The key to growing your business is attracting new customers and building long-term relationships with them. While you might find it challenging to get new customers at first, there are easy, effective, and affordable ways to do so.

7 Strategies To Get New Customers and Increase Sales

Here are 7 ideas for finding new customers to grow your business if you aren’t sure where to begin.

1. Word of mouth
2. Build a strong digital presence
3. Ask for referrals
4. Partner with other businesses
5. Double down on user-generated content
6. Pitch your services
7. Always provide a great customer experience

Word of mouth

Leverage your existing network by telling them about your business. In fact, this should be the first step for every business owner. People need to know about what you do. Though they might not need your services, they are likely to know someone who needs it. 

In fact, studies have shown that word-of-mouth advertising is five times more effective than paid advertising at increasing sales. Here are some amazing statistics on word of mouth marketing:

• Out of the top five popular ways to recommend a business, word-of-mouth comes first, followed by Facebook, Google, and Twitter
• 88% of people had the highest level of trust in a brand when a friend or family member recommended it.
• Millennials were 38% more likely to discover brands through recommendations from friends and family.

Build a strong digital presence

According to HootSuite and We Are Social’s 2021 Digital Trends Report, 50% of Nigerians use the internet and 82.9% of them use social media to research brands before deciding to buy from them. 

In today’s digital world, small businesses have the chance to compete on a global scale with more established brands. You can find new customers by building a strong digital presence through social media, websites, and free business listings like Google My Business (GMB). 

Modern customers value ease of business and through your digital channels, you can showcase your products and services. You can also provide details they need like pricing and availability of products which allows them to make purchase decisions faster.

Read: How To Keep Track of Expenses in Your Growing Business

Ask for referrals

Referrals are among the most effective forms of marketing because it’s built on trust. When a friend tells you that they’ve used a product and had a great experience, it pushes you past all the various buyer stages because you trust their opinion. 

Studies have shown that a friend’s recommendation increases a person’s chances of making a purchase by 4x. To get referrals from your customers, it’s important to build value first. People will naturally talk about a product or service they enjoyed or that made life easier for them. You can also make it easier for them by providing rewards for referrals like discounts. If you are a Prospa member, you can track your top buying customers on Business Hub dashboard and give them discounts for referrals.

Join relevant business communities

There are various challenges in running a business and having someone to run ideas by can make it easier. For a small business owner, being part of a business community can be very beneficial to the growth of your business. It’s an opportunity to build the reputation of your business and learn from others.

Business communities provide you with the opportunity to develop your skills, stay abreast of industry trends, meet potential mentors, partners, and clients, and acquire the resources you need to grow your business. They also serve as informal directories for clients who need your services. Online or offline, there are paid and free business communities you can be part of. You can begin by asking questions and searching for business groups on Facebook too. As an entrepreneur, you can join the Prospa Campus community, where we support members to build prosperous businesses.

Double down on user-generated content

SalesForce reports that user-generated content (UGC)  increases conversions by 10% when included in an online purchase path. User-generated content is any form of content – images, videos, text, audio – that are created by users of a product instead of the company. 

A study showed that customers prefer to see photos of customer activity and real-time enjoyment of your product over carefully staged product shoots. For a fashion designer, a photo of a customer wearing your dress at an event or on a date is more likely to bring new customers than a mannequin or model’s photo. Encourage your past and existing customers to share reviews of using your product or service. Showcasing their testimonials can inspire loyalty and help more people learn about your business.

Pitch your services

Another way to gain new customers is by contacting them directly. Pitch your services to customers and businesses instead of waiting for them to come to you. Pitching is formally reaching out to potential customers about your business and the benefits of using your services. You can do this through cold emails or by requesting opportunities to talk about your product or service to your potential customers.

Provide a great customer experience

Gaining customers is one step but to retain them, you have to provide a great customer experience. PWC reports in a consumer intelligence survey that 73% of respondents regard customer experience as an important factor in their purchasing decisions. A friendly, welcoming experience was cited as the second most important reason consumers would spend more, followed by greater convenience.

Customer retention is essential to the growth of a business. On average, long-term customers spend 31% more on your business than short term ones. It’s also easier to get them to buy new products from you than new customers.

So focus on providing excellent service, be open to feedback and keep improving your products. It’s a surefire way to increase your customer base.

Prospa’s Business Hub makes providing a personalised customer experience easy and fast. Business Hub automates gathering customer information and their preferences, you can track top customers, reward customer loyalty and follow up on new customers to know if they are happy with your service and how you can serve them better. To get started, open a free business bank account on Prospa in 5 minutes.