How to Grow Your Customer Base

A Guide to Expanding Your Business

In today’s competitive market, businesses of all sizes are constantly seeking ways to attract new customers while retaining their existing ones. If you find yourself struggling to grow your customer base, you’re not alone. The good news is that with the right strategies in place, you can boost inquiries and increase revenue. Here’s a practical guide to help you get started.

 

Understanding Your Audience

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The first step in growing your customer base is understanding who your customers are and what they want. By gaining insights into their preferences and shopping habits, you can tailor your marketing efforts to meet their needs effectively. This involves everything from the design and format of your website and social media posts to the way you communicate with your customers.

For instance, if you run a modern clothing brand, your target audience might be younger individuals aged 16-30 who are more likely to engage through social media rather than traditional phone calls or emails. On the other hand, a company that installs safety and alarm systems would typically target older homeowners aged 30-60, who may prefer communication via phone or email. Identifying key aspects of your audience allows you to focus your efforts on the channels that will resonate most with potential customers.

 

Implementing a Referral System

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Word of mouth remains one of the most powerful marketing tools available. By turning your loyal customers into brand advocates, you can gain new customers without significant marketing costs. Implementing a referral system where existing customers receive a discount or freebie for referring new clients can be an effective way to encourage this behavior. When there’s something in it for them, your current customers are more likely to spread the word about your business.

 

Showcasing Feedback and Success Stories

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Showcasing the success of your services can be a compelling way to attract new customers. For example, if you’ve recently completed a project, like fixing a fence, share that story on your website, blog, or social media channels. Potential customers look for proof that you’re reliable and trustworthy, and real-life success stories can provide that assurance.

Additionally, gathering feedback from your customers can help you improve your services and build credibility. You can collect feedback through surveys, direct messages, or even casual conversations. Sharing positive feedback not only enhances your brand’s reputation but also provides content that demonstrates your reliability.

 

Prioritizing Customer Service

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It might seem obvious, but exceptional customer service is crucial for growing your customer base. Excellent customer service not only helps retain existing customers but also turns them into repeat customers and brand advocates. By promptly addressing customer concerns, being attentive to their needs, and going above and beyond in service delivery, you can create a loyal customer base that will refer others to your business.

 

Offering Special Promotions

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Everyone loves a good deal. Offering special promotions, discounts, or limited-time offers can create a sense of urgency that encourages potential customers to make a purchase. Promotions can also be used to reward loyal customers, which helps to strengthen their relationship with your brand. Whether it’s a seasonal sale or a first-time customer discount, special offers can be a powerful tool to attract and retain customers.

 

Growing Your Digital and Social Platforms

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In today’s digital age, having a strong online presence is non-negotiable. Growing your digital and social media platforms can significantly expand your reach and connect you with a larger audience. Regularly posting engaging content, running targeted ads, and interacting with your followers are all effective ways to build your online presence. Consider investing in search engine optimization (SEO) to ensure that your website ranks well in search results, making it easier for potential customers to find you.

 

Conclusion

Growing your audience base is an ongoing process that requires a deep understanding of your audience, strategic marketing efforts, and a commitment to excellent customer service. By implementing the strategies outlined in this guide, you’ll be well on your way to attracting new customers and boosting your business’s revenue. Remember, growth doesn’t happen overnight, but with persistence and the right approach, you’ll see your customer base expand over time.

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Brand Identity: How to Build and Maintain Your Brand

Tactics and Tips for a Stronger Online Presence

Brand Awareness is, in short, the extent to which your business is recognized. Brand identity is your logo, colours, what you offer, your message, services, among other features.

Why is it important? Your brand identity is your first touchpoint with a potential customer – the stronger the image of your brand in someone’s mind, the more likely they are to engage with you. Unknown businesses aren’t seen as trustworthy – so how do you go about raising the profile of your business and gaining more loyal customers?

  1. Brand Accessibility
  2. Building Your Brand
  3. Strengthening Your Brand
  4. Examples of Strong Brand Identity

Brand Accessibility

identity-2When developing or auditing your brand identity, be sure to read the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure that your published content (text, images, sound, etc.) is accessible to everyone. This will ensure you don’t lose potential customers due to flaws in design and adaptability for mobile phones.

Building Your Brand

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So – how do you actually go about building a brand?

Audience: A good first consideration is always your audience. The content you post online, the logo and the colours should resonate with your audience as much as possible. For example, pink and purple are probably not the best colours for an accounting firm, but will resonate with women and younger teenage girls when purchasing handmade products or clothing. Considering and weighing audience behaviors might be tricky at first, but the more previous customer interactions you had the easier this should be. Analyzing age, income, occupation and location is a good first step.

Visual Identity: That is the nitty gritty of design – your logo, colours, pictures, mottos, theme songs; anything you can think of that represents your brand. Deciding on design features might be a little daunting, but originality that reflects audience behaviours will yield results. Ask yourself the following questions:

  • What is the mission of your brand?
  • What makes you different from your competitors?
  • How do you want customers to experience your brand/product/service?
  • What kind of emotions are you hoping to evoke?

Consistent Message: That is, your tone and message across all platforms. Contradicting statements, message or voice will decrease your brand awareness. Tone should reflect the uniqueness of your business/service and communicated appropriately across all platforms you use.

Strengthening Your Brand

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So, you built your logo, decided on a colour palette and the purpose is clear in your mind. How do we them strengthen it?

Multi Channel Presence: that is a secure foothold in the door with different social media apps, emails, SMS and non-digital tools is the key to growing your brand as you will reach more customers and start building a trusting relationship. Remember – your presence and content should be adapted to each medium accordingly.

Community Connection: The easiest way to build trust between potential customers and your business is community connection; that is the way your brand interacts with the world around us and the community. This could be as simple as customer testimonials that show your brand is trustworthy, or could stretch beyond that into social causes or local, community-oriented issues. This could simply be acknowledgement of community struggles, a recent event or issue or contribution to the community through donations or other aid.

Face to your brand: Adding a face to your brand will humanize your business and make you seem more approachable and trustworthy. Whether through pictures of your employees or using personal language, any form of direct interaction will bring you closer to your customers.

Examples of Strong Brand Identity

Apple

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The first thought that comes to mind when thinking Apple, or so Apple would like, is innovation and reinvention. Through every update and new product launch, at the forefront we see the portrayal of creating something new and different every time, whether the products released are actually innovative is a different story. Their entire brand is cutting-edge, inviting their customers to join them at the brink of innovation and always breaking the mold.

Coca-Cola

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Besides being the most established and longest-going fizzy drink company, their brand identity is so strong that just the colour red is often associated with Coke. They’ve aligned themselves with the feeling of happiness and enjoyment through their advertising and presence online, which is often kept lighthearted and casual. The motto ‘A Coke and a smile’ sums up their values very clearly, and even if you are not an avid enjoyer of the drink, ask yourself how often do you think of coke on a daily basis.

Ikea

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Ikea created an image of themselves as simple and family-oriented, and they stay in that category. From simple instructions when building the furniture to the simple and lighthearted advertising, Ikea is the first stop when shopping for furniture as it is meant to appeal to everyday people. Their tagline ‘Wonderful Everyday’ reflects their one-stop-shop ideology.

Dove

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A very simple yet elegant brand targeted towards woman and girls is a prime example of effective branding. Their campaigns focus on empowering women and addressing issues such as self-esteem, body image and equality. They are a prime example of involvement in social issues to strengthen their community presence. Dove promotes honesty and optimism, embracing natural beauty through their products.

How Can We Help?

If you’re struggling with brand identity and developing your business identity, Local Pages is here to help! You can schedule a free consultation by clicking here.

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The Pro’s and Con’s Of Owning a Business

For many, running your own business is a life-long dream, and whilst it does have some major points in the “Pro’s” column, there are also some challenges many new business owners face. This week, we thought we would take a look at the high’s and low’s of running your own gig.


24/7

Your business is your baby, and like most newborns, it doesn’t sleep! The amount of energy and effort you put into making your venture a success can feel overwhelming. Gone are the days of shutting down a computer and switching your brain to “social” mode, you will find that you
constantly have ideas whirring away in the back of your mind and a never-ending “to-do” list to keep you occupied! New businesses rarely become an “overnight success”, they are often the result of months, if not
years, of dedicated hard work and energy.


The High’s & Low’s

The responsibility for the success of your business is all yours, and that can feel pretty heavy at times, especially when you get to the point of employing other members of your team. That being said, the high-points are all yours too! Those days when you win a new customer, or a client is really happy with the work that you’ve done – they are the BEST. And the reason why you do what you do.


Employee Benefits

In essence, you no longer have any! When you kiss goodbye to being an employee, you leave behind a lot of what we like to call “comfort”. These aren’t necessarily the things that are a good enough reason to stay employed in a job or career that doesn’t inspire you, but they sure make it
“comfy”. We’re talking about a regular income, sick pay, holiday pay, and maybe your employer also made pension contributions on your behalf or offered private medical insurance. None of that exists when you become your own boss. At least not in the beginning, drawing a salary from your fledgling business can make you feel guilty, let alone paying yourself to sip Margaritas on a beach somewhere (not that you will have time for that – see point one).

For some considering setting up their own business this is the hardest and scariest thing to leave behind, understandably so, and business ownership is definitely not for everyone.


Social

Unless your new business venture is running a bar or restaurant, branching out on your own can be pretty lonely at times. In the beginning there might not be team behind you, and you don’t always want to bore family and friends with your new-business woes. We would highly recommend getting a mentor, if you haven’t already. They can prove invaluable as a sounding board for those days when you can’t “see the wood for the trees”, and trust us, they happen!

People might not “get it”, even those that you love dearly. And that’s OK. We’ve often heard “you do what?” and “you can really make money from that?”. Don’t let others’ doubts or own “comfort-zone”-worries put you off reaching for your dreams. Ultimately, you become the master of your own destiny, which is pretty incredible. And when you love what you do, it honestly doesn’t feel like work.
Wishing you all of you business entrepreneurs out there every success! Comment below with what you wish you had known about being your own boss before you started, we’d love to hear your stories.

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