Did you know that it costs 7 times more to acquire a new customer than retain an older one?
The best part is that keeping your customers hooked and retaining them by just 5 percent can increase your profits by 25 to 95 percent.
Customer acquisition is a never-ending process for a business to survive and grow.
The task becomes even harder if you are a new business looking to get the first few clients or customers. And it’s an even bigger challenge for entrepreneurs who are not savvy marketers and are intimidated by the idea of “sales”.
Generating business clients or customers is no doubt a time-consuming task and takes a lot of patience.
Luckily, there are some tips and tricks that can help you nudge potential customers towards a sale and thereby speed up the customer acquisition process.
6 Ways to reach new customers and keep them hooked
Attracting your customers and finding means to retain them works best for the success of your business. In this regard, customer service is extremely crucial but there are a few other ways in which you can solve this challenge.
Without any further ado, let’s take a look.
1. Engage new subscribers with welcome emails
When a prospect turns to become your subscriber or customer, you would like to do everything in your means to roll out the red carpet for them.
The best part is to show them how much their support means to you is by sending them a welcome email. If statistics are to be believed, a little more than 50% of brands send out welcome emails to their new subscribers and that brings about 320% more revenue than any other promotional emails.
A carefully personalized email is a great way to understand the preferences of your customers and also tailor and segment your future emails.
There are many places online where you can learn more about how to write a welcome email, but Flodesk offers some of the best curated welcome email templates that can help you get started.
2. Create a Referral Program
In this growth marketing tactic, you seek to encourage your existing customers to endorse your brand to people they know.
It is one of the most effective ways to attract new customers. However, you need to go out there and develop a referral program to actively solicit recommendations from your customers. Referral programs make it easy for your customers to share your business with others in just a few clicks.
These programs usually use a dual-sided rewards system. In this system, existing customers get a reward for every referral converted. At the same time, you get to incentivize new customers to make their first order or buy. It’s a win-win situation for your business, your existing customers, and your new customers.
Happy customers are the best advocates for your business. Studies show that 9 out of 10 customers trust peer recommendations. Ask your customers to spread the word about your company to their friends, family, and colleagues. You can even ask your friends and family to do the same. You can also generate referrals by including certain activities in your sales process.
You can also incentivize your referral programs to attract more prospective customers. Let’s say you run a barbershop. You can offer free shaving for 3 months for each referral converted.
Alternatively, you can offer your products or services for free in exchange for a customer’s testimonial.
3. Offer exclusive discounts and incentives for new customers
Welcome offers, like a one-month trial subscription to your service or 50% off on your first purchase or order, are great ways to attract customers by offering a low-risk way to try your products or services.
You can then target the customers who redeemed your offer with a marketing message encouraging them to keep doing business with you.
Another way to hype up your prospects is by giving away freebies. While this may be counterintuitive to your business plan, it will be beneficial down the line.
Freebies could be anything ranging from customized stickers to free memberships, a free app to a webinar access, and more. There are many options available online if you are looking to print business stickers that are 100% recyclable for every surface in different formats.
More often than not, prospective clients need a gentle push to sway from contemplating to actually buying your service or product. Incentives are one of the most effective tools to help convert these potential customers.
Incentives like free trials, coupons, bonus items, or entry to a lucky draw are also a great way to keep your loyal customers hooked and motivated.
Another great option is to offer a loyalty program in your sales process where customers can make referrals to people they know. You can also reward customers for making referrals.
For instance, for every successful referral, your customer gets 15% off their next order or purchase.
4. Improve Your Website and Optimize Your Content
These days, customers normally find new businesses by searching online. That means your website must have all the bells and whistles to lure new customers.
Ensure your website is regularly updated to ensure it is visually fresh and the content is optimized for search engines.
It is important to optimize your content for search engines. The goal is to make search engine giants, like Google and Yahoo, “notice” your content and, eventually, rank your content higher on a search result page.
This can be done by plugging relevant keywords into your content, directing visitors to other content on your website, or by using meta titles and descriptions. Numerous Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tools can help guide how you choose and exploit those keywords.
Alternatively, you can also create a Google Business account for free. This will help customers find your business on Google Maps as well as in local search results.
If you are not comfortable with web designing or SEO, you can get in touch with a website design company and/or SEO expert for help.
Know more about the benefits of hiring an SEO agency that can help grow your business.
5. Create a feedback cycle
The best way to showcase to potential customers what you are offering them is through a rigorous feedback cycle. This is a space that allows your customers to recommend your products or services through reviews and ratings that you can post online.
Many businesses feel that online reviews are more effective than advertising because online reviews can influence a person’s purchasing decision.
More than 97% of consumers use online media when researching products or services, and more than 90% of consumers say that online reviews and ratings influenced their purchase decisions.
Online reviews serve as social proof to other prospective customers. Since it gives credibility to your product or service, online reviews are gradually becoming the face of your digital reputation.
Moreover, reviews and feedback can help you give more exposure, get more sales, boost search engine rankings, and persuade potential customers to buy your product or service.
Whenever people buy online, whether it is for bookings for flights and hotels or physical or virtual goods, they will provide their basic information including their email addresses.
Use your email list as a marketing tool—send a follow-up email asking for feedback. It is important to make this process as simple as possible. You can do this by linking to sites like Amazon or Tripadvisor.
Keep an eye on sites that may contain testimonials about your company, and respond professionally.
6. Partner with Businesses from Similar Domains
Mutual recommendations can go a long way.
Create a list of lifestyle brands, retail outlets, and charitable or business organizations that your potential client might support. These are your potential partners.
Additionally, you can tie up with businesses in your niche to promote each other’s products or services. Share business cards and pamphlets so that you can refer new customers.
Look for businesses from related domains or with a similar customer base to partner with. However, make sure that they are not your direct competition and form a strategy to target each other’s customers to drive new business to each other.
For instance, if you run a salon, you can partner with a business that sells beauty products. Your websites could pair up to offer deals and discounts to each other’s customers.
Conclusion
In addition to all the points mentioned above, a simple thank you goes a long way in establishing a solid relationship with your customer and building a brand that is loved by all.
Now that you are equipped with all the ways to acquire and retain new customers, it’s time to watch what you will choose and implement in your business.
Understandably, every strategy mentioned above might not work for all types of businesses, but as long as you know what your customers need, you will give them a reason to return.
Let us know in the Comments section below which of the above strategies made it to your list of favorites.
