Remember that old new year’s resolution that you scribbled down in January? ‘Grow my business!’ underlined not one, but three times, using your brand new Christmas stationery? Yeah, we’ve all been there. Attracting new clients as a small business can be tricky, especially if you’re just starting out. Honing your craft can leave your network looking a bit neglected, so once you’ve got your product covered, you can turn to attracting new clients. Sounds easier said than done, right?
Small businesses are in the perfect position to grow their audience, and these 10 tips should help you get started with attracting new clients.
Collaborations
Utilising fellow business owners is one of the most powerful tools to grow your own clientele. The key here is to identify other businesses that align with your brand and seek out collaboration with them. Teaming up to create a giveaway with a business with a similar audience, that isn’t directly competitive, can boost both of your client bases at a small cost. A win-win for both creators.
Keep Your Socials Updated
Ensuring your online presence is up to scratch is another great way to attract new clients as a small business. Your social channels are an entire representation of your business – old logos, pixelated graphics and poor posts won’t cut it. A refresh to your socials can boost brand engagement and ultimately, draw in new customers.
Offer Incentives to New Customers
Everyone loves a good discount, especially your customers. Offering an incentive pulls in more business and promotes brand loyalty. Even a 10% discount or a free gift can be a powerful way to drive new consumers to your business. Whilst initially, freebies may not seem the best plan for a small business, this tactic is really worthwhile and will pay off in the long run.
Utilise Social Media Advertising
Socials are a powerful tool for any business. They can rocket your business toward success or plummet it into the ground, so it’s important to utilise them in the right way. Creating sponsored posts with Instagram and Ads across Facebook are two great ways that you can easily get your business out there without doing too much. You can even use an existing post, with no need to create something new.
Influencers and Affiliate Marketing
Influencers have been monetising their content for the past few years, and this is something you can jump onto right now. With your business maintaining all control, an affiliate’s expertise helps expand your marketing by creating brand awareness. Partnering with a reliable affiliate ensures there’s an established level of trust communicated to potential new clients.
Put Your Brand Out There
Putting your small business out there to receive new clients usually means putting yourself out there, too. Attending events and networking on platforms like LinkedIn with both potential consumers and other professionals is a great way to boost your brand awareness through word of mouth. Never turn down an opportunity to chat about your business.
Lean On Testimonials
Ever been unsure about placing an order online, or using a service for the first time and decided to check their reviews? Testimonials can make or break your business, so prompting existing customers to leave positive feedback can be the difference between two orders and ten.
Look Into SEO
Creating a beautiful website without incorporating SEO is essentially the same as writing a diary – you’re the only one who is going to see it. Enter, Search Engine Optimisation. Utilising keywords and links within your site can improve your search rankings, pushing you closer to the top of the page when clients are searching for your services.
Grow Your Professional Network
As a business owner, no matter your size, LinkedIn is your best mate. Entrepreneurs are actually making waves on the platform, over bigger, established brands. Making those connections with other professionals in a broad range of sectors can increase your prospects. Take advantage of their contacts and boost your chances of generating more leads and expanding relationships.
Utilise Your Current Customers
Possibly the most overlooked part of business growth is utilising your existing clients. Brand loyalty and trust have already been established, meaning that these clients are able to recommend your business to friends and family. To keep them coming back, a members-only loyalty scheme usually does the trick.
There are plenty of ways to attract new clients as a small business. Working with other businesses and industry professionals, utilising your socials and shouting about your business as much as possible, you’ll be one step closer to the boost in engagement that you’re striving for.
If you need any help with attracting new clients as a small business, just give me a shout!
