How to Increase Your Customer Base in 7 Easy Ways

Despite the widespread availability of vaccines and health protocols, many businesses are still struggling to stay in the black due to the pandemic. Studies show that small businesses are naturally more affected by the pandemic.

One aspect of running a business you need to focus on if you want to make a profit is increasing your customer base. Without a sizable customer base, you may lose profits and face more economic hardships.

Below are seven easy but effective methods you can explore to ensure your business’s customer base grows to a healthy size.

1. Encourage Referrals

Referrals can be the backbone of a business’s customer base, especially during the shaky early days. These refers to customers who are referred to your business by previous customers.

One way you can encourage referrals is by establishing a rewards system based on how many customers someone can send your way. You can also ensure referrals by seeing how you can maximize customer experience which can surely lead to them recommending your business to others.

2. Use Email Marketing

Despite the proliferation of social media marketing and other forms of online advertising, there is still power to email marketing. Almost everyone on the internet has an email address and people are conditioned to read emails rather than skim them like instant messaging.

Email marketing can help you contact potential leads or get old customers back by reminding them of upcoming sales, unclaimed rewards points and similar information.

3. Consult Digital Marketers

If you are unsure how to proceed with your online and digital marketing approaches, the best thing you can do is contact an experienced digital marketing provider. These people can offer valuable insights on increasing your online presence, making you more visible to customers. Companies that offer professional SEO service can also let you improve how you run your social media accounts and streamline your website’s design and content to accrue and retain as many customers as possible.

4. Build a Website

Hopefully the pandemic has highlighted how important developing your online presence and digital services is to your business’s success. However, there is still a sizable population of small businesses don’t think they are ready to modernize. According to a recent survey.

As many as 23 percent of small businesses still don’t have a website, one of the most basic and useful tools you can have. If you are intimidated by the thought of building a website, there are plenty of platforms that make the process immensely easy through click-and-drop designs.

5. Enhance Connectivity

Customers today demand that businesses be available to answer questions, provide support and take orders whenever they want. Although this is untenable and you should retain sensible operation hours, you can provide some sense of relief by enhancing your connectivity.

Staying online and being easy to contact can do wonders for your customer service and image. You can do this by having a dedicated business landline, getting a mobile number solely for businesses or hiring tech support for replying to online messages.

6. Establish Partnerships

Other businesses can be a steady source of new customers and forming partnerships with them can me very profitable, as they can become customers themselves. The key to profitable partnerships with other businesses is to find one that is compatible to yours.

For example, if your business sells galvanized steel sheets, you can form a partnership with a construction company. They in turn can recommend your business to other construction providers. You can also provide mutual benefits to each other’s customers. If you run a food truck, you may offer coupons or discounts to customers who have bought items from a partnered food stall.

7. Offer Group Discounts

If you just want to make a good impression on a lot of customers in one go, you may want to explore offering group discounts to large batches of customers.

People may think they’re spending less, but the idea behind group discounts is that they will still spend more as a group than a smaller batch ever could. If any of these people have a very positive experience with your business, they may bring back another large group and the cycle repeats itself. Popular methods for giving away discounts to multiple customers include the Groupon website.

Your small business will need every advantage it can get if you want to make it through the next few years. Without the support of a healthy customer base, not even the savviest business owner can rescue your enterprise. So take care to enhance and increase your customer base to not only survive but thrive.