It is the number 1 question on every business owner’s lips: “How do I get more customers?”.  Yet, with so many opportunities out there, you or your marketing team could be missing out on doing  simple and effective strategies to build your customer base.  So, don’t overlook anything or overthink it – just do it.  Here we go:

    1. Benefits For Them – what are the benefits to businesses or consumers that are buying into your business or idea? Whether that means signing up to your email list or one of your marketing subscription packages, you need to make sure that you’re clear about what’s in it for them.  If people have signed up to receive tips on how your service industry can help them, then highlight all the ways that it can do that and offer the related discount. If they need a marketing service, list the ways in which that service will help them to gain new customers or retain old ones via an initial, free consultation.

    2. Be On Budget – you need to set a budget that is cost-effective for you and which captures the customers you’re looking to attract.  Look at how much it will cost for you to advertise to your target market and make sure that you have an attractive web presence waiting for them when they click through. You could use targeted email marketing lists with business data, direct mail marketing or through Facebook ads but you will need to know how much it costs to acquire these customers and whether those costs justify the means.

    3. Build on Subscriber Power – think of advertising on websites or in magazines that have lots of subscribers and need someone with your particular services, in your location if preferred.  This will mean that your advert will have a much bigger reach, a higher chance of conversion and enable you to start building appointments etc.  If you are looking to promote yourself nationwide, then find websites and networks that connect businesses to consumers across the whole of the UK.  There are so many examples of this: Facebook pages designated to advertise particular products, where you can share a link to your product or website; professional/trade-based websites that only host individuals or businesses in particular sector or placing pertinent adverts on websites that have a lot of traffic and are based around your niche.  There are plenty of business and networking based websites to explore.

    4. Create New Opportunities – why not work with a business that has a similar target customer and can promote your services to their business database?  Offer them a commission for their help or purchase some consumer data for their email campaigns.  Meetings which connection like-minds or develop strategic alliances are helpful and could be found at any networking events or trade shows that you attend.

    5. Lifetime Value – this is the most important and helpful tip of all: think of the value (or perceived value) that your new customer will bring, over the short and the long term.  You want to ensure that you attract customers that need your services, can afford to purchase those services and will positively impact the future growth of your business.  Business that understand what you do and can see it working for them are more likely to refer you to other businesses within their sector or to their own customers.  They could also be the kind of customer who offers up great testimonials which positively sell your services to new clients.  The ultimate customer will be the one who is not only happy with what you have achieved for them but will be with you for the foreseeable future, based on the value that you have brought to their business.  Prepare for new customer relationships now, by creating the best foundation and possible customer journey at the start – this will lead to more-informed marketing decisions and offer a more rewarding experience to your customer – contributing great value to everything that you do for your new customer, is a sure win for all concerned.

Need help with your marketing campaigns?  Ask us about our free marketing consultation – we’re always free for a chat and most importantly, we will help you acquire those new customers!