Today one of my favorite marketing industry websites, Marketing Sherpa, had an interesting how-to article about cutting marketing expenses. The article lists the 11 steps taken by a marketing director for a plastic surgeon’s office in order to reduced marketing expenses. What caught my attention is that the main theme running through the article is to concentrate your marketing efforts on existing customers. This is a great strategy if you sell a product or service that is consumable or have a variety of offerings targeted at the same audience. But in this case, it was a plastic surgeon. Isn’t plastic surgery an infrequent type of expenditure, where clients spend years between procedures? The idea here is to target existing clients and help them become advocates of your business. One of the most brilliant techniques was giving customers a laminated card with their before and after pictures. This allowed them to easily share their experience with friends and family.
I imagine the same marketing technique can be used by web designers, remodeling contractors, hair dressers, gyms, and other businesses that create a visual difference in their client’s lives. So, how do you encourage customers to share their experience with your company?
