The goal of every small business is to attract new customers. Unfortunately, many small businesses lack the budget to implement costly marketing strategies. The good news is that there are many free and low-cost ways to reach new customers, and even better, they aren’t difficult to do. Check out these five easy ways to reach new customers.
- Make Sure Your Website is Up to Par
Most people turn to the internet to research and buy the things they want or need. This means that your small business needs to have a strong online presence, which is where your website comes in.
Your website should function well, be easy to navigate, contain useful, pertinent information, and employ SEO tactics that ensure it ranks well in the search engines. If you aren’t a website designer yourself, you’d be wise to hire one who also provides copywriting services so your website attracts your target audience.
- Provide Outstanding Customer service
If you go above and beyond for your customers, they will naturally tell others about their experience with your business. It’s not difficult or costly to provide outstanding customer service. The practice starts with treating your customers with respect and ensuring they leave completely satisfied. It doesn’t cost anything to smile and be nice, so train your staff to do just that, and you’ll encourage a word-of-mouth campaign that brings in new customers left and right.
- Use Social Media
The internet is a great free resource for reaching current and future customers. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all allow you to interact with your followers by answering questions, providing tutorials, and sharing fun and interesting information.
Most people frequent at least one social media platform regularly, and many use social media to find the things they want to buy. If you aren’t already leveraging social media to engage your target audience, you’re missing a valuable opportunity to attract new customers.
- Host a Giveaway or Contest
People love getting things for free, so contests with desirable prizes are a great way to drum up traffic and positive attention.
The free item doesn’t have to be costly – a free trial of your product or branded swag of some sort will do. The point is that it’s free, and people love free stuff.
Simple social media giveaways can also be highly effective. Consider asking people to like your Facebook page or follow you on Instagram to receive a discount code. Or host a competition where people have to share your post in order to enter. The overall point is that offering something for free like this is a great way to reach the masses and spread the word about your business.
- Partner with Another Business
If attracting new customers seems like a monumental task, enlist the services of another business to help. The key to making this work is to partner with a business that targets the same audience as you.
For example, if yours is a wedding dress boutique, you could partner with a wedding photographer or a wedding cake designer to tap into each other’s customer base. If you own a café, you might be able to strike up a lucrative partnership with a local coffee roastery. The key to success with this strategy is to choose like-minded businesses with products or services that complement your own.
You offer a great product and awesome customer service, but getting people in the door can be challenging, to say the least. Use the strategies above to reach new customers, and trust your impressive products and customer service to do the rest!