3 Steps How To Attract And Keep Customers For A Small Business

(doylc.com) How To Attract And Keep Customers For A Small Business - Most small businesses are started by people who are very good at what they do. However, this is only half of the equation for being successful with a small business. Understanding how to generate sales is the other half of the equation. Marketing is perhaps the most important aspect of a small business' business. Too many small business owners believe they will only be successful through word of mouth. It often takes a lot more to attract and keep valuable customers.

• How to identification of customers

Understand your customer. Customers are at the heart of your business, so you need to understand who they are and what motivates them so you can meet customer needs.

Ask yourself important questions about the types of customers who spend money at your business. Are you rich or poor? Educated or not? young or old? Male or female? business or consumer? Where are they?

Create a mental image of a customer you want to serve and use that image when creating marketing campaigns. Make sure you're directing your message to that customer and not to a general population. Really try to connect with your ideal customer.

Consider market segments that might exist for your customers. For example, does your business have both male and female customers, but you may need to market them differently? Other examples of market segmentation are age and geography.

Remember, business is about serving others. They are the only ones depositing funds into your bank account. The more a company focuses on serving others, the more successful it will be.

Analyze yourself and your company. Knowing who your customers are requires a thorough understanding of your business. This requires a realistic view of yourself and your business.

What makes your company special? What is unique, different, important? Being able to clearly answer the question "Why should I buy your product or service when there are so many other options?"

Conduct a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. A SWOT analysis can help you better understand your business, which can improve your ability to identify your ideal customers.

Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors of your organization. An example of a strength is a prime location. An example of a weakness is the lack of capital to invest.

Opportunities and risks are factors external to your company. An example of an opportunity is a growing number of your target customers moving to your area. An example of a threat is a new competitor entering your territory.

• How to acquisition of new customers

Create your brand. Your brand is the most recognizable benefit you bring to your customer, expressed in one simple, concise sentence. This phrase is repeated over and over in your marketing efforts and informs every other aspect of your company's public presentation (employee behavior, advertising, tone used in written materials, etc.). Your brand is the message you want your customers to hear, making them choose your product over your competitors. Identify your brand or create a brand that represents your company's overall identity and competitive advantage.

A brand serves as your company's identity and allows you to bond with your customers. Focus on building relationships and syncing your brand with your customers' identities.

Use traditional marketing techniques. Depending on how you understand your business and its customers, there are many traditional marketing techniques to choose from to attract new customers.

Direct Mail – Using direct mail is a way to send items to a large number of potential customers.

Newspaper and Magazine – Placing ads in newspapers or magazines that are widely read by and in your target market can be a cost-effective marketing strategy.

Directory – Listings and advertisements in the commercial part of the telephone directories in your target areas are still a valuable marketing method in some industries.

Signs and Billboards – Advertising space on signs and billboards can be very cost effective when properly designed and placed.

Adopt non-traditional marketing techniques. Certain businesses, or those with certain types of customers, may find that it's best to think outside the box of traditional and online marketing.

Advertising On Vehicles - There are many ways to advertise vehicles including bumper stickers, decals, car wraps and more.

Industry Examples - See what competitors and others in your industry are doing to market their businesses. It can work for you too.

Use online marketing strategies. Sometimes your identified customers may not be local or easy to market to using traditional methods. You may have a business that sells products online, or even an online-only business. In these and other situations that you may find when identifying your customers, online marketing is helpful.

Website – Almost every business these days needs a good website to support their marketing efforts.

Pay Per Click – If your website is your business or at least is closely related to building your business, consider a pay per click campaign to drive targeted customers to your website. For example, Google advertising makes it possible to target people based on different types of customers.

Use social networks/media. With the proliferation of social networking and social media today, it can be important to use social media to market your business. There are many ways to use social media to market small businesses. Consider posting content to Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, or Twitter.

Focus your social media presence and communication on customer value rather than product or service characteristics.

Leverage the social media tools your customers use. This can include social networking sites, blogs or microblogging sites.

Use different types of content, from text and images to audio and video.

Be active on social media regularly. Having an account is not enough. You need to have an online presence in order for your customers to notice you.

Use free product giveaways or other incentives to increase traffic and connections to your social media accounts.

Understand the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. It's important to keep an eye on the digital campaign statistics of your marketing efforts so you can continue to use your advertising budget wisely.

Make an effort to estimate how each marketing effort affects sales. For example, you can ask customers where they heard about your company and record the answers.

You can also look for jumps in sales (or lack thereof) after starting a new type of promotion.

For online marketing, track your daily and monthly "click through rates" or the number of clicks your ad receives on each website. Then track your conversion rate, or the rate at which each person who clicked on your ad did what you asked them to do (signed up for a newsletter, made a purchase, or downloaded an app).

To do this, divide the total number of conversions per month by the number of visitors to your website per month.

Receive referrals from existing customers. Once you have a few customers who like what you're offering, ask them to help you. This is known as customer acquisition through referral. Most happy customers will be happy to tell others about you, but most of the time they won't think about it unless you give them a reason or incentive.

Referral marketing works best for retailers and service providers, such as B. car service, health professionals and banking institutions.

If you find ways to reward or acknowledge your customers for sending you new customers, they will do so more often and with greater enthusiasm. Examples include cash rewards, gift cards, or discounts on future purchases.

Don't forget to market the referral program. For this type of marketing to be successful, existing customers must know about it. This can be done through direct communication, in-store signs or online.

How to retain existing customers

Get to know your customers well. A customer is like a valuable possession. To keep them, you need to know what they like and why they like it. Gather as much information as possible while respecting the privacy of your customers.

Personal – This works especially well if your business allows for frequent, direct interactions with your customers or clients. talk to them Ask them questions and feel free to be direct. For example, ask them why they spend their money at your company or ask for suggestions for improvement.

Surveys or Questionnaires – Whether you provide your customers with paper questionnaires, use phone surveys, or leverage online tools, this technique can provide valuable information and identify patterns or trends related to your customers' experiences, likes, and dislikes.

Offer valuable information to your customers. Don't forget your customers. Your customers will appreciate receiving communications and information from you beyond the initial purchase. There are many ways to keep in touch with your customers.

Newsletters - You can promote your business through newsletters that customers receive in the mail, email, or on your website.

Blog - You may want to start a blog to provide additional information to your customers. Blogs can be excellent marketing tools.

Updated Information - Send existing customers new information about your company and its products or services.

Use their preferred method of communication – Some customers may not wish to receive phone calls and would rather receive information via email. Make sure you use the method you prefer.

Think Birthdays and Holidays - Send cards or small gifts to valued customers on special days.

Provide excellent customer service. Be patient with your customers and pay attention to their needs. Maintain a happy, positive attitude even in the face of an angry or frustrated customer. They will eventually calm down and remember your patience and cool head, giving them a positive experience with your company.

Always use positive language to put a good spin on a not-so-great situation. For example, if you're telling a customer that an item they want isn't currently available, avoid saying, "This product isn't currently available. It's backordered until next month. " Instead say: "This product will be available next month. We can place the order now to make sure it gets to your home as soon as it's in stock."

Provide customers with a way to provide feedback. Communication with customers must be a one-way street. Feedback from customers, good or bad, is valuable to a small business, so you need to give them a way to provide it.

Available contact information – Nothing can be more frustrating for a customer than not being able to find contact information for a business. Make sure your address, phone number, and email address are readily available online, on marketing materials, and other places where customers can find you.

Suggestion Box – A suggestion box offers customers the opportunity to provide instant feedback. Make sure you read all suggestions and respond to them appropriately.

Website and Social Media/Media – Your website and social media sites provide a quick and easy way for customers to provide feedback. Be careful though, as this type of feedback, even negative criticism, is public.

Try collecting customer feedback through a call center. Read for tips: Collect customer feedback about a call center.

Analyze customer feedback. Read through the comments in batches and start breaking them down into categories like speed, accuracy, courtesy, price, product selection, availability, hours of operation, location, etc. Look for patterns of what went wrong and try to identify the source of the pattern before attempting to solve it.

You might want to try the 5 Whys. Start with a problem like, "I don't like the taste of my salad." Then ask yourself, "Why don't I like the way my salad tastes?" The answer might be that it's soggy. Ask yourself then, "Why is it soggy?" The answer could be that you applied too much dressing.Then ask yourself, "Why did I apply too much dressing?"The answer could be that you were distracted while preparing questions keep asking why until you find the root of the problem.