How Can I Get More Customers For My Business?
Building a strong customer base is instrumental to the overall success of your business. After all, you could design the best product on earth available in your store, but if nobody is buying it, you’re going to struggle to manage your finances.
As such, customer attrition and retention must always be considered a priority for business owners across all sectors. With that in mind, here are some top tips that you can use to grow your client base!
Improve your digital marketing strategy. We spend more time online than ever before and while some of this time will be dedicated to Netflix binges and Social Media, we spend an increasing amount of time online shopping or researching new brands to support. As such, your digital marketing strategy is instrumental in growing your customer base, by improving web traffic and increasing brand awareness. However, you must understand that you cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach to digital marketing, as the type of company you run alters how you should market yourself. For example, if your market your services entirely to other businesses, you should work with an agency to develop a b2b digital marketing strategy.
Improve your customer service skills. Good customer service makes for happy clients. It can also be a great way to generate more custom through positive word of mouth – as a good experience means that your customers are more likely to refer you to a friend! Furthemore, a recent study from hubspot found that “68% of consumers are willing to pay more for products and services from a brand known to offer good customer service experiences”. As a result, you should make sure all staff members receive thorough customer service training, especially if they will be dealing with high-profile or otherwise demanding clients.
Ensure you’re bringing something new to the table. If you want to get more customers for your business, you need to ensure that you’re able to stand out from the crowd. While you can catch their attention through marketing campaigns or flash sales, this often boils down to product differentiation. If your products/services are too similar to your competitors, you aren’t giving new customers a reason to take a chance on your brand. Thankfully, there are many ways in which you can differentiate your products/services – for example, you may offer them for a competitive price, or do something that has never been done before.
Show the human side of your business. Showing customers (or potential customers) the real people behind your business, such as through behind-the-scenes videos on your social media, or by adding employee profiles to your website, is another great way to get more customers. This is because it serves to make your brand appear more ‘human’. As a result, a potential customer is more likely to warm to your brand and put their trust in you. It could also give them a “better idea of your company culture and whether or not your brand’s values line up with their own.”
Respond to negative reviews. Receiving a negative review can be disheartening, especially when you consider that “97% of consumers check online reviews before buying a product to get additional insight.” However, this does not mean that one bad review will cause your business to collapse – because they actually give you an opportunity to do better in the future by making positive changes. You should also ensure that you take accountability by responding to negative reviews – not with defensive rebuttals, but with a solution to make things right. This will not only repair your relationship with the person leaving the review, but it also shows that you value your customers and their opinions.
Get to know your target audience. In order to be able to grow your customer base, you need to know how to appeal to them. As such, you must have a clear understanding of your target audience to ensure that the content you are putting out there is going to catch their eye. The easiest way to achieve this goal is to spend time getting to know your target audience. For example, you could host a series of focus groups where you discuss not only your brand but future product releases too. This way, you can gain an understanding of what changes you need to make in order to get more customers through the door. You’ll also be able to determine whether or not there is a demand for your product before you take on the financial burden of product development.