You can attract new customers to your business by researching your target audience and existing customers’ purchasing patterns. You can also generate leads…
Customers are your business’s lifeblood; without target customers, there would be no point in starting a business without them. Attracting and maintaining customers to a business is one of the most frustrating endeavors for most business owners. Most businesses require that the marketing team develop a plan to bring in new customers for stainability.
You probably started your business because you loved the idea and are passionate about your operations. However, your passion alone will not keep your business afloat. You need to attract customers to survive in a competitive business world. But how do you go about this daunting but noble task? Here are some notable ways:
Set clear goals to attract new customers
Setting goals is an important part of any successful business. It gives your business a sense of direction and provides a criterion to measure progress. If you have definite goals to attract new customers, you can plan on how to allocate resources and evaluate unsuccessful methods. Setting goals will also motivate you and your team since you have a target to compete against.
What are some points to keep in mind while setting goals?
Divide your goals into short-term and long-term, and write them down– this will help you know which actions are needed now that will positively impact the future. There is a common adage, “there is power in writing.” Therefore, write your goals down to propel you to achieve them.
Begin with short-term goals– If you focus on the long-term goals and lose sight of the short-term objectives, the chances are that you will not achieve your long-term goals. The short-term objectives act as a road to long-term goals.
Ensure your goals are SMART:
- Specific- Your goals to attract new customers should be specific on the channels you will use and the number of new customers you want to attract in a given duration.
- Measurable- You need to know how you will measure your success.
- Attainable- Setting unrealistic goals will discourage you and your team if you constantly fail to achieve them.
- Relevant- The short-term and long-term goals to attract new customers should be relevant to your overall business objective
- Time-bound- Ensure every goal has a set time they should be met.
Know your target audience
One thing that every business owner must learn is that not everyone is a potential customer. Before you think of attracting new customers to improve sales, you need to ask who are in your target markets? You also want to evaluate the value proposition you can offer them different from what your competitors are offering.
Therefore, you need to do market research to understand your potential clients better. You can hire a research firm for this job or establish a team to gather relevant data. The research should help you connect your desire to increase sales and the customer’s need to solve their problems.
Instead of providing a solution and then looking for a problem, you are better off listening to customers’ problems and then inventing a solution to that problem. Consumers often have numerous problems that need a solution, but it takes time and resources to know those problems.
Know your existing customers
If you want to develop a killer marketing plan to attract new customers, it is important to understand who you are currently selling to. Many business owners are focused on attracting new customers by understanding why the current customer keeps buying their brand. You want to find out who your current customers are, their composition, and their demographics.
Market research does not end with knowing your potential customer. It also helps you know who is buying your products. Maybe you think this will take lots of money that you may not have. However, it does not have to be expensive; you can send a survey to your customer through inexpensive survey tools like Zoomerang and SurveyMonkey.
Furthermore, you can know your current customers from trade associations or the U.S. Census Bureau. Simple interview questions can help your valuable insight into your customer’s purchase process and use this information to target new customers.
Some of your products may interest a certain quarter of your customer but not all customers. Therefore, you want to understand the SWOTs in your target market. The research will help segment your customers by:
- Demographics: – Demographics provides statistical data about your customers’ population metrics, including income, gender, age, etc.
- Ethnographic: – You could examine different cultures react to your products
- Psychographics: – Are there unique tastes and attitudes for certain demographics?
- Buying habits: – You want to know what your customer buy, how they buy it, and where.
Generate sales lead
Marketing has evolved over the years, and business owners should determine which marketing techniques lead to more conversions. The internet is rich in various lead-generating methods you can try to implement to attract new customers to your business. Here are some techniques:
- Cold calling: Cold calling is probably one of the toughest sales lead generation techniques, requiring that you call potential customers and pitch. Some have even called this technique soul-destroying. However, your marketing team can have good cold-calling results with good training.
- Networking: You can join community organizations or attend relevant business functions like trade shows to interact with potential customers. You can also organize social functions like dinner invitations to meet new customers. The rise of social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Plaxo also provide you with ideal networking avenues to generate leads.
- Work with your product champion: You can use loyal customers to help you with referrals and references. Positive testimonials from those who have used your products will attract their friend to your products and services.
- Affiliate Marketing: Are there non-competitive products targeting the same audience? Request for a collaboration with them through mailings, newsletters, and blogging. This relationship lets you tap into other businesses’ markets and offer value to customers who may not know your products.
- Leverage your web page contents: – Employ search engine optimization techniques to improve your website’s visibility. You can use websites like Search Engine Watch to gain insight on how to optimize your content or hire SEO consultants to improve your Search engine rankings. However, before optimizing your content, ensure it is top-notch and capable of generating engagements.
- Advertising: Digital marketing, with its various facets, such as social media marketing and content marketing, can generate important leads for your business and attract new customers. This does not mean you shun traditional ways of advertising like Radio, TV, and newspaper ads.
Recontact old customers
If your business has been here for some time, the chances are you have old customers who no longer buy your brand. You can retarget these customers with new products or unique offers. Why not create a list of customers you have not seen for a while and send them personal messages with promotional offers? Reactivating these old customers can increase your sales. You could even convert them to loyal customers.
Leverage review sites and online ratings
With online reviews influencing 93% of customers’ purchase decisions, you cannot overlook this strategy when formulating your marketing plan. Customers look for social proof to help them make purchase decisions. You can improve your ratings by providing excellent service and quality products and requesting your customers leave their reviews on your website. If you receive a negative review, promptly address the complaint and promise to improve.
The Bottom line
New customers are a delight to any business since they signify increased sales and potential growth. However, drawing them t your business is a challenge. It requires proper planning, research, and resources to understand your customer and target them. You will undoubtedly reap from your hard work when convert attracts new customers into brand ambassadors.
These are just a few ways of attracting new customers; what are some ways we haven’t included in this list but have worked well for you?
