Find new customers (within the current market)
Growing your business means more cash for you now plus a higher sale price in the future when you decide to eventually sell your business.
USE DIRECT MARKETING THAT GETS RESULTS
Measure the response rates to each area of your direct marketing campaign, whether it be email advertising, direct mail, or online click-throughs. Invest more of your marketing budget into what gets results. For example, if you’re an electrician, consider doing a mail drop in your local area, advertising your services.
FIND WAYS TO GENERATE WORD OF MOUTH
Build up positive word of mouth referrals by getting testimonials from customers, encouraging regulars to refer their friends or family to your business, speaking at events, and networking inside chambers or business associations. For example, if you own a travel agency that offers escorted tours to Europe, get feedback from your customers and ask to use some of their quotes on your website.
CREATE EXCLUSIVE OFFERS
Create an introductory offer for new customers only. Sacrifice your regular profits to gain loyal customers that will buy again on a regular basis. Consider what the Australian Government’s business website has to say about finding new customers.
INCREASE YOUR PROFILE THROUGH ONLINE DIRECTORIES
To increase your online presence, list your business on the most popular online directories, such as Google MyBusiness (which is free). Alternatively, use these resources to uncover potential new customers (especially through industry directories).
INCREASE WEB TRAFFIC BY IMPROVING YOUR SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION (SEO)
SEO will help increase your website’s traffic leading to a growth in your customer base. Spend some time determining your site’s keywords and keyword phrases so it attracts the right traffic for your business.
PURCHASE SEARCH KEYWORDS TO IMPROVE YOUR ONLINE EXPOSURE
Consider paying for search engine marketing (SEM) so that when customers search for your business products your web address is more likely to come up than others. For example, if you’re a Lawyer catering to small businesses, you might find there’s a lot of competition so think about paying for an ad that appears on the first search page.
USE SOCIAL PINBOARDS TO DISPLAY YOUR BUSINESS
Instagram allows you to visually tell the story of your business and its offerings through images. When potential customers like your product or service images (which can be linked to your other social media accounts), you might get an avalanche of views.
CREATE REGULAR BLOGS
Keep your content fresh and updated by writing regular blogs (informative content posted online in a chronological order) about your business, your people, and successful case studies. Regular blog content can be important for increasing your SEO and driving traffic to your website. (Originally it was called web log, then it was called weblog and now it’s simply called blog.)
RUN DEMONSTRATIONS OR WORKSHOPS TO EDUCATE CUSTOMERS
Run demonstrations, workshops or events to showcase your business to existing or new customers. For example, if you’re a martial arts instructor going it alone, create a series of workshops to show potential clients the skills and benefits of learning through you.
NETWORK BY JOINING BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONS
Networking with like-minded business individuals is crucial to managing the right business contacts in your industry. Uncover potential customers by attending industry events.
CREATE A TARGETED MARKETING PLAN
Outline a specific marketing strategy that’s aimed at new customer segments. Then develop a precise advertising plan to build awareness and encourage purchases. For example, if you’re targeting truck drivers, create a billboard theme that plays on words and back that up with occasional radio adverts.
