We all can agree that a business is NO good without its share of customers. The more customers you have, the better the profitability, right? However, you have to keep in mind that with enormous competition comes the likelihood of things becoming more tough. This is why I have been working hard at identifying how clients are acquired and retained once a customer has them. Before I continue, it’s important to understand the same applies to both online and offline businesses because customers are the driving force for both. With that said,
It’s important we understand what runs our business, and how we identify with different people. If we can understand this, then we can cater our marketing strategy to tap into the customer mind frame more efficiently. However, I’m surprised at the amount of people how don’t take the time to understand their customer and business for that matter. I believe, if you don’t understand your customers then everything will suffer i.e. content, products, services, etc.
Let’s get started and explore some cool tips & tricks to build customer base, and retain them afterwards. Your feedback and opinion will be greatly appreciated.
Try New Things
Businesses are built on their ability to keep innovating. Much of this has to do with the fact that if you don’t keep innovating then rest assure your competition will continue to no matter. This means you have to keep trying new things going forward. However, it’s important each new innovation you bring into your business will meet the demands of your customers. For example, you don’t want to innovate products which have nothing to do with your business because then you’ll have to build your audience up from the bottom. Over the years while working with so many clients overtime, I’ve noticed some important…
Many businesses and bloggers fail to innovate because they don’t have a clear cut plan on what to look for when going forward. Here are a few things that can help you right now:
Audience – The more you understand your audience the better for you. This will help you develop new products that you know they’ll appreciate. It’s also to understand your audiences buying habits especially how much they are willing to pay for related products.
Competition – By understanding your competition you are able to see what they are doing or what they are missing to do. You can then put all of this into developing content, tools, services, etc.
Tweak Existing Products – You’ve probably noticed many of the top players within the industry will come out with a product and continue to make it better over time. This keeps people in the loop and can push them to buy the newer version of the product. You see tech companies like Microsoft, Apple and Samsung so this over again with their mobile phones.
Next,
It’s important to continue to research the market, and your audience to see how the trends are changing. This can lead to better products, ideas, content, etc.
Use The Insight
What’s amazing is that you can learn so much from the insight you gain over years. For example, I was reading content on SearchEngineJournal.com, and read a strategy which seasonal businesses use to keep traction & sales moving in the right direction. For example, if they know sales tend to slow down during the summer, then they’ll push harder during the on-season to increase profits substantially. This will allow them to stay afloat during the off-periods without losing profits or customers. It’s also a good strategy to use when you know people visit your blog during certain days throughout the week because you can tweak your marketing to acquire them during those days. After, you can add them to your list, and continue to market to them overtime. It’s amazing what you can do when you understand your business and how it relates to your audience. However, in order for you to do this, you’ll have to do the following:
Research your audience – This strategy is only good if you understand your audience and what they are looking for throughout the months. When you can figure this out, you’ll have no problem understanding what times, days or products they choose to focus on.
Different Marketing Channels
Nothing is better at getting new customers then to understand the different marketing channels you have available. Online and offline people will love all the marketing channels they now have available compared to before. For example, if you look back several years, you didn’t have social media, and it took months to build traction to your content. Now a valuable piece of content can gain traction within a few minutes if marketed on the right network. However, in order for you to make the most out of social media, you have to pay close attention to the following:
Social platforms – It’s important to put effort in the social media platforms which have enormous traffic. For example, no point in wasting time on networks that have no audience. From my experience, it’s important to focus on Facebook, Twitter, and Google +.
#hashtags – Top social networks will provide you with tools to identify the best or top #hashtags. This is important because when you share content, you’ll be able to use the same ones to tap into relevant people. You can then redirect them to your blog building loyalty.
Paid Advertising – This comes in handy if you have the budget to spend. I encourage all of you to give it a try because it can grow your business even faster. However, if you don’t have a budget then you’ll have a hard time building that initial traction through paid means. It’s even more harder for those who are just starting out with a limited marketing budget.
Know Customers Personally
I believe just because a customer has bought once doesn’t mean they are loyal so you have to put your retention into high gear. Nothing builds momentum like knowing your customers intimately because this shows you care. Some of the places I shop at over several years have done a great job building a report with me. I feel they know me personally, and tweak products to fit my needs every time I log in. This is something you should adopt into your marketing because it will score bonus points with your customers, and even give you that competitive edge. The next question is: How can you build that initial connection with everyone visiting your blog?
- Start an email list and continue to send them valuable content over time. Know where they opted in and what type of content they love to read. Going forward, you can send them the same type of content building trust.
- Calling them is a great way to build momentum. This only works if you are in a business which requires an extra push to get them to buy or build that extra level of connection.
- Adding a contact us form is a great way because many times people will want to contact you. If you don’t add a contact form, then customers will think you don’t care enough, right? Next, when they message you it’s important to make sure you message them back within 24 hours.
Overtime, you’ll find more ways to reach your customers, but building a solid relationship with them is a great way for you to retain them long-term which will help you build your bottom line.
Acquire or Partnership
You’ve probably seen many of the older companies acquire the newer ones which show potential. The cool thing is when you purchase a newer business, you get their customers too which can be huge for you because these are all potential buyers of other products you have. With that said, you have to keep in mind a few things if you decide to form a partnership.
Relevance – It’s important the partnership you are forming is relevant to your niche. This way you are getting customers who will find your other content, product, and services valuable.
Quality – You want to make sure the blog you are eyeing for a partnership is worth it, and has quality customers. This usually happens when the company has awesome products, and provides value.
Profit – In the end, it’s all about the bottom line so make sure the company you choose to form a partnership with has profits or a steady increase. This means it’s a worthwhile investment, right?
Final Thoughts
In the end, you need to keep growing your customer base to ensure you keep building profits. Some of the strategies I write about here will help you try different things which might help increase your customer count. I’ll admit some will be easier, and work better, then others, but you won’t know unless you give it a go, right? Make sure no matter what strategy you decide to implement; you have a solid way to track progress. If you don’t then you won’t have a clue on which new marketing tips have helped produce the results. If you’ve read my other content, then you know as an online blogger I like to use Google Analytics. They provide a complete solution that can easily be installed into your blog. Track things like traffic, landing pages, search queries, etc. After, look for how all of these have improved your bottom line or if they have done nothing. I’ll admit, you’ll have to keep tweaking until you find what finally works.
Please leave your comments in the box below, or let us know if you have any other strategy great for building a new customer base.
