When you’ve established your business and are beginning to see a good level of turnover, you may think it’s time to relax a little. Not so: this is when the real hard work should begin. If you aren’t constantly trying to take your business to the next level and increase your customer base then you can’t hope to survive in this competitive marketplace. In order to win new customers you need to be constantly think about what they want and marketing your company accordingly. There are many things you can do to draw them in, both online and offline. For example:
- Expand Product Range: If you don’t seem to be winning any new customers then it could be because you haven’t offered them anything new for a long time. A new product launch is something you can use to generate a lot of publicity. This is a change to bring in people who may not have heard of your company before. If it’s not feasible to break into an entirely new line products, why not at least try expanding an existing line or increasing your service offering?
- Attend Trade Shows: There are always plenty of potential customers to be found at industry trade shows. Just make sure you choose the best events that are likely to attract the most people. Spend time researching each one and find out what their annual attendance is. When you’ve decided on which one to attend you need to think about putting together an exhibition booth that is going to make your company stand out. Find a good-quality sign producer, such as RAL Display, who can produce you some customised signs or banner stands. Then it’s just a case of making sure your team speak to as many people as possible and follow up on their leads.
- Online Marketing: There are so many ways you can use the Internet to market your company that it would be foolish to neglect it. Social media marketing is particularly effective for reaching out to new customers as it can give you the opportunity to show the more ‘human’ side of your business. Encourage existing followers to share your posts with their friends by offering incentives or getting them to participate in surveys. You will find that your audience quickly increases. You may also want to try driving new customers to your website by getting an SEO expert to boost your search engine rankings.
- Target New Markets: If the majority of your customers are in one particular region, have you thought about setting up production or sales branches further afield, in other areas of the country or even possibly abroad? Geographical expansion is a logical way to find a new client base and take your business to the next level. What you need to do is do some careful market research to find out where the demand is and which regions are showing particularly strong growth for your sector. It will require a certain amount of capital investment but if you plan your expansion strategy carefully then you have every chance of success.
- In-Store Promotions: If you’re still focusing on regional growth then nothing brings in new customers to your shop like a well-advertised in-store promotion. This could be anything from a general sale to a special offer on new products or a demonstration. Make sure you build up a buzz early on by handing out fliers, putting up posters or even advertising in local papers and on local radio. If you train your staff properly to give every new customer that comes in a positive experience they are sure to come back again – and hopefully spread the word to their friends as well. After all, good old-fashioned word of mouth is still one of the most effective forms of marketing.
- Team Up: If you don’t have much time or resources to invest in expansion, another option open to you is cross-marketing. Team up with another company in a complementary field to your own and get them to recommend you to customers both online and in-store. If you do the same for them this could turn out to be a highly profitable alliance for both of you – and best of all the costs will be practically non-existent.
