Insanely Clever Marketing

If You Build It, They Will Come: Tips For Finding Customers For Your New Business

Posted by Penelope Herbert on October 28, 2016 · 1 Comment 

So you’ve set up your new business. You’ve had the idea, and you’ve put in the work to make it a reality. First of all: congratulations! Being able to take that first step of conceptual to concrete is difficult and takes no shortage of hard work.

But now you’re faced with a new dilemma: how do you find customers? As a new business, it can be especially challenging. You have no history or reputation to fall back on. Just the knowledge that your product or service is ready to fill that crucial gap in the market. Here are a few ways in which you can find and attract customers. And hold on to them too!

Know your demographic

Before you can go out and find customers, you’ve got to think about who your customers are. Who is your target audience? You probably have a vague idea, but it’s time to get into the nitty gritty details. Age and gender are a decent start, but you need more. You need to be able to build a rich enough profile of your target audience that you could tell someone what they’d have for breakfast that day. Where else to they take their business? What draws them there? Why is your service perfect for them? Knowing this can allow you to laser focus your marketing and avoid wasting your time.

Cross pollinate

Say you’ve figured out your target market. You know everything about them right down to where they shop, eat and do business. It’s time to cross pollinate. Get in contact with companies and services that your target demographic uses. Offer a mutually beneficial arrangement. Use of one provides discounts with the other. This you are able to entice customers with special offers and bring in new business. You’re also able to create strong working relationships with other companies.

Get online

Most businesses have an online presence as standard, and sometimes even exclusively. But too few businesses actually dedicate the time and resources to using the internet. The web is an incredible tool and avoiding it is a total suckers move. Make sure you’re using social media to engage with your new business customers. Contact a reputable SEO company and ensure that you’re creating a strong and dynamic presence online. If your service is what a client really needs, they’ll try and find you. You need to make sure that they can.

Try to ensure repeat business

Getting new customers is important but you don’t want them to walk away immediately. The key is to turn first-time customers into long-time customers. Offer incentives to those who keep using your service. Use email and social media to keep in contact consistently, and engage with your customers. Don’t let the constant drive for new business cause you to neglect the customers you have. It’s all about balance. Besides, satisfied long term customers are far more likely to recommend your services to their friends and family. No matter how the market changes, word of mouth is still an incredibly powerful tool.