For every single small business out there that wants to scale operations and boost revenue, it is very important to expand your small business’ customer base. The proper use of strategies can help you connect with new customers. Also, your potential customers can be turned to repeat, loyal buyers. In the following paragraphs, explore some effective ways to grow the clientele of a small business in a cost-effective way.
1. Optimizing For Search Robots
A huge part of optimizing any website is to get it ready for the checks done by search robots. An SEO crawler is a program that can help discover potential problems through a comprehensive on-page SEO audit. Use it to see what you have to modify so that the search robots would properly index and rank your content.
There are different practices you have to be aware of. The best ones involve using the target keyword phrases in image names, titles, URLs, and headers. At the same time, you have to naturally use them all throughout the content.
As an extra tip, make sure the site is frequently updated, mobile-friendly, and as easy to navigate as possible. Remove all fluff so that load times are as short as possible. When search engine bots detect relevance and authority, you rank higher. SEO can help you attract a lot of new users and grow your small business customer base. It’s also important to make sure that your brand is well-googled. This is a common problem – there is a brand that is represented on social media or offline, but they don’t have a website, so when you google, the brand information doesn’t appear. Therefore, even basic optimization will help attract users.
2. Leveraging Social Media
Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are three examples of very popular social media platforms. They are popular ways for all consumers to research brands and even discover new brands. You want to strategically grow followers across chosen channels. This is done by sharing highly engaging posts that showcase your services or products. You can also us partnerships, paid advertising, and run contests.
On your site, you want to have follow and share buttons to grow your small business customer base. They should be placed in a location that makes it easy for visitors to share content. Talk with your existing buyers and ask them to tag the business on social media as they post online reviews.
Remember that having strong social media signals will increase customer connectivity and your legitimacy as a brand. Your customer base can drastically widen with social shares.
3. Partnering With Complementary Businesses
Mutually beneficial partnerships with complementary businesses have to be considered. This helps you to tap into the existing customer network of the business you partner with. As an example, a guitar store can easily partner with studios offering guitar lessons. Cross-promotions can happen through websites, event tabling, and email lists.
4. Launching Customer Loyalty Programs
Any action you take to attract new customers implies costs. This is why every business has to focus on retaining the happy existing customers for long-term higher profitability. You can do this with the use of customer loyalty programs. They encourage active repeat purchases with the use of membership-based discounts, free merchandise, early sales access, exclusive perks, and much more.
Examples of common loyalty programs are:
- Free products after a specific number of purchases
- VIP tiers with better benefits for each higher tier
- Punch cards
- Refer a customer discounts
Always appreciate the loyal customers you have since they support the business. Repeat customers are much easier to manage and cost less than acquiring new customers.
5. Offering Referral Programs For Customers
A specific type of loyalty program that is in a league of its own is the referral program. You basically offer your current customers, those who are already satisfied, an incentive to bring in new customers. Examples of incentives to grow your small business customer base include:
- Cash bonuses
- Gift cards
- Discounts
People are much more inclined to recommend a business when they get something in return. For you, the business, you get access to new customers through the friends and family members of your already loyal customers.
In conclusion, the five techniques highlighted above are going to do wonders when it comes to expanding your small business customer base, especially when you are a small business. They will aid in increasing sales, gaining market share, and even competing with larger businesses that have a larger marketing budget. Always listen to the feedback obtained from your customers, delight them, and embrace what technology offers for the best results. You can also create various discounts for the first order, bonuses, special offers, and more.
