Capturing Consumers 2011-Style

The question of 2011 is how do marketers best capture the attention of potential customers? What is the best way to encourage repeat business? The answer: a website that answers consumers' questions so that a potential or repeat customer will understand how to purchase products and services and even be able to do so easily online. The other component needed to capture customers and create repeat customers is a consistent social media presence.

Have a fabulous website? In-house marketing guru already set up a company Facebook page? It seems that with the super-connected consumers that the best bet is reaching them via email, texts, and social media (tweets and posts) versus newspapers, radio and direct mail. A business now needs to have a social media presence incorporating not just Facebook, but Twitter, YouTube, email blasts, and specific industry-related online forums. What is important to remember is to be persistent and vigilant in the digital marketing arena or consumer interest will be lost.

Consumers are being bombarded by 100's of emails and posts daily. Translation: A frequent, multi-avenue marketing approach. Be in the game tweeting, emailing and updating Facebook pages, at minimum, on a weekly basis, if not daily. An employee dedicated to monitoring and managing these marketing tools on a regular basis is essential. It can be part of an employee's job but not a part that gets re-prioritized to the bottom of the to-do list because consistency of contact with potential and existing customers is important.

To add to the consistency, make it easy for consumers to view your social media presence on your website. Conversely, make sure your Twitter, Facebook, and all other social media avenues are linked to the website. Facilitate consumers forwarding and sharing content from the website and social media sites to friends and family. Message: Reach customers where time is spent...on an iPad, on a smart phone, on wifi at the coffee shop...