In order for your to have a successful business, you need to be growing and innovating. However, it is impossible to grow without sales from new customers. Consider if these three reasons can be preventing you from attracting new customers through the doors (or on the site) of your business and what you can do to change!
You Don’t Have an Online Presence
You may have a brick or mortar location, but if you don’t have an online presence, that can be a big reason for your lack of new customers. One source found that 85 percent of individuals search for businesses online before ever stepping foot into the door of a local business. That means that if you don’t have a website, you are losing out on 85 out of every 100 new customers that have the potential of growing your profits!
The first step to correct this issue is to create a website, which can be easier than you think. There are free online sites, such as WordPress and Wix, which can get your site up and running within a day with easy to follow formats and directions.
In addition to the site, listing your business in online directories, such as Yelp and Citysearch, and on Google Maps allows it to be featured in online searches.
You Don’t Market Efficiently
You can have the best tasting food in your restaurant or the latest designs of clothing in your store, but if no one knows about it, you won’t have any sales. Consider ways you are marketing your business, if you do so at all.
Marketing has changed, and strategies that worked in previous decades are now outdated and often expensive. Television and billboard ads cost thousands of dollars and likely don’t target your audience!
Instead, learn about your customers to find the best ways to reach them with your marketing efforts. Gather customer data to find out what their interests are, where they spend their time on and offline and other demographic information. Once you have this, you can advertise in those places (websites, little league games, online communities, etc.)
You Don’t Offer a Seamless Shopping Experience
Unless your products and services are so unique that they can’t be found anywhere else, you must do something innovative to set your business apart from the competition. One of the things you should consider focusing on is customer service, as the newest generation of shoppers, millennials specifically, highly values the customer experience.
Many retail locations are focusing their retail strategy on creating an omnichannel integration, fusing their online and brick and mortar presences. This makes it easy for customers to have an experience with your brand that is similar via ecommerce or through traditional shopping, allowing them to search for in-store inventory online, order online and pick up in store or look up their shopping history in the store. The easier and more efficiently you allow shoppers to purchase your items, the more word will spread and you will see new customers piling in!
If you would like to focus on reaching new customers but do not have the finances for this endeavour, IOU Financial can help. Contact us about our easy and quick small business loans at www.ioufinancial.com
