How to attract, win and keep your customers
To maximise your marketing spend, you need to focus on satisfying your current customers, encouraging past customers and attracting new customers to your business. Identify your unique selling point (USP) - what's especially good about your product or service - and use it to make you stand out from the crowd.Get more from your customer base
Your regular customer base is critical to your business' survival and growth, so you need to seize chances to build and maintain your relationship with them on each interaction or sale.There are many ways to do this when on a tight budget. Think about how you communicate - for example, you should:
- talk to your customers and focus on their needs and wants
- be specific, honest and clear about what you can offer
- keep in touch - send email updates or a newsletter
- get to know your competitors and what they are offering
- encourage people to 'buy now' by offering lower prices for immediate/bulk purchases or bookings
- use coupons or e-vouchers that are easy and cheap to design and distribute
- offer gifts, free trials and tasters
- reward your customers with loyalty schemes
Encourage referrals from existing clients
Referrals from satisfied customers endorsing your business are the best way of getting new customers. So if a client tells you they're happy with some work you have done for them, ask them to recommend you to other potential customers.Consider offering incentives - such as a discount off their next order - for every new customer an existing client points in your direction.
Find new customers
You should always be thinking about how to attract new customers. You need to:
- let potential new customers know who you are and what you offer
- aim to provide an exceptional experience on the first sale
- offer options and solutions to increase convenience
- position yourself as a leader next to your competition - give a reason for customers to buy from you
Public relations on a budget
You don't need to blow your budget to keep your business in the public eye. Even a cash-strapped business can use public relations (PR) effectively and reap the benefits.
When setting out to promote your business, it's important to be clear about what you want to achieve - for example, increased sales, increased visits to your website or more awareness of your product or service.
Some of the more cost-effective ways to promote your business can be to:
- make your business stand out - eg by offering a unique product or service, or by offering savings
- join relevant professional or social groups so you can network with other people
- tell people or write a press release if your business wins an award or contract
- specialize - you will be more attractive to customers if you are an expert in what you do
- promote yourself as an expert to local media, write an article or start a blog - see the page in this guide on how to use technology to reach your customers
- lead a trend or solve a problem that you have spotted
- volunteer to speak at meetings or seminars related to your field
- relaunch your website, shop or product/service
- if you have a car or van, use vehicle branding or magnetic signs to advertise your business' phone number or website
- get involved in charity - offer to host an event on your premises and invite the media
- get involved with the community - try fundraising or offer your product or service as a competition prize
- survey your customers - get to know their needs and future wants
Use technology to reach your customers
When planning your marketing, look at how you're using technology. Are you getting the most out of what's currently available?Email marketing
Traditional marketing methods - eg direct mail - are expensive and often wasteful. Email marketing can be a much more effective alternative, because e-newsletters are cheap - or free - to produce.If your email subscriber database also contains demographic data, and/or information about buying habits, you can accurately target your messages to specific and relevant groups. For more information, including the legal considerations, see our guide on email marketing.
Text marketing
Text marketing - ie targeting customers using mobile phone SMS messages - can be a very powerful marketing tool when used appropriately.Social networking
You can promote your business for free using social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If used well, these sites can also be an excellent tool for interacting with your existing customers and making new business contacts.Internet blogs
If you're an expert in your field, think about sharing that expertise online. Offering advice or opinions on your own internet blog can be a fantastic way of promoting yourself and your business.Blogs also tend to get high rankings from internet search engines, so having one can make it easier for potential customers to find out information about your business.