The path to business success is not always plain sailing. You’ll face many challenges along the way that must be overcome. You have a great product or service, and the challenge is to get it out there and be visible to potential customers. So, how do you do it?
Who Is Your Customer?
How can you get your product seen by potential customers if you don’t know who they are? It’s vitally important that you identify who your customers are. Understanding their motivations, likes and dislikes will give you the competitive edge by being appeal to them on a personal level. You’ll be able to optimize customer engagement if you provide them with the products and services that they really want.
So, how do you find this out? You need to pay attention to where your customers are online. For example, if your customer demographic are typically Instagram users or Twitter fiends, this is where you need to look and be. You’ll be able to get a picture of what their other interests are, and what they like.
If your business’ customers are primarily other businesses then attend local networking groups and make contacts that will benefit your business. This may put you out of your comfort zone, so if you do find networking a struggle just ask people questions. People are inherently more than happy to talk about themselves and their business, and you’ll be able to pick up a great amount of information about your customers this way, as well as develop new business contacts.
A great way to find out about your customers is by utilizing your website’s request for newsletter subscribers. Encourage visitors to subscribe with exclusive promotional offers that are only available via the newsletter. Ask for their contact details, but also ask them to fill out a survey at the same time. Don’t make it laborious for your site’s visitor as you want them to be able to quickly tick data boxes and subscribe – you’ve been given the golden goose.
Once you have the information, you’ll be able to further engage them by sending regular e-mails. Don’t waste this opportunity by bombarding them with spam-like communications or you risk being blocked. Instead, implement e-mail automation software to provide your subscribers with timely, relevant and most importantly personalized e-mails.
What Do Your Customers Want?
Use social media platforms and a forum on your website to communicate with your customers. This is a great way of further increasing your knowledge about who they are, and also what they want from you. You must satisfy their needs.
Your customers want an experience that fits their interpretation of it. Think about carrots; you may struggle to get your child to eat carrots, but if you put them in a McDonalds packet, you can bet your bottom dollar that they’ll eat them. The carrots are the same as the ones that you prepared at home, but the child is affected by the branding. To understand the reaction of your customers, you need to understand their interpretation.
Use your brand to create positive experiences for your customer – it’s the one way to get them returning to you with repeat business. Positive reinforcements go a long way to get brand evangelists – the customers who love your brand and tell people about it – and if you make them feel special, congratulate them on their fine choice and style with the option they have chosen, then they’re sure to comeback for more. Other examples of positive reinforcements are reward schemes for their spending, content sharing and referrals. People love the recognition of being a loyal customer, and your bottom line will love the fact that they’re one.
Your brand is your key to getting your customers to promote your business for you. Your logo should be chosen to enhance your customer’s recognition of your business, so ensure that you use it to its full advantage. Make sure your logo is printed on the packaging of your product. You can also print your logo on all outgoing mail using a franking machine press provided by frankedmail.co.uk. Also ensure that any e-mail correspondence you send also carries your brand in the signature strip. By looking at the finer details, you’ll be subtly supporting your brand’s recognition.
Not only are customers buying a product or service from you, they’re buying into your brand and the associations attached to it. Your brand should already be well-defined, but don’t be afraid to re-brand in response to market and customer changes as your business grows. Your brand is the public face of your enterprise, and sometimes a change is needed to reinvigorate the relevance and vitality of a business. It’s an opportunity to clear away promotional clutter, and take stock.
How Do Your Customers Find You?
Your social media platforms should provide direct links to your website, and the chances are high that they’ve used a mobile device to access the sites in the first place. You must make sure that your website is mobile friendly. If it isn’t, you risk your visitors being frustrated with the experience of trying to do business with you.
You need to think about how your business can attract more visitors, and the answer lies within your website. You need to have content that goes beyond product and service information. Search engines are notoriously changeable when it comes to the algorithms that they use to decipher the information on your website.
At the moment, user experience and website relevance is all the rage. So, your website, just like your business products or service, must satisfy visitors’ needs. You don’t want a one-night stand with the site visitors, you want a long-lasting relationship. By having a blog, you’re using a marketing channel to draw in the crowds, you may have the ‘Top 10 Tips’ for using your product effectively, or perhaps a user guide. A successful blog will draw in new visitors to your site, and increase your business’s visibility.
