Marketing & Sales are the lifeblood of any successful business. Every business owner wants to get more customers, though it’s easier said than done.
This article will go over 5 effective tips you can use to get more customers online.
1 – Ask for Referrals
One of the easiest ways to get new customers is from people in your network. This could be a current customer, business mentor, networking group, or connection. As you earn their trust by providing a great service, you should be able to naturally get some additional business simply by asking them for referrals.
Current customers are the best source of referrals simply because they are doing business with you, know what you have to offer, and can relate to someone that is in the market for what you’re offering. Minimally, they are able to give a good testimonial about how your service can help them with their pain point and why they should do business with you instead of a competitor.
Business mentors, networking groups, & connections can also help you get new business as well because they have a relationship with you and know what you have to offer. From what I’ve seen personally, people like helping other people out. If there’s an opportunity for you to help someone with your business’s service, then they might refer you if you give them a good way to do so.
You shouldn’t passively twiddle your thumbs hoping they will just give you new business. Rather, you should take control by actively reaching out to people and giving them the opportunity to refer business to you if they are able to. You should make sure your customers are happy with your service first and put their needs first. While you should organically bring up referral opportunities within your network in a way that gives people the opportunity to give a referral without putting a damper on the current relationship.
I find that it’s good to have your talking points ready and consider providing an incentive. Try to make referrals a win/win as well so it’s mutually beneficial for both parties. Not every referral will come your way, but overtime with consistent follow up you should be able to get more referrals.
2 – Upsell & Cross Sell Services
This might not be one of the first strategies you consider for getting new customers for your business. Though it’s probably one of the most effective ways to get more business if it’s done correctly.
If you have multiple services that you can provide a current customer, then you could get a new customer for one of those services to increase your revenue…..without having to do any additional prospecting.
One example of cross-selling I constantly see is when a marketing agency has a customer for one type of service (ex. Paid Search) that could also use support with a similar service (ex. SEO). The two services almost go hand in hand, but they don’t consider asking the client if they would like to get this additional service.
Upselling can also be great if you’re able to provide a premium service or a service that includes more than what you’re currently providing. If you provide property management services, perhaps the same customer also could use off-hour services or something of that nature that isn’t offered with your regular service package.
If you don’t have a product or service that naturally allows you to upsell or cross sell, then you could consider offering affiliated services or start providing services you could upsell/cross sell.
The point is that you could get a new customer for another service by providing more value to your current customers.
3 – Get More Customers From Your Website
Your website is likely going to be the next best opportunity for you to get more customers for your business. Give your website a review to see what opportunities you might have and put yourself in your customers shoes. Think about what they will do with your website content and how that will lead them to do business with you (either on your site or after they convert).
Reviewing your checkout process, demo process, and content that you have can help you convert more people into customers that may have gone to your competition in the past.
Furthermore, you should try to review your website metrics through a tool like Google Analytics & HotJar to see where people are bouncing, how many pages they view, which pages they view, and what your top customers do before they convert. You can also get heat mapping and website session recordings to see what parts of your website customers engaged with the most.
4 – Host an Event
This could be a webinar, lecture series, podcast, networking event, or just a fun event to connect with your prospects. The point is that you could do something in person or online to provide people to engage with them so they’re more likely to do business with you.
Creating and hosting an event can be time consuming. Here are some tips you can use to figure out what type of event you should consider hosting and how you can use that event to get more customers for your business.
- What are your customer’s pain points?
- Consider what pain point your customers are trying to solve and create a webinar or presentation to help them solve their pain point.
- Are your competitors hosting any events (if so, what are they doing)?
- There are some obvious events like having an open house if you’re a college student or giving a demo at an industry event like Martex.
- Are there industry events or local events that you could be present at?
- Technically, you’re not hosting the event, but by being a part of someone else’s event, you can provide value to the attendees and potentially get a few new customers.
- What have your current customers wanted to see from you in the past?
- A great place to start is by asking your current customers. See what they would like to do. More likely than not, they might bring some of their friends who you could turn into new customers.
- Are you trying to do a one-off event or create a series?
- If you’re doing a one-off event then it might be good to pick a topic that’s timeless, easy to understand, and relevant to your prospects. While if you’re creating a series, it could be a good idea to talk about a variety of topics.
- How much time/budget do you have to create this new event?
- That should also dictate what topic you pick and what you decide to do. Especially if you don’t have ample time or money. You could try to create a presentation based around work you do with your current clients to save time/budget, though you should make sure that it’s relevant to your prospects so you can get more new customers.
5 – Digital Marketing (Inbound & Outbound)
We review a variety of digital marketing topics related to this strategy in our other blog articles if you want additional details. We can also put time aside for a 1:1 consultation to see how we can get you more customers for your business.
Similar to your website – if you’re already doing some form of digital marketing you should see how you can get more customers by improving your efficiencies. Whether you’re lowering your CPCs to increase site traffic or getting more opens from your emails. Working with what you have to get more out of your budget is going to be one of the most effective ways to improve.
Depending upon what your budget is, you should start with 1-2 online marketing channels then gradually get a comprehensive presence. We would recommend starting with anything that has a lower cost or is free for you like organic social media, email marketing to your current email lists, and SEO. Then with an extra budget you could likely get more new customers by establishing a presence on paid search channels (Google/Facebook), paid social (Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok), affiliate marketing, influencer marketing, and more.
Final Thoughts
Getting more customers for your business can be challenging at first. With an effective plan and consistent execution you should be able to achieve your goals.
If you need help getting more customers, then you should book a free consultation with us today. We would be happy to help!
