Establishing a new business is never easy — in fact, it may be among the hardest things you’ll ever do. The transition into the life of a business owner can be an overwhelming one with all of the decisions and responsibilities, not to mention the financial and time investments required.
But let’s say you’ve conquered those challenges. You’ve gone through with building your business, as well as the initial networking and advertising, and you’re established in your niche. Now comes the challenge of actually growing your business, a feat many would say can be even harder than establishing it in the first place.
The following are some reliable ways you can build a bigger customer base and begin expanding your business.
Gain customer insight
Once you have your initial customer base, they can actually help you find new ones. Understanding your current customers and their needs will show you why they came to your business in the first place, and this should make it easier to advertise your strengths to new prospects. Customer surveys are a great place to start, and it’s simple to create a survey and customize it so your customers can choose which parts they’d like to participate in.
Customer insight can also help you stand out from your competitors. You’ll have the knowledge to improve further in the areas that made customers choose you over competitors, and you’ll learn more things you can do to build customer loyalty. You may even be able to provide personalized service to customers you get to know, and making efforts to build better customer relationships will translate to better business relationships as well.
Increase your web presence
While your main website is obviously your money maker and hub for your customers, your online presence should go far beyond it if you want your business to grow.
While you don’t need to be on every social media platform from the start, ignoring them completely is a mistake. Try to focus on sites your customers are likely to frequent in the beginning. Just having them see activity from your business will increase their odds of returning and generate positive word of mouth. There are plenty of effective strategies to engage your customers on these sites.
You’ll also need to focus some serious effort into video content, as that’s where the real money is these days. Youtube is a huge hit with people from all demographics, and you need to gear videos toward your target audience. Even if you aren’t familiar with making videos at all, learning just a few editing tricks combined with a bit of public speaking can be all you need to start making effective tutorials and/or product demonstrations.
Considering that roughly 90 percent of customers say video content is influential in their decision making, videos may lead to more conversions than any of your other efforts.
Build trust
Trust is the most important thing you can build with your customers, as well as any potential business partners. When customers come to your site or store, they expect great service. In person, this of course means polite, knowledgeable, and helpful employees.
Online, this means maintaining an impeccable image with flawless writing, endorsements, and excellent customer support options. Failing in any of these aspects can lead to more than lost customers; it can also lead to a negative reputation in some circles.
Preventing such negative experiences is paramount to the continued growth of your business, as is hiring the staff you need to keep up with increasing demand. You might need to Google “staffing agencies near me” if you need the best workers to help with your growing business.
