No matter how well your business is performing, all business owners strive to make more sales and grow your customer base as much as possible. This goal is only achievable if you have a high number of customers who are loyal to your brand.
If your business is performing poorly, the main reason for that is probably that you don’t have a large enough customer base. Luckily, there are some ways you can grow your customer base, generate more interest in your business, and earn more profit than ever before.
As long as you know which tactics to apply, you won’t have to worry about your customer base ever again.
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Provide Great Customer Service
Great customer service is a prerequisite for a company that wants to create a large and loyal customer base. Relationships between businesses and customers have changed drastically in the past few decades. You want every customer to be a happy customer.
Nowadays, if you want to attract and keep a customer, you need to keep them happy and satisfied.
It’s very easy to lose business if you don’t take this aspect of your business seriously, as 78% of customers have backed out of a purchase due to poor customer experience.
Your customer service team shouldn’t see engaging with customers as a chore, but as a great way to grow your customer base.
Here are some tips that can turn your customer service from mediocre to excellent.
- Know what you’re selling. People who are there to respond to customers’ questions need to know the product your company is selling inside and out and be familiar with its specifications and how it works. Customer service reps have to answer all product-related questions quickly and accurately.
- Show gratitude. After you’ve finished your interaction with a customer, make sure to say thank you for their call and for their trust in your company.
- Listen and show respect. All communications with customers need to be handled with respect and be given full attention. When you’re talking to a customer, make sure to listen to them carefully and try to notice if they’re showing non-verbal signs of being displeased or annoyed.
- Ask for feedback. After every call, ask your customers to fill out a feedback form or questionnaire to find out what they think of your business and products or simply ask them for feedback first-hand. When you ask for feedback and use it to improve your business, customers will feel appreciated.
Implement Email Marketing
Email marketing is a tactic many businesses use to spread brand awareness and grow their customer base. A good email marketing campaign can help you generate leads, turn them into customers, and build strong relationships.
The first thing you need to do is choose one of the best email marketing services to help you create the perfect email marketing campaign. From there, all you need to do is follow a few tips.
Target the right audience
Every business has a target audience, those people who are most likely to purchase your product.
When you’re starting off your email marketing campaign, the best way to find your target audience is through your website. Ask visitors to subscribe to your mailing list, and regularly send them offers, updates, and promotional content.
Optimize your emails for mobile
If you don’t optimize your emails for mobile users you will never be able to grow your customer base, as 85% of users access email on their smartphone.
Here are some tips that can help you optimize emails for mobile users:
- Don’t write overly long subject lines. While a desktop inbox usually displays the first 60 characters of an email’s subject line, mobile devices only show 25-30 characters.
- Write a preheader text. The first line of copy in your email is called preheader text and it’s used to provide more context to your subject line. As mobile users see this text, it allows you to present them with more information that will entice them to open the email.
- Write a concise copy. The copy in mobile-friendly emails needs to be short, scannable, and concise. People who view emails on a smaller screen need to be presented with information that is easy to consume, understand, and act on.
Know which types of emails to send
While the main point of email marketing is to promote your business, you shouldn’t focus only on sending promotional offers. If you do this, email recipients will start to see your emails as spam and unsubscribe from your list.
You need to incorporate dynamic content in email marketing and send the following types of emails:
- Welcome emails when someone subscribes to your list or purchases a product from you
- Newsletters filled with useful and interesting information
- Order and purchase confirmation emails
- Special occasion emails for events such as birthdays and holidays
Start a Referral Program
Most businesses focus on customer acquisition when they’re trying to grow their customer base, and while that is an important aspect, it’s not as important as customer retention.
When you work on making your existing customers happy, they will stay loyal to your business, but they will also recommend it to their friends and family. There is a way you can make this easier for them, and that’s by setting up a referral program and learning how to get great referrals.
A lot of companies have these programs because they’re beneficial for the business and the customers at the same time. When a new customer purchases something from you by using a referral code, they get a special discount, the person who referred them gets a gift, and you earn a new customer.
It’s also very easy to set up this program and you can do it in a few steps listed below.
- Choose a good reward. Offer something valuable to your customers so they have something to gain from your referral program. The most common rewards companies use are store credit, free products, or special discounts.
- Invite people to the program. As soon as your referral program is set up, advertise it to your customers on your website, social media, and via newsletter. It’s best to target repeat customers and those who have left good reviews, as they are probably going to be interested in joining the program.
- Simplify referral invitations. If you make the process of inviting referrals complicated, very few customers will sign up for the program. To simplify it, use a contact picker when setting up your referral program software. That will allow your referrals to invite their contacts without ever leaving your website by simply imputing their email address.
Tools like Referral Candy make it very easy and inexpensive to start a referral program. It’s like converting your customer into your external sales team. You’ll be able to generate more business without adding staff.
Start a Customer Advocacy Program
Old school marketing techniques aren’t as effective as they once were. This is mostly because people today find it hard to trust a business they’ve never interacted with. With so many scammers, it’s easy to see why people have become skeptical of unfamiliar brands.
While you still need to implement some traditional marketing programs, you should consider starting a customer advocacy program. People who join this program become spokespeople for your brand in exchange for incentives and rewards.
To create a successful customer advocacy program, start by providing an amazing customer experience. Happy customer will be happy to be your advocates. Through word-of-mouth, which is one of the most powerful marketing tools, they can help you grow your customer base.
Customer advocates usually join referral programs, but they do much more than that. They talk about your business on social media and leave great testimonials and reviews of your products.
Final thoughts
Every business owner wants to have a large customer base. Few are willing to put in the effort that is required to attract more customers. Follow the steps above and you’ll have an easier time acquiring and retaining customers.
