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One of the main problems businesses encounter is the ability to pull in more customers. This applies to all businesses, however, in a lot of cases, it’s more pertinent to start-ups. Especially the ones without industry contacts or previously established client bases. The bottom line is, that without customers you’re not going to be a successful business. You need them to succeed. Doesn’t matter if you’re involved with B2B or selling to the masses. There are a lot of ways you can pull in custom. Some may be specific to the industry you’re in. There are some which are open and easy, others are more closed. It all depends on how niche your client base is and this can be both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it’s easy to identify your target market as they’re so small, but a curse because your competitors are doing the same. It doesn’t matter what skills you profess to have or what you want to spend your time doing, business owners who don’t prioritize pulling in custom won’t be in business for long. Here are some tips to get you started.
Brand Awareness Is Key
You need to push your brand into people’s faces. If they don’t know about it and you, then how do you expect them to purchase your products or services? Of course, the importance of digital advertising can’t be overstated, but first, you need to work on how your brand looks. There’s no point advertising something which doesn’t quite look good. So you need to start with your branding. Especially if you’re a product-driven business. How does your logo look? What about the color and design. It’s always worth approaching a professional designer for these if your budget allows. It’s important to have something which catches the eye. Something different that also tells the customer exactly what they need to know. Think of some logos in your head. The ones which come to you will no doubt be the better-designed ones. They’re intrinsic in ensuring you’re known to customers.
Website Design Is Everything
Sure, you need to pull people towards your website first. But once there, then what? It needs to be well designed. It needs to incorporate you logo and design. Most of all, it needs to be easy to navigate. The best websites around are super easy to navigate. That means it’s easy to find the product they want, then it’s easy to stick it into their basket and buy it. If they have to jump through too many loopholes your customers might get a little tired and just leave. Likely going to one of your competitors. It needs to be logical. You also don’t want to put too much on there. Keep it simple and easy. Make sure there’s a section for people to contact you if need be. Because it gives you a chance to make something better, and it also enables you to improve upon feedback received. Take some time to look at your competitors’ websites too. Look at what they’re doing well and where you can improve. Any niche you find will give you an angle to capitalize on.
The Promotion
People can’t resist a good promotion. They love sales of all kinds. If you really want to pull people to your website, that’s the way to do it. You need to be clever about it though. Don’t be one of those businesses who have the same sale ongoing all the time, otherwise, people will begin to see that as your base price. Do it infrequently and it’ll be a lot more powerful. You need to shout about it of course. Use your advertising channels and social media. Word of mouth will help too but not in the same way.
Don’t discount how effective old traditional media can be. A well-placed news article or advertisement can pull in your audience with ease. You might be surprised just how many people still get a newspaper delivered. If you're going to advertise on TV, you might check out these Infinity Dish statistics to get an idea of what your audience watch, and which platforms they use, to make sure that your adverts will reach them. To bolster your marketing efforts, you can get a range of promotional materials too. This is especially important if you will be attending or hosting networking or product launches for your business. Name badges, pens, keyrings, and even tote bags are still popular and will leave your logo in the hand of your audience long after the event has finished.
Coupons and discounts are a great way to pull in customers. Having a good strategy around coupons and discounts will help increase traffic to your in-store and online store.
Also, ensure your website has the space to withstand the high amount of traffic a promotion will hopefully generate. If it goes down, a lot of people might not come back to see if you’ve fixed it. On the same note, ensure you have stocked up on your products beforehand. It's a fine line, you need to ensure you have enough to fulfill your promotion but also don’t want too many in case you’re left with a lot of leftover stock. This is even more important if you manufacture the products yourself. If you manufacture bespoke to-order products, make sure you have enough staff on hand to fulfill the orders here too. Whether you use a coupon, an internet discount code, or any other method of applying for the promotion, make sure it’s consistent across the board and for everyone.