When we think about promoting our businesses, we tend to think about short-term investments for short-term gains. It’s not hard to see why. It’s not as if ten years from now you could potentially benefit from a purchase, you hope for clients or customers to come to you as soon as possible and justify why you show up to the office or the warehouse each day.
That being said, not all marketing needs to be of the moment and demand immediate results. For example, word of mouth marketing is hardly considered the most immediate form of spreading the message, but over time it can lead to a local community understanding your business is the one to use, especially out of several others.
So, what are some other forms of long-term marketing worth investing in? And why do they pay such dividends? Let’s look at that, and more, below:
Investing In SEO For Long-Term Visibility & Traffic
Search engine optimization (SEO) isn’t known to be an instant fix for achieving great rankings, but when you raise your backlink authority, commit to good SEO standards on your web page, rank for keywords and content that matters for your business, over time Google and other engines can correctly and authoritatively raise how organically you’re found in a given area’s search results. It’s even better if you use specific industry-based SEO, such as HVAC SEO services, from firm s that truly understand what your service is looking for. In the long run, that can make a major difference to your results.
Referral Programs
When you impress clients, they naturally spread the word of what you have to offer. This is where referral programs come in. You may have noticed some challenger banks offer favorable referral programs, and it’s worth taking inspiration for them. In those cases, referrals to bank sign-ups can grant both parties cash rewards, but you can also offer discounts on services which offer the same kind of benefit, as well as upgrade certain consumers up to the next option on your modular tier package list. Referral programs effectively incentivize happy customers to spread the good word, gently nudging the power of word of mouth in the right direction.
Good, Honest Reviews
A happy client is a happy marketing message, and so encouraging them to leave an honest review about your business, good or bad, can help them express themselves as they would. This not only allows you to learn a lot about how your business and its approach are perceived, but also, a good review from a verifiably real person is more impressive than any other marketing message you could offer. Showing these loud and proud on your website can be a great place to start. This is a slow marketing approach in that not every customer or client will leave a review, and not 100% of them will be perfectly positive, but if the greater, longer-term trend is positive over years, that can help you dramatically.
With this advice, you’re sure to get the best from long-term marketing, in the smartest possible way.