WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO ATTRACT NEW CUSTOMERS

If you’re looking to grow your business for long-term results, you need to focus on attracting new customers. Of course, looking after your existing clients is crucial, too: they are already familiar with your products or services and are more likely to re-purchase and support your business.

Having said that, expanding your customer base with new clientele is essential for long-term growth. It will help you build credibility, grab market share, and increase revenue. But it’s easier said than done. Acquiring new leads could be tricky in a competitive market. But it’s definitely achievable.

Here’s what you should know to attract new customers for profitable business growth.

1. PROFILE YOUR CUSTOMER

How well do you know your clients? What is their average age? In which cities do they live? What industries are they from? Which professions do they belong to? What is their average income? The more accurately you can profile your target audience, the higher the likelihood of converting a lead into a sale.

LinkedIn is an excellent source for building potential customer lists based on industry or professional profiling. Once you’ve identified a set of leads, search for their contact details on Leadar and begin your outreach efforts.

2. EXPAND YOUR NETWORK

All seasoned sales professionals know that building relationships is the foundation for consistent sales growth. But networking requires meeting new people. This is why attending in-person events is imperative for attracting new customers. But what type of events? It could be expos, conferences, professional gatherings, and even non-professional events such as barbecues, parties, and community and volunteering events.

Social networking via digitally hosted gatherings is equally effective. For example, consider joining an online network consisting of potential sales leads. Online forums are another valuable resource where you can connect with large audiences.

3. INVEST IN TARGETED ADVERTISING

A noteworthy advantage of online advertising over its more traditional counterpart is its ability to hyper-target an audience. It’s also less expensive and enables you to track and measure performance to maximize your advertising spend.

Take, for example, PPC or pay-per-click adverting. It’s a highly cost-effective method for lead generation where you only pay for actual clicks per ad. In addition, PPC is a great option to target a precise audience with a legitimate interest in your product or service. It will even help you drive traffic to your website, gather valuable data insights, and improve conversion rates.

4. OFFER FREE TRIALS

Free product trials are a powerful technique to convert potential leads into paid customers. They allow users to experience your product benefits and compare them with other alternatives.

Customers who eventually decide to move along to the purchasing stage after enjoying a trial are more likely to become long-term fans of your product. Besides, free trials add credibility and are extremely useful for new products and business startups that do not yet possess enough social proof.

5. PROVIDE ATTRACTIVE INCENTIVES

For centuries, offering incentives like discounts and gifts has been a tried-and-tested method by merchants. Incentives could be an excellent tool to convert customers who have already shown an interest in your products or services but are yet to make that all-important purchasing decision. Limited-time offers, in particular, could create urgency and push them toward action. After all, attractive deals do not come by that often. And a one-time discount or a similar attractive offer could be an irresistible deal to miss.

But keep in mind that incentives are an expense to your business. So, use this technique sparingly to acquire new customers.

6. SHOWCASE TESTIMONIALS

Social proof is essential for any business. With the proliferation of social communities, sharing personal experiences of products and services has never been easier.

User reviews and recommendations play a major role in influencing the purchasing decision. So, showcasing your customer testimonials at every opportunity available is critical to attracting new clientele. There are various ways to do this: you can display customer reviews on your website, social media pages, and third-party platforms, create customer stories, and develop case studies featuring successful projects.

7. BUILD PARTNERSHIPS

Partnerships with non-competing businesses could help you access new customer bases through cross-promotions and special incentives.

For example, if you own a coffee brand, you can partner with local cafés, food trucks, and restaurants to promote your products. It’s a great technique to create awareness and reach new clientele.

8. LEVERAGE SOCIAL MEDIA

A thoughtfully crafted social media strategy is critical for your lead-generation efforts. It’s an inexpensive yet powerful tool to connect with large audiences and build awareness.

It’s also a highly versatile, feature-rich option that could deliver multiple benefits: you can share any amount of product information, engage your audiences using different content types, interact in real-time with potential clients, conduct opinion polls, host and stream live events, create communities, build email lists, and acquire new customers.

9. USE A CRM

By investing in automation software for customer relationship management (CRM), you can fast-track your customer acquisition process for better results. A CRM solution can help capture and organize all your sales funnel data on a single platform, so you can understand consumer behavior, prioritize leads, personalize communications, follow up more effectively, make data-driven decisions, and ultimately, increase your conversion rates.

Of course, cost and time savings and improvements in efficiency are definite advantages, too. 

10. WOW YOUR CONSUMERS

Did you know that your existing customer base presents an opportunity for you to gain new ones? Word-of-mouth is a powerful, age-old tool to influence potential leads. This is why impressing each and every client with an exceptional product and service is imperative. Remember, a referral from someone who has already done business with you could go a long way in building your reputation and attracting new clients.

Conclusion

Each strategy we have discussed in this list has the potential to accelerate your lead-generation process with impactful results in the long run. However, you might not have the resources to implement them all at once. So, prioritize what fits your business goals and strategy, and incorporate the rest over time.