Owning a small business in today’s competitive world can feel a lot like being a tiny fish in a big pond. How do you get your company noticed among everyone else bidding for the same piece of the market? Here we look at some unique ways to lure potential customers into choosing you and hook them in wanting to return.
Make business fun! Number one way to keep a client returning is to keep them engaged. Run regular contests, games, and promotions. Try flash sales or monthly raffles where customers earn tickets with each purchase. Use humor and imagination when creating your events. If it’s possible, do in-person meet-ups as well as online, but have fun with whatever platform suits your situation. Either way, make sure to maintain an active social media presence if you intend to sustain a strong following, even if it means hiring someone to do it for you.
GIve rewards to clients who give photo or video testimonials of them using your product. Offer customer referral programs and run limited-time bonuses for new referrals. Offer benefits and perks for customer loyalty and incentives for new customer sign ups. Give free trials and samples. Making people feel like their business is truly appreciated is a solid strategy for building long-term relationships. Whenever possible get to know your patrons personally, and remember their preferences.
Give back to the community. Host events that sponsor local groups and organizations, in addition to hosting events for suppliers and customers. We have a wellness-based grocery store in town that, prior to Covid, would hold an annual fest with popular guest speakers and vendor tables set-up to introduce their products to the store’s regular customers, who usually brought with them guests. Everyone left with a big bag of samples and a refreshed addiction to their favorite wellness spot for the year ahead, plus an extended shopping list.
Aim for your customer’s experience with your business to not only be easy, but enjoyable and inspired. Focus attention not only on a fun and engaging customer experience, but ensure it’s also a user-friendly one. Keep your website updated, interesting, and intuitive to navigate. Have a good response time, and communicate extremely personably. Again, use social media to establish a reputation by hosting an interactive page, or even a community forum for information and networking others highly specialized or related to your field. If you’re a hub and source of knowledge for what you practice, then you become a source for everything involved in that practice.
People will also be attracted to your name if they know it stands behind a good cause. “Newman’s Own” Brand offers only high-quality products and donates proceeds to charity. I personally will buy “Newman’s Own” over its competitors nine out of ten times simply for those two reasons alone. Additionally, philanthropy is something to get creative with and make people excited about. Have different promotions supporting a variety of nonprofits, or let your loyal following suggest their favorite causes.
Aside from having astronomically awesome sales, out-of-the-box events, cutting-edge insight, plus a cool and catchy theme for your brand, give your customers the sense of being part of a culture or community. Show your personality and what makes you different in the sea of competitors, and this will create a comfortable environment for your clientele to quickly warm up to and become familiar with. When they know they’re getting a great product or honest service, and that their loyalty is valued, it won’t make sense to shop elsewhere.
