One of the most difficult aspects of building a business is the process of both finding and retaining customers. You need to have a solidly defined target audience to make sure you’re targeting the ideal customer, but you also need to have systems in place to connect with them and grow your brand in the public consciousness. Nobody said running a business would be easy but here are a few things you can do so it’s not all that hard.
Improve your web presence
It should go without saying that you absolutely need to have a website. Unfortunately, many would-be entrepreneurs still neglect their web presence. By doing so, they actively harm their brands. Have you ever been called by an unknown number, looked it up, and came face-to-face with some sketchy seeming search results? After using a phone reversal lookup service, you realize it was a business trying to reach out to you. Now, imagine looking up a business by their phone number and being directed right to their website. Where are you more likely to shop?
Better yet, improve your online visibility to the point where customers don’t need to rely on a phone reversal lookup service. This means that you need to use your website and social media more effectively. Sporadic posting, web pages that need updates, and abandoned social media feeds are all turn-offs to prospective customers. If you’re going to set up pages, make sure you’re prepared to commit to regular updates and maintenance.
Social media, in particular, is a speedy way to open up a dialogue with customers. You can quickly update them on upcoming sales and promos, respond to customer support inquiries, and reach a wider audience with your brand. However, social media can’t (and really shouldn’t) be the only digital marketing you do.
Leverage search engines
If you’re not making use of SEO and haven’t set up a Google My Business listing, you’re making it harder for customers to find you in today’s digital-forward world. So many people rely extensively on the internet to make informed purchase decisions. If your website is languishing at the bottom of the fourth page and you don’t have a visible GMB card, you’re going to get buried under the competition. It’s not enough to do some basic optimization and set up your Google My Business page, either. You’re going to need to put continued effort into your site and your business ranking.
So, how do you go about improving your Google My Business ranking? For starters, make sure you’re including as many details as you can. Have the correct business hours listed, verify your physical location, and enter complete data. This includes your address, phone number, attributes, and business category. On top of this, businesses that manage and respond to reviews are seen more favorably by the search engine giant.
From there, Google calculates your GMB business page based on a combination of factors like relevance, distance, and prominence. By correctly targeted your marketing and search efforts, you’re making it more likely that Google will respond positively to your efforts.
Once you’ve started making these key changes to how you run your business, you’ll be much more likely to not only attract prospective customers but also grow your business in a smart, scalable way that doesn’t require you to break the bank. Once you’ve built up a customer base, you can use audience feedback to make the necessary tweaks to your business model, product offerings, and even customer service efforts. Your customers are the lifeblood of your business so keeping them happy is paramount in today’s competitive business sphere.