, two-way messages, and one-on-one messages), and what each type will accomplish. in this post i will examine using email and show you how to make it effective.
more: three types of marketing message, and which is best | six ways to market your technology consulting practice | sixteen marketing activities to try | the four steps of your personal marketing process | how does your firm measure up? | six questions before asking for all the referrals you deserve | five rules for a marketing orientation
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email marketing is a strategy for a firm to send promotional messages to people in mass quantities. to start email marketing, you need to select an email marketing tool/service, build your email list, decide the type of campaign you want to use, write persuasive messages, make a schedule, run the campaign and measure the campaign results.
when creating a marketing email, you should choose a template, design your message, put the most important information at the top, make it scannable, keep text at a minimum, use links to redirect readers to longer pieces and include a call to action throughout your piece.
to maximize the effectiveness of email marketing, you should stay human, use engaging titles but don’t bait and switch, mention subscriber name in the subject line to grab attention, use subscriber location to promote events or sales nearby and send tailored product recommendations based on past purchases.
there are many email marketing tools available. some of the best email marketing tools include:
- notify visitors
- sender
- mailchimp
- constant contact
- infusionsoft by keap
- salesforce pardot
- campaigner
- hubspot marketing hub
- sendinblue
these tools can help you design, schedule and automate marketing via email. when choosing an email marketing tool, you should consider the following factors:
- know what type of emails you want to send.
- determine your must-have features.
- build your testing team.
- create a shortlist of apps.
- test each app with your team.
- start with a free plan.
you should also consider the price, ease of use and support from the provider. email campaigns more often work better for a product than for a service. the key is to “productize” a service. you can think of several services that can be packaged as products.
for example, technology audits, training and software sales all fall under the category of products. why? because the client can purchase any of these without thinking that he or she has to develop a relationship with the vendor. clients don’t like to disrupt existing relationships, but they have no hesitancy in buying another product. the lesson here is to promote your consulting services as products. this will allow you the opportunity to build a relationship with the client and then acquire their accounting and tax work.
four tips to ensuring success:
- make sure your mailing is targeted. you can target an email campaign in two ways. first, the message needs to be very specific. for example, if you are emailing sales-oriented companies, you may want to promote contact management software rather than a general ledger package. second, your mailing list needs to be focused too. if you attend trade shows, be sure to collect email addresses at the shows or conferences. you can also purchase lists from brokers or use paid advertising to promote your signup form. it’s important to note that you should always ask for permission before adding someone to your email list.
- stress the benefits and not the features of your offering. clients only buy one thing: solutions to their problems. that is why it’s so important to show clients/prospects how the product will help their businesses succeed. if your email piece does not do this, don’t send it out.
- don’t develop the email piece yourself. there is an art to creating this type of direct mail. make sure you hire someone who has worked with other professional service firms. the more a consultant knows about technology and your type of client base, the less time you will have to spend educating her.
- make sure you follow up. research shows that if you follow up on your emailing leads, you can increase the response rate by 20 percent. you want to make sure that you follow up on any responses immediately. the longer you wait to respond, the colder the lead becomes.
if you have phone numbers for your mailing list, you can also call those who did not respond.