In taking some time to reflect and think about what causes me to pull out my credit card and buy a product, I started to really focus on what was the main ingredient to getting your list and subscribers to purchase from you especially in this day where more and more skepticism is taking place online than ever before.
In today’s internet based world, its sometimes easy to forget that we are humans that like the human touch at times. I actually like to feel like I know someone when I purchase from them. Now this isn’t always the case, but for the most part, if I am going to pay big bucks for a product, I want to know who that person is that is selling it and have some type of connection.
I am a lot less hesitant to spend money when I have seen videos of the person, or interacted with them in some way. For me, it makes a difference because I want to know that if there is a problem or some type of support I can get it if I need it.
Lets consider this for a minute. All the top successful internet marketers preach that “The money is in the list” and while I believe that is true, I also believe that is only half the story.
It’s not just having a list that will make you successful. Its the relationship you build with your list that will get you sales. Its your personal touch that will really help you be successful.
With high touch marketing you don’t have to have a big list to convert sales, by constantly providing value and communicating with your list regularly not just with sales pitch emails.
So we are going to compare what high touch marketing is vs. low touch marketing. We will also look at some of the ways that you can implement strategies that will help your list get to know, like, and trust you, so they will be willing to pull out their credit cards and purchase.
First lets look at low touch marketing…
Low touch marketing is also what I consider to be low value marketing.
It is simply where you blast emails off with the hope of a purchase. You don’t really show to much of your human side, and do very little to connect with the recipient of your emails.
Low touch marketing only has one thing in mind and its to get a sale. It is not focused on what the problems are of the person who is reading, but only on the fact that getting a sale will satisfy your craving to make money.
Low touch marketing really is where I believe spam and other forms of unwanted, un-asked for advertisements come from. I personally don’t really get upset anymore when I get spam because I always try to look at it like an opportunity for me to stand out from the crowd. To stand out from the low touch, low value marketing that really plagues our industry.
Low value marketing is when you take the opportunity to send an email to someone that didn’t ask to receive it from you, and have gotten no value from you at all.
Now, let me just say that you can build a list and blast to them this way, but the responsiveness will be low, and that means you will need to grow a much bigger list than those that spend the time to update regularly and connect.
I believe people now days are seeking more high touch when they purchase. Why do I believe this? Because that what I am looking for also?
For instance, even when I am out and about in town, in the stores I am looking for good friendly, and quick service. That doesn’t change for me when I come online, as a matter of fact, I carry that same attitude online.
High touch, great attitude and high value motivational based selling gets me to buy almost every time.
I always look at what motivates me to buy, and then turn right around and implement that into my strategy because if I have thought about, more than likely my subscribers have too.
People have been there done that and pitched over and over again and they want something different.
The good news is, there are several things you can do to connect with your list on a regular basis. There are several ways that they can connect with you.
Now if your don’t have a list, the best place for you to start of course would be listbuilders like ViralURL, ViralinBox, and ViralHosts. From these list builders you can begin to use a shared list and build your personal list.
Some ways to practice high touch marketing…
Send out an email survey to your list and ask them what their biggest struggles are in their business or in whatever niche you are in some questions that pertain to that niche. With the answers they provide you can tailor your message and products to what they need. A good place for surveys is: www.surveymonkey.com/
In an attempt to connect with your subscribers on a personal level, you can also implement video emails into your marketing. Their are several video email providers nowadays that a simple search on Google will bring up a few for you. If you don’t want to invest in a video email system, a simple YouTube video will work just fine as well.
By making a video and talking directly to your subscribers you can make a big touch impact on the them where they will feel like they actually know you on personal level sometimes. I personally make myself available to my list via Skype, and via Facebook.
I just recently sent out an email blast on ViralURL with my Elite membership and got two people that connected with me on Skype. I can now chat with them, find out what they need, and give them a product or service that meets that need.
That is another great way for you to connect with your list is on Facebook. At the time of this blog post, there is currently over 800 million users on Facebook alone and growing daily. More than likely your subscribers are on Facebook which means you can connect and interact. Send out a blast and tell them to request your friendship as you would love to connect with them.
If you have a Facebook fan page, invite your subscribers over to the page “like” it and ask questions or to interact with you so you can help them.
Facebook also has a video update feature that you can use to post video status updates on your wall. You simply have your webcam connected, turn it on, and start talking. This is a great way to get your face in front of your friends and followers. The human touch goes a long way in marketing.
Through this strategy, you will begin to build value and trust with your prospects so that when you send out those offers via email they will be more apt to purchase from your recommendation.
Remember, connect with your list, and I believe you will be surprised with the results you get. Push yourself to go implement one thing on this and then blast it to your list and see what happens, I think you will surprised.
To your success,
Mark Harbert
viralurl & Viralinbox Team Member
markharbert.com/