By When I say drought, I don’t mean it literally, of course. I mean on social media, where people, especially marketing agency owners, could showcase the love that they have towards their customers in a more hands-on manner, as opposed to how they’re showing it currently.
The concept that I’m talking about is called the influence generator, which is when businesses pour love out into the world, only for people (read customers) to receive and reciprocate.
It’s about doing good things at scale for people through small gestures by showing them how much you care about them and by telling them how much they mean to you.
Not only does such an approach spread happiness and positivity all around, but it also helps you create intrinsic value, connect with more people, and eventually grow your business.
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Show gratitude through recommendations
One of the best ways for businesses to show gratitude, and be professional at the same time, is to leave people glowing recommendations on their LinkedIn profiles and business pages.
Recommended Reading: Best LinkedIn Tips and Tricks for Marketing Agencies
I usually kill two birds with one stone by leaving LinkedIn recommendations for those people who engage the most with the content I post. I consider this to be a great way to say thank you to them, while at the same time show them gratitude for increasing the reach of my posts.
Furthemore, businesses that enjoy a high authority in the market, due to their reputation, must follow this strategy in a bid to provide incentives for other customers to engage with their posts.
In fact, it’s not necessary that marketing agencies must only leave recommendations for their customers. A great way to build authority in the market is for you to not think of other digital marketing experts as competitors, and leave good recommendations for them as well.
It’s imperative that you don’t have a small-minded approach when dealing with competition. Remember, the more good you spread, the more it will come back to you one way or the other.
Let’s assume that in most cases, the people you choose to recommend on LinkedIn don’t have any prior recommendations to showcase. What do you think would happen in such instances?
It’s simple. You leaving them their first recommendation would put you in the limelight as well.
Not only would the person, who you left the recommendation for, notice you, but it would most likely lead them to leave a glowing recommendation for you and your business as well. In addition to that, both sets of recommendations would be visible to your mutual connections.
The key thing, however, to always remember while leaving recommendations is to make it as specific as possible and avoid all generic praise. If that means you would have to spend more time than you would like to think about what you want to say, spend it because it’s worth it.
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Show gratitude through good reviews
I personally believe that saying thank you is a very powerful tool. Businesses should say thank you to their customers almost everyday, since it puts both parties in the right mindset to grow.
A great example for marketing agencies to achieve that growth mindset and spread happiness is to leave positive reviews online for their customers and the business that they serve.
While Google reviews are the most important when it comes to improving a brand’s visibility, leaving positive reviews is not limited to just one platform. Depending on the type of business you serve, there are plenty of other mediums to leave reviews and build brand equity.
Recommended Reading: Top 10 Review Websites to Get More Customer Reviews On
The key behind this strategy is to leave reviews with authentic content and a picture of yourself.
Maybe you ate at a restaurant and snapped a photo of yourself eating the food, or perhaps had your car serviced at a dealership and took one there. You can give those businesses five star Google reviews or go to Yelp and leave them positive reviews using those pictures of yourself.
It’s about improving your visibility because once you leave the reviews for those businesses, just like LinkedIn, those businesses would reciprocate and leave a review for your agency too.
If you want, you can also take it a step further by employing a technique called benevolence.
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Show gratitude through benevolence
The aim, under this strategy, is to demonstrate gratitude towards your customers by giving them a gift card or something similar from one of the other local businesses that you serve.
As mentioned above, it’s about killing two birds with one stone. In this case, however, you’re doing good for multiple businesses, while building authority for yourself at the same time.
Let’s say that one of the clients for your marketing agency is a restaurant owner. Needless to say, under the current COVID-19 circumstances, the restaurant industry has taken a big hit.
However, not all is lost.
At times like this, you can make an impact. Since you know the owner of the restaurant, you can set up an interview with them and talk to them about how they run their business.
It doesn’t have to be an extensive interview. The aim is to create an emotional connection, while showcasing the restaurant owner’s story and the inspiration behind why they started. You can ask generic questions like what their favourite dish is and how they are coping during this time.
You can also share your personal experiences about the business related to how good the food there is, how much you love eating there, and how good the owners and the staff are.
Then, to show that you’re supporting them, you can buy a gift card from them, offer that to another customer of your choice, and show that other client gratitude in the process.
Once this is done, you can share the video on your social media channels and spread the joy.
The key, again, with such strategies is to be as authentic as possible. Marketing agency owners must be careful that they don’t come across as bragging and don’t unintentionally give others the impression that they’re doing something just to grab attention.
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Show gratitude through personalized gifts
Sending customers thoughtful and personalized gifts is a great way through which marketing agencies can demonstrate gratitude. The personalization effect is what makes the whole strategy special and helps you stay relevant even at times when things might look gloomy.
While there are many ways to do that, my personal favourite is to send personalized videos to people to make them feel special. Here’s an example from one of my think tank sessions.
In addition to overwhelming your customers, another advantage of creating such a video is that you can post it on your social media channels. Don’t think of it as a way to promote your marketing agency, but take it as a way to generate influence through implied endorsement.
Another great way to show your customers that you care about them is to send them personalized gifts through online e-commerce websites. I’m sure everyone has heard and knows about Amazon, which is one of the best mediums to send reasonable but effective gifts.
As before, the key here is to make your gift as authentic and memorable as possible in order to create a long-lasting, emotional connection. Leaving a personalized gift note is an effective way to be relevant, while at the same time show appreciation by making the other person smile.
Once you’ve sent the gift, more often than not the recipient will tell others about the gesture, which will in turn empower your marketing agency to generate influence. Furthermore, such a strategy will showcase that you care about your clients and will help you build your brand value.
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Conclusion
When it comes to making an everlasting impact, nothing can supersede the power of saying thank you. If you follow this principle and demonstrate gratitude towards your customers 100 times a day, needless to say, it will do wonders for you and your digital marketing agency.
Whether it’s capturing a micro moment through a 15-second video, sending a $5 crayon gift item from Amazon with a personalized gift note, leaving a heartfelt review for a business, or just simply praising someone online, a thank you goes a long way to help you grow your agency.
This strategy works all the time not because there’s magic involved, but because there’s science behind it. Just like there are laws for how gravity works, there are also laws for how relationships work. It’s human psychology to reciprocate good with good and love with love.
So, what are you waiting for? Get started by downloading our influence generator guide to learn many unique ways to appreciate those people who truly matter to you. Start saying thank you to generate more influence, build more authority, and ultimately boost your business.