All around the world marketing professionals aim to identify the strategies and techniques that can attract customers to a business. Business owners realise customers are the heartbeat to success and new customers allow organisations to grow.
Therefore, having the bests strategy in place to attract these new customers is vital.
Gaining new clients doesn’t have to be an expensive money drainer either. Targeted and organic methods can be very effective on a low budget and are perfectly achievable.
1. Gain referrals
Current customers are some of the best sources of new customers. Once a customer’s loyalty is gained, you can start gaining referrals from them by building referral generating activities into the sales process.
Sending follow-up emails to make sure customers are happy with their purchases which includes a request for referrals is one method which leverages the word-of-mouth system that is so powerful.
Reaching out and having a direct conversation can prove to be effective.
Consider offering incentives such as a discount for the new customer and the original customer, or the creation of a customer loyalty programme.
2. Networking
Networking is about meeting new people where you can let them know who you are and what you do. Finding trade associations, your local chamber of commerce, networking event organisations is a great way to be among other likeminded business people who may be of interest to what your organisation does.
It is more useful to take the approach of thinking “How can I help you?”, rather than thinking, “What’s in it for me?”
3. Promote your expertise
By showcasing your industry expertise, you can generate interest and even create a buzz, which will help you attract new customers as well as get more business from your existing client base.
You can showcase your knowledge by volunteering to speak on industry panels and giving webinars or workshop which are especially popular now because of the increased use of Zoom and video calling.
Social media is a great way to display what you do best by utilising videos which can even be shot on a smartphone. The rawer they are (less edited), the more likely they will be perceived as authentic.
4. Take advantage of online ratings and reviews
Consumers love having that extra bit of assurance for products or services that offer value. Encouraging customers to give feedback, then highlighting the positive feedback is very comforting for wary potential customers.
It’s called social proof and companies like Amazon leverage this with their highly effective customer rating stars.
People love hearing that others have found the business good to work with. Therefore, gaining this social proof will help drive new customers to your business if they see others praising it. This praise could be visible on the website as testimonials or on other forms of marketing.
With these 4 low cost methods of attracting new customers, marketing professionals should not feel disadvantaged if they don’t have a high budget. Even with greater resources available many MNC’s are adopting these methods due to their high effectiveness.
It shows marketing doesn’t have to be a high cost and a little bit of effort goes a long way when growing a customer base.
- By Conor Craig
- 15 March 2020
