“3 simple steps to attracting clients: 1.get in front of more people, 2.make it easy to buy, 3. Utilize a proven follow up system” – Katrina Sawa
Running a business is a tough proposition. It becomes tougher as competition increases and everyone is vying for the same set of customers, and same market segments. To combat some of these challenges, companies now operate in two worlds – real and online. However, attracting customers online is no fairy tale either but doing so is necessary to build a business. Gaining customers is one part, it is also imperative to build a relationship and close personal bond with them before they become customers. Doing so will ensure that when they are ready to buy, your company would be who they choose. However, most companies fail at systematically drawing customers towards themselves, resulting in the constant chase behind customers and prospects. Being unsure and unstable all the time can be extremely stressful both mentally and physically, and many entrepreneurs often give up midway because of such circumstances.
A company may have the best products and services, top class processes, and doing all the right things, but without the ability of attracting customers online none of these would be useful. Customers make a company profitable and keep it in business. We have mentioned earlier, that while passion is extremely essential, it must be backed by a solid marketing plan and the online presence must be highly visible and accessible. The good news is there are several ways of attracting customers online, without spending huge sums and putting in place complicated online marketing systems.
We have mentioned several times that customers want to associate with companies that can benefit their business in several ways, and alleviate their pain areas. A main aspect of attracting customers online is to highlight your company’s unique abilities and expertise with regard to the particular expectations and needs of their customers. In addition, it would be necessary to remember which customers would be the best for your company – the ones that would value your offerings, and be willing to stick with your company for long. Create a signature offering – something that would be attractive to a niche audience and they would be willing to collaborate with your company instantly and long-term.
Anyone running a business would know that the website of the company is the ‘face and window’ to a company. Hence, the website must amply reflect the ‘character and personality’ of the company, and show the visitors at first glance that they have found the perfect match for their business requirements. Inciting such feelings would make the visitors more amenable to get in touch with your company and begin a long-term association. To make your company even more attractive to customers online, it would be a good idea to offer some value-added incentives / freebies. The window of opportunity with customers browsing the various sites is extremely small – the better a company gets at attracting customers online, the more benefits would come its way. The ironical part of running a business online is that the visibility and immediacy are both a bane and a boon – depends on how well a company can keep pace.
We all know the role that social media now plays in everyone’s life. For businesses in the process of attracting customers online, social media is a highly effective tool and is free. Customers want information all the time, and companies that can provide them with value-added content would find it easier to attract and engage customers online. There are so many people publishing news and information all the time, and it would be very easy for content to disappear in the confusion, unless it is outstanding, helpful, and truly valuable to the readers. Attracting customers online through content is a process – an on-going and relentless one – hence it would be necessary for a company to provide some ‘gems of wisdom’ daily such that customers constant stay in touch and keep your company in mind all the time. It is also imperative to remember that content must encourage comments and views. Prospects and readers must be able to interact and ‘talk back’ – this keeps them feeling involved, enhancing the chances of becoming buying and long-term customers.
Amongst the top priorities of customers is top class service and support. Attracting customers online is a lot easier by exhibiting top class care – better customer service means happy customers, and happy customers are the best kind of advertisement and promotion for any company. Research has shown repeatedly that people abandon online transactions if they do not receive answers to their queries swiftly – attracting customers online is about responding to every comments, query, and question that customers may have, since doing so makes them feel important and valued. Timely and accurate responses are critical to the success of a business, and the impact of service excellence must never be underestimated. Research shows that at least 70% of the online buying happens when customers feel good while making transactions – the products and services are important, but customer service is what clinches it for any company. Companies that forget the importance of customer service would fail at attracting customers online, which in turn could mean the end of the business. Every customer and prospect who visits a company’s online store must feel a sense of satisfaction, and must be sure the company is providing competent and courteous treatment. The reality is that even one negative experience would get customers speaking about it at least twice more, than if they were happy with the experience.
Everyone loves discounts, freebies, and incentives – it would be highly beneficial for a company and would increase its chances of attracting customers online by offering exciting offers. People love ‘free’ stuff – it makes them feel excited and positive, which would bode well for the company offering them such stuff. In addition, it is necessary to ensure that it is extremely simple for customers to approach a company, buy the offerings, and avail the discounts and freebies. Customers do not like to put in too much effort in doing business with a company – hence the ones that make it simple and straightforward for customers, are more likely to attract a large chunk of the customers online.
While it may seem like a slower and more traditional form of attracting customers online, email marketing, continues to be highly effective. Of course, timing and the message going out is extremely important, and messages sent out via email should not be too frequent or generalized, else it may seem like spamming people’s inbox. Using emails to send new product information, news on sales or promotional events, recommendations on similar products that a customer may have bought, or even some information the company knows would be beneficial to the customer. Keeping in touch with customers and prospects is necessary for them to know that your company is focused on their needs and is ready to help its customers in any way possible.
The best way for any company to succeed at attracting customers online is to provide top class service, do quality work, and offer top line products and services. People need to know that if they invest time, effort, and money in a company, they would be rewarded amply and would receive the best products and service from the company, which they would not from any other market players. It does not take much to get people attracted to your company – the challenge lies in keeping them with your company.