Grow your customer base with these tips

Key points

• Refresh the way you talk about your business and how you benefit your customers.
• Take action to boost your marketing tactics cost-effectively.
• Leverage customer goodwill to make gains for free.

1. Refresh your offer

With markets and customer needs changing over time, it's a good idea to look at ways you can refresh what you're offering.

This could be as simple as writing down a short 'elevator pitch' which sums up in 50 words or less why people should buy from you.

It's also useful to try and summarise what about that offer is unique. Always try to talk about your offer in terms of how it benefits the customer, rather than describing yourself or your own product features in isolation. What task does it help them complete or what gain does it give them?

2. Partner with other businesses

Why not look at partnering with other businesses that work in the same area but don't directly compete with you?

Take advantage of mutual benefits with these ideas: 

• Add value to your own offering through package deals or discounts. 
• Get referrals from each other's customer databases (where permitted). 
• Learn from each other or share resources. 
• Co-create a new product or delivery mechanism.

3. Seek customer reviews

Satisfied customers can be a brilliant resource for generating positive word-of-mouth. But if you don't ask them to share their experiences, it won't always happen.

Make a point of always asking happy customers to give you a good review on Google or other review sites. Some might even be willing to give you a testimonial you can use on your website or in email marketing.

Not-so-positive reviews can also be a valuable way to learn and refine your offer, as well as a chance to try to get back onside with those customers. So don't shy away from those!

4. Consider new marketing channels

Many businesses find themselves favouring particular channels, whether it’s social media or Google ads or word-of-mouth referrals. But if you’re looking to find and connect with new customers, it’s worth branching out and trying something new.

Just remember to always work towards your business’s unique goals. For example, social media ads can be a good way to raise awareness of what you offer, while your website is likely to be more valuable for customers who are weighing up their options and wanting more information about what you can actually deliver.

If you haven't done any search engine marketing, why not try it? If you've been doing free posts (also called organic posts) on social media, it might be worth considering paid advertising. It's relatively easy to dip your toe in the water without spending a fortune.

What's great about digital is you can measure quite accurately and quickly what works and what doesn't. So make sure you make use of Google and Meta's (Facebook, Instagram) many ways of tracking and measuring your campaign effectiveness. 

5. Offer discounts or promotions

You need to weigh up the cost of discounts or promotions against the likely return.

Focusing more on value-adding promotions can be an effective way to generate business without cutting your margins.

Promotional offers can be a good way to persuade customers over the line who might have been weighing up whether to buy from you but haven't yet committed.

6. Add different content and stories to your social media

Social media marketing is vital for small businesses. But it does need work to keep it fresh. So make sure you continue to review your posts and your advertising to keep followers interested.

Mix things up with occasional special offers or promotions, especially if your market is seasonal or you're responding to a spike in interest.

Use images and video, or even positive customer testimonials, to keep the conversation going.

And don't step back once you've put new content out there. Engage with customers, respond to queries, diplomatically manage any negativity, and keep refining content that's working to make it even more effective.

7. Update your website

Updating your website to reflect your refreshed offering is critical to getting new customers over the line and deciding to buy.

Make sure you:

• include keywords in the text to optimise your search results
• integrate calls to action in the site
• illustrate your offer with images and video content, and
• engage customers with webforms or calls to sign up to your email marketing list. 

8. Leverage existing customers

If you have a valid reason for contacting your existing customers – such as a request for feedback – you can use this as a chance to re-engage them and present your latest offers or tailor an obligation-free service for them.

Another way to cost-effectively leverage existing goodwill is to ask your customers if they'll recommend you to others. You can reward them with the offer of a voucher or some other valuable offer. 

Next steps

Download our Marketing on a shoestring action plan template (PDF 50kB).