Are you looking for ways to acquire new online customers without burning a hole in your pocket? No matter how great your product is, it just becomes pointless if there is no customer base.
Yet businesses today don’t want users to visit their page only to buy something; similar to the in-store retail experience, they want to connect with customers in order to build a relationship that yields benefits in the future.
Here are seven ways in which you can attract customers and promote your business without spending a fortune.
1. Hijack trending topics
For this process, you need to be quick as you can to inject your brand in real-time to get the coverage you want. You need to choose a trending topic related to your industry.
Done correctly, you will be exposed to new audiences who will start following your page on social media – if they like what they see. In turn, they could become customers.
For example, during the Cricket World Cup, country hashtags like #IndvsAus will trend on Twitter. In the past, popular soup and noodle brand Maggi tapped into the World Cup’s exposure with an image that suggested there are two things that India needs the most: the World Cup and Maggi.
The brand then pushed the idea of consuming Maggi products while watching the game.
2. To make a friend, be a friend
Partnering with other brands will boost exposure to many eyeballs from neighbouring networks.
You can collaborate by doing a guest blog, sharing boards on Pinterest, cross- promotions on social channels, or running a joint contest or campaign.
It is important to choose the correct brand for the collaborative campaign. Ensure the other brand is relevant to your audience – that is, your current and potential customers – but is not a competitor.
Their audience and customers should overlap with yours, and they should have a positive reputation and similar values.
3. Provide exlcusive discounts
Who doesn’t love a good deal? We all do, so make sure you provide such exclusive offers to your potential customers that it becomes tough for them to deny.
Whenever you put a time frame on something, it makes customers act faster as they don’t want to miss an opportunity to save money or snap up their favourite products.
A great way to boost purchases is to create ‘spot sales’ on social media and specify that prices will return to normal in a few hours.
4. Leverage the power of users
User-generated content is content created by users to show interaction with your brand. This makes potential customers crave for the same experience, leading them straight to your store.
The social media pages of adventure camera business GoPro are filled with pictures and videos submitted by customers. This not only showcases the potential of the product but attaches values of fun and adventure to the brand itself.
5. Provide stellar customer service
In both online and offline retail, the element that will truly give brownie points to your brand is the customer service you provide.
Your duty doesn’t end once your product is sold; in fact, it starts when customers begin using the product.
Customer service plays a massive role when it comes to shaping purchase decisions, so make use of various low- or no-cost digital tools that can help you monitor and respond quickly to requests.
6. Highlight the perks
Customers love it when they can gain additional perks along with products/ services. Highlight any perks you provide on all social-media pages and websites, such as free shipping, your loyalty program, or a gift with purchase.
This will boost awareness and possibly stimulate user-generated content online.
7. Be original and creative
There’s no sugarcoating for this one: retaining new customers is even harder than gaining them. For that, you need to keep producing original and creative content that keeps followers engaged and updated.
To help keep the flow of content going, create a weekly content calendar and jot down any post ideas in there first.
You don’t need to post 10 times a day; it’s better to post less frequently but be sure that each post is perfectly designed to create an impact.
As you can see, you don’t have to spend thousands on marketing your business and attracting new customers. All you need to engage customers is the correct strategy that will work for your business.
Incorporate these seven elements into your plan and soon your content will be flowing in the right direction. Once you feel like you have made a footing, you can keep experimenting, measuring and tweaking your strategy.