Marketing is often something that doesn’t come easily to small business owners. When scanning the web for small business tips, you may have specific questions about who to direct your marketing and advertising campaigns toward. Should you target new audiences and try to spread the appeal of your business as broadly as possible, or should you stick with the faithful few who keep coming back and work on giving them more incentives for doing so?
The answer to both of these questions would be “Yes”! Of course you should keep looking for new clients, but that doesn’t mean you need to end up neglecting your returning customers. There are strong proponents both ways, but you can do one without excluding the other.
Looking for new customer bases and marketing toward them can take the form of:
- Providing free samples
- Marketing toward those looking for a new business to support
- Offering free service for a limited time
- Giving coupons to first-time customers
These are all excellent strategies for bringing in people who haven’t tried your business before. However, many small business tips recommend marketing efforts geared toward returning customers, such as:
- Rewards programs
- Buy one, get one free
- Recommendation rewards
These encourage customers by providing incentive to shop at your small business a second time rather than finding a new source. But what are some ways you can get both new and returning customers to shop at your business a second and third time? Here are some small business tips.
Get the whole company involved.
Your employees are the key to getting other people excited about your business. So much marketing these days is done through personal testimonies. A customer is much more likely to try your business if it was recommended by a friend- or even by someone they know is a real person, even if they don’t know them well- than if they just saw an ad about it.
Thank customers verbally and in writing.
This sounds like a no-brainer. We all know how it feels to be thanked for our business, and how much more likely that makes us to come back the next time. But some companies show remarkable neglect in this area. Check your Thank-you system to see that it really gives customers a sincere, warm, personal, and grammatically correct Thanks to show them that you really care about them.
Listen to feedback.
Many businesses have systems of reviews online on their website, or ask for feedback on the customer’s order at the time of purchase. Whatever your system of asking for feedback, make sure it’s not just a ritual.Think about what you can do to improve each customer’s experience the next time around.
Public Relations
Make sure your public relations department is the best out there, even if that department just consists of you. Public relations is all about presenting your company to the customers, and you don’t want to skimp on your public image. Go all out to make sure that customers are treated well before, after, and while doing business with you. This will ensure that you’ll both attract new customers and keep returning customers loyal.
