How to Attract Customers

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Attracting customers requires developing a quality product, offering it in an attractive package and advertising it to your target market. Many modern businesses must attract patrons both online and in a store. Try these strategies to attract new customers and referrals.

Part 1
Part 1 of 3:

Preparing to Attract Customers

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  1. Send out a survey to your existing customers to see what age, gender and marriage status are. If possible, find out their working life and personal life preferences. It is recommended to have a vision of what an ideal buyer is when it comes to demographic and psychographic factors such as personality, values and attitudes. [1]
  2. If you want to attract a younger or older part of the population, keep in mind that your new marketing methods will have to appeal to their preferences.
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  3. Ultimately, if you don’t give your customers what they want, they will not return.
    • For example, they may want to pay for products under $20, so perhaps you should adjust your inventory to feature fewer items over $50 and many items below $20. Your products will be closer to what they want to buy.
  4. These are 3 important areas where increasing your budget to get yourself more visible may increase your profits.
  5. Take notes and try to emulate several of their successful marketing strategies. You do not want to copy them exactly, but see if their website, social media or print marketing strategies are reaching the target demographic to model your own strategy.
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Part 2
Part 2 of 3:

Attracting Customers with General Marketing

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  1. Make sure you take into account the street, parking and adjoining businesses. If your ideal customers do not come by on a regular basis, your plan is unlikely to work. [2]
  2. Once you have a brand, make signs that follow a consistent visual message. [3]
  3. Plan a sale and you will attract more people. Make sure that you run the figures so that you are covering costs and getting a good return on investment. [4]
  4. With proper advertising, signage and specials, an art, open house or holiday party event may bring in new business. Make sure you set out a raffle or sign up sheet so that you can communicate with your new customers in the future.
  5. Try a punch card or coupon for next purchase. Advertise it via email, website, social media, newspaper and radio to get the word out.
    • Encourage your most loyal customers with bigger discounts, free products or loyalty bonuses. Word of mouth is extremely affective for attracting new customers. [5]
  6. Customer service and expertise attract customers who are looking to be treated well. Highlight this in your message and consider offering customer service or consultation free with your product.
  7. Although you should start with an idea of where you will find your customers, the reality may surprise you. Try a new 1 each month and stop using methods that haven’t worked in 3 to 6 months.
    • For example, although your customer base is young and social media is the best to start attracting young people, posting a coupon in your local independent paper may yield better results.
  8. Do the same in your local telephone book and local business directories.
  9. The Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club and other charities tend to support each other, bringing more referral business to your door.
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Part 3
Part 3 of 3:

Attracting Customers with Online Marketing

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  1. Make sure your website is up, working well and very attractive before you invest in pay-per-click marketing, social media managers or anything else that is designed to funnel traffic to your website. If people are unable to use your website, they will not buy.
  2. Post free content on your website, such as short video clips, tutorials, interesting articles, blogs, advice or a free e-book. Make a landing page, so that they you can get their contact information to offer them specials and promotions in the future via email. [6]
  3. Facebook, Foursquare, Pinterest and Twitter are valuable ways to attract new customers. Post sales, new products and links to sign up for your free content on the social media pages. [7]
    • Social media accounts are free; however, there is some cost in time and expertise in maintaining them consistently. Just like blogging, the value is in frequent use.
    • Follow other businesses and try cross promoting on Facebook or other accounts. Blasting your followers with specials every day may not be the best way to get regular readers, but posting other interesting content between sales posts is a good marketing strategy.
    • Try the Facebook ads and promoted posts to get new people interested in your site. You can use behavioral marketing to target your ideal customer demographics.
    • Think of social media as a way to connect with your customers. You will attract reliable, repeat customers if you develop a relationship with them.
  4. You will increase the “instant gratification” of the purchase and convince potential customers of the value they are getting. [8]
    • Make sure you can afford to offer the shipping.
    • Consider that sometimes adding a free product or shipping will work just as well as taking a discount. People like to have value added to their purchase, but still feel like they are getting a quality product.
  5. Give something to people who purchase your product via email or Facebook. They are likely to be more pleased with their purchase and refer others.
  6. Search engine marketing requires you to create an account with Bing, Google, Yahoo or another engine and pay a small fee to have results on the first page. Use your products and customer preferences to choose your keywords. [9]
    • PPC marketing asks you to bid for a per click price. You may be outbid by other companies for the same keyword or keyword combination. Your website will appear higher and attract more customers and clicks if you fine-tune your keywords over time.
    • Remember that very common key words may be too expensive to justify with a small business marketing campaign. Try long-tail keywords (2 or more words) that are more specific to your region, products or brands.
    • Use WordStream’s free keyword tool to research popular keywords before you bid for them on Google AdWords or Microsoft Ad Center.
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  • Question
    How does someone find customers for a person who has started a new business?
    Community Answer
    Tell people about their business (what they do, working times, number etc.) and explain what benefits the business offers and what your experience of it has been. Sound enthusiastic and interested in the business.
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  • Question
    How do I attract customers when I live in an underpopulated area?
    Community Answer
    Advertising in nearby, more populated areas could work. Also, make sure that you offer something that is worth the trip.
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    How can I market effectively to my target audience?
    Bangalore Web Guru
    Community Answer
    To market effectively to your target audience, use strategies like audience segmentation, personalized content, social media engagement, SEO optimization, influencer marketing, and targeted advertising. You can also use email marketing, retargeting ads, and user-generated content to build trust.
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      Warnings

      • Avoid paying for email lists and followers on social media accounts, if possible. These are more likely to be numbers, rather than customers. Building a customer base through quality products, content and interaction will take time, but repeat customers give you more value over time than email addresses who may ignore your offers.
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      References

      1. ↑ http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/7237/clever-google-analytics-hack/
      2. ↑ https://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/299849
      3. ↑ https://businesstown.com/outdoor-signage-can-important-website/
      4. ↑ https://www.business.vic.gov.au/money-profit-and-accounting/pricing/Discount-strategies
      5. ↑ http://yfsentrepreneur.com/2011/11/22/10-creative-tips-to-attract-new-customers/#axzz2jntOjVC6
      6. ↑ http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/how-to-build-an-email-list/
      7. ↑ https://www.digitaldoughnut.com/articles/2018/february/7-reasons-why-social-media-marketing-is-important
      8. ↑ https://blog.rjmetrics.com/2014/07/14/the-psychology-of-free-shipping-why-it-works-as-a-marketing-tool/
      9. ↑ http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/3763-5-Ways-to-Attract-New-Customers

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      If you want to attract customers, increase your company's social media presence by creating a Facebook page or becoming more active on Twitter. Use these platforms to announce sales, offer a loyalty program, and promote your business. If you can, invest in pay-per-click (PPC) marketing to increase your online traffic. This will help your business show up more quickly on search engines like Google or Yahoo. You can also offer additional perks to increase customers, like free shipping. To learn how to attract customers with general marketing strategies, keep reading.

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