Getting and keeping new clients is a challenge for every business. It is also fundamental to growth and development, but it is no easy task. The techniques frequently used to attract new customers, like networking and mailings, are often touted. However, there are many innovative marketing strategies that can help get new feet in the door at your business.
Before implementing marketing strategies it is critical to carefully identify and define your target audience to be sure you know your customer. After that, creating the right marketing strategies can be a simple and relatively inexpensive process. If you start a social media buzz, launch a website, host an informal event, or hold a contest which offers small prizes, giveaways, samples, or teasers products as incentives new customers will be encouraged to find out more.
“One tried and true principle in business over the ages has been that
a customer who receives something for free is always more willing to
buy something from you as opposed to someone who has not. This is
called the reciprocity principle. Consumers feel obligated to purchase
from you after having received something pro bono.” – R.L. Adams, Forbes
An increasingly overlooked strategy in the age of automation is often the human touch in customer care. Despite the computer revolution, technology is not meant to replace humans. In fact, technology is should take repetitive tasks out of the picture, so that businesses can focus even more on customers, as well as the development of unique and essential services or products in their niche markets.
In many cases automated systems are so still cumbersome that they remove or distance potential clients from not only human elements, but also the business itself. Most business leaders know that customer service is key, but it’s important to remember that fostering the human touch is essential in order to make any business stand out as approachable and memorable.
Further, Minda Zetlin of Inc. says “you don’t need a big marketing budget to quickly attract new customers” and identifies 7 Surprisingly Effective (and Cheap) Ways to Bring in New Customers:
- Partner with other businesses, even if they seem like the competition.
- Understand the lifetime value and acquisition cost of each customer.
- Use paid marketing, but very carefully.
- Get on the map.
- Ask for referrals, and offer incentives.
- Go where your customers are.
- Don’t neglect your existing customers.