The biggest issue in business is attaining and maintaining clients, as well as making sure you and your brand are getting in front of the correct target audience. It can be such a challenge as you can be offering the best product / service but if nobody knows about you, it can feel like an uphill struggle and, at times, a thankless task.
Generating noise around your business can be tough and trust me when I say that it’s even hard when you’re in the marketing business! I’ve tested quite a few ways of getting clients – some successful, some not so much – which is why I wanted to share with you my top 5 tips on what, I think, are great ways of attracting the right customers for you.
Know your customer
Sounds simple but I have worked with so many brands that have an idea of their target customer, but the reality is different. Always look at who is buying your product / service and build a customer profile around that. For me this has been vital as I always have my end client in mind and target all my marketing towards them. Even if your target audience is 1% of the population, that is still a LOT of people. Be succinct, targeted and clear about who you are, what you offer and why it will benefit them. Sadly, brands and businesses often go wrong when they try to be too many things to too many people. Be targeted and it will pay off and will allow you and your customers to clearly understand who you are and what you are offering.
Word of mouth
Sounds obvious but loads of us forget to just ask our previous clients, our tribe and ambassadors to spread the word for us and endorse us in the market place. If they’ve had a great experience with you, or respect what you’re doing, then they’re probably banging your drum already, but it doesn’t hurt to just explain that you have room on your roster or have product to sell to remind them to share the love.
Make sure your social is sizzling
A really strong social media presence helps with potential clients to really understand you and your brand and does a great job of attracting people with similar synergy and values as you. I’ve been lucky to get a number of clients through my Instagram account and many of them liked me because they saw some similarity, liked the way my account looked and spoke generating an affinity between my brand and theirs. Social is free – it just takes a bit of maintenance – but it can be imperative to your success and brand image.
Create content
Content is king and creating content written by your ‘brand’ can be hugely powerful in engaging with your target audience. A lot of successful brands and businesses do write regular blogs and newsletters which cements their authority in the marketplace, offers value and insight on their chosen offer and allows customers (in particular potential ones) a larger scope on who they are. This content can then be shared on social media, used in newsletters and generates vital interaction and comment.
Make it easy
Again, this sounds obvious but a key learning for me has been to ensure that I make it as easy as possible for people to work with me. This is why I introduced clear offers for my Marketing Sessions (1 hour, half a day, a full day etc) and explained how I work and what I offer. It sounds simple but if you’re not crystal clear, you can lose people as they are confused or can’t find out how you work. It also ensures that you are attracting the right people – you won’t be for everyone and that’s absolutely fine.
The competitive market place is huge so don’t give yourself any barriers to allow potential clients to get in touch and engage with you.
I hope this has been useful – I would love to hear your thoughts!