Growing a business involves finding new customers. This is something that might seem scary or difficult at first, but it’s actually relatively easy. The following will explore a few things that can help you get your product or service into the hands of more people who need it.
Differentiate
With the advent of online businesses, there’s more competition than ever before. This is only a problem if you don’t differentiate your product or service. Take a look at what is out there in your niche, and then figure out how your product is different or better. If you’re not sure, read through reviews left for your competitors’ products or services.
See if there are any complaints or issues that your product solves. How your work is different is going to inform all aspects of your marketing, content creation and branding efforts. If you can’t find any way your work is different, you need to evolve. Maybe your product is the same as your competitor’s, but you offer awesome no-hassle customer service. Maybe a ton of people can design a website, but only you can design a website with your particular brand of flair.
Perfect Your Pitch
While you likely are expecting to gain the majority of your new customers online, you can’t forget about in-person sales. If you have a strong elevator pitch that you share whenever someone asks you what you do, there’s a decent chance that some of those conversations are going to turn into leads or traffic. You need to be able to say who you are, what work you do, who your work helps, and what it helps them do in two or three sentences. If you’re a business owner, you’re always networking. Every person you meet is a potential client or a connection to a potential client. Don’t forget that amid your digital marketing bonanzas.
Try The New Platforms
Social media platforms are constantly evolving. Often, newer platforms have less rigorous algorithms and so are easier to grow accounts on. Try out the new social media platforms that come out. You don’t need to keep using them if you don’t love them, but if you find you work well with one, keep at it. Your work just might be introduced to a whole new audience.
Work With Professionals
Maybe you want to take your digital marketing to the next level.
There’s no shame in hiring a professional or team of professionals to help give you a little boost. If you look for them, you can even find online discounts for digital marketing services; for instance, it’s pretty easy to find out how you can get a GoHighLevel discount if you start looking. If you’re working with a team or freelancer, you can always ask for a shorter trial period to determine whether the collaboration is a good fit.
Take Care Of The Customers You Do Have
The single fastest way to convince someone to use a product or service is to have a friend of theirs rave about that product or service.
Taking good care of the customers you already have is a fantastic way to encourage them to think highly of your company and speak well of it too. Foremost, pay special attention to your reviews.
If anyone has any issues, make adjustments so that the problems don’t arise again.
Reach out to that reviewer and tell them you’ve made a change based on their feedback, and then offer them something—even just a 10% discount—to help smooth over the issue.
Secondly, don’t neglect your logistics. If you scroll through Amazon, you’ll find that even if someone loved a product, they might give it a bad review for arriving late. Figure out the best practices for shipping and give customers realistic delivery dates. Package products carefully so that there’s less risk of damage.
Finally, look for ways to go above and beyond when interacting with customers.
Give Abandonded Cart Discounts
If people are able to buy your product online, you likely have encountered the occasional abandoned cart.
This happens when someone puts an item in their digital shopping cart but doesn’t go through with the purchase. If you’re able to, send a text or email to that shopper offering a discount on the items in their cart. Sometimes a little discount is all that it takes to convince someone who is on the fence to become a customer.
Good Stewardship Practices
There’s a Christian concept called stewardship that many business owners could benefit from understanding. It requires a smidgeon of theology, but the end result is golden. Stewardship, in the Christian sense, comes from the idea that nothing on this earth—not even our bodies—belongs fully to us. It all belongs to God; we’re just taking care of it for a little while. We are stewards. At some point, the true owner of everything is going to show up and take back management.
The implications of adopting this view are manyfold. Think about it; are you more likely to make your bed at your house or when you sleep over at a friend’s house? When you’re a guest in someone’s home, are you messier than you are in your own home?
When it comes to business, there’s a sense that you don’t actually own the company, God does, and you’re going to have to show an account of what you’ve done with it while it was in your hands. Not only that, but you’re going to have to account for the impact your business has had. What are the environmental impacts? Does it help or hinder people in your community? How are your employees treated? How much waste do you produce?
When you start viewing your work through the lens of stewardship, there are often some glaring problems that need attention. The changes you make in business practices tend to attract more customers as people want to buy from ethical, responsible, respectful and clean businesses.
The above tips should help any business gain more customers, whether it’s brand new or decades old. It’s a good idea to regularly revisit these kinds of lists if you want to keep your business growing.