Copywriting UK | TENFOUR blog

“Take good care of current customers”: a favourite tip of any sales and marketing guide worth its chips. And why? Well, it’s usually much more cost-effective to sell to a customer you already have than to try and pick up someone who’s totally new to your business.

So, with this in mind, we’ve been noticing some great examples of companies  maintaining relationships with their customers. Here are just four of the things we’ve seen:

eBay

It could be argued that eBay send out too many emails. But, we do like the ones in which they congratulate customers on their continued custom. One of us has just received an email about being with eBay for a year, for instance. Then there are the notifications you get when you’ve racked up a certain number of recommendations from other eBayers. Perhaps it’s about making customers feel like they’re part of a growing community?

The Dog’s Trust and A Furry World

Getting mail from charity organisations is not always a pleasant experience. But, sponsor a dog with The Dog’s Trust and you’ll receive a birthday card, Valentine’s Day card, Christmas card… you name it… from your chosen pet. It’s always a positive message - about how you’re helping - rather than a request for more money.

We also really liked an idea from a London pet boarding service, A Furry World. After your animals have spent their very own holiday with the company, photos of their stay make it to the A Furry World website. You also get a short diary of the animals’ stay with the carer. Simple, nice ideas, we thought.

Smile Plc

I know we’re always mentioning online bankers, Smile [see Smile word spot article] but they do make even the most boring subjects (banking, saving, getting loans) a little more fun. Last summer TENFOUR was sent a thank-you-for-your-custom letter accompanied by a packet of sunflower seeds to plant in the garden. We’ve no idea why. But it made us smile… and that’s the name of the game, of course.

Have you received any good or bad customer mailers in the post or by email? Do let us know.

This may not be popular, but we have to say it. When it comes to creating news, some organisations really do focus on themselves a little too much. In fact, we’d go so far as to say that this habit can be a nail in the coffin when it comes to selling a story or press release.

TENFOUR recently received a newsletter promoting an online marketing event held every now and then at Olympia London. Here are just the first couple of sentences:

Building on 7 years of success and cementing its position as the UK’s no. 1 event for all marketing and online advertising related solutions, the TFM plant has branched out!

As the lynchpin event of an industry which is turning increasingly towards global digital solutions, TFM is introducing the brand new show extension, ‘Technology for advertising’, which will bring an even greater digital, interactive and online focus to event, as well as the existing emphasis on CRM and data.

Without wanting to make this article too personal, we thought this was a perfect example of the sometimes fatal complex called not-being-able-to-see-beyond-the-end-of-your-own-arm syndrome.

If news stories are ever going to be interesting, they must always start with what the reader will truly be interested in. And, unfortunate though it is, Joe and Joanne Public are never going to be that interested in how big an organisation is becoming. Unless, of course, they benefit in the process.

Interested in tips about writing press releases?