By | Craig Middleton
You know you have a quality product. You also know that there are thousands of people who would love your product. First, though, they need to know about you.
Build a Customer Base
The most important thing when you own a business is to understand who would be interested in your product. This is your customer base. What you need to work on first is lead generation. Future customers are “leads” and you want to produce more or “generate” them. First, decide who they are and then go out and entice them to come to you.
Keywords
Keywords are going to be very important for you. You will need to understand where, and how, potential customers search for information. For example, Google is the search engine that most people use. It leads people to matching websites when they type in certain search terms. Through research and trial and error, you will need to figure out which keywords to put in your site so that Google will produce your page first. That way, more people, your “traffic” will come to you. This is probably the hardest part. Really, though, all it takes is studying typical keywords used when people are searching for products like yours and keep tweaking until your traffic increases.
Where to Advertise
You can’t go wrong advertising on Facebook and Instagram. In fact, Instagram even lets potential customers choose which ads they like to see, and which they never want to see again. That way, your audience is narrowed just to people who are already interested in your product. If you are trying to pinpoint where on the internet your desired customers spend their time, investigate rankings by age of user. Don’t forget about blogs. Blogs are great because you can advertise on one that is already followed by potential thousands who will be interested in your website. This works out great for the blogger too, because their income is mainly generated by advertisers.
Keep in Touch
When a person finds one of your ads interesting and clicks through to your website, make sure you hold on to them by asking for their email. Most people will not be interested in handing over their contact information without being compensated somehow. You should give them something in return for this great information. All of the emails you gather are from potential customers. A common reward for the email is a coupon for their first purchase. What do you do with the email addresses?
First, make sure you don’t scare off or annoy any of them. Too many communications will make them wary of you and you need to give them a way out. Be sure they can easily unsubscribe or get fewer emails. Your newsletters or sale and new product notifications should be eye catching and should not bog your customer down with too many words. Make it so great, they will want to forward it to friends and relatives. This increases your lead generation with no extra effort on your part. Often, people see something they are interested in on the internet but don’t have the time or money to pursue it at that moment. Emails can be great reminders of “that thing” they saw and liked.
Reward Your Customers
Once you’ve got a customer base you are happy with, try to keep them happy. There are new products popping up every day and you want them to be loyal to you and not be tempted to try someone else.
A great way to hold on to customers is to reward them somehow. This could be in the form of earning credits towards a free item with every purchase, discounts for monthly subscriptions, and credits for writing reviews.
Keep It Personal
In this internet age, sometimes shopping can feel a little impersonal. Consider enclosing a handwritten note or a sample of another product with the shipment. These gestures can go a long way towards inspiring brand loyalty.
Provide discount coupons for your customers’ friends to use, with a built-in reward for your customer when the friend uses it. Periodically provide surveys. Customers love to be asked what they think about future products and will probably answer enthusiastically. It’s practically a given that when their choice from the survey appears on your website, they will order it. This might seem like a lot to learn and do. However, through good choices plus a bit of trial and error, you will be able to sit back one day and watch your customers multiply.
