With every new business opening, there is an overwhelming amount of stress and uncertainty before the first day. It’s no surprise – starting your own business is no piece of cake. You have an awesome product or service idea, you’ve chosen the location of your business or website (if it is an online store) and you’ve opened your doors.
At first, business may have been booming – you had a large number of sales on the opening day, many people were interested in your products, but as time passed, your client list stopped growing, or you’ve been experiencing a long slow period. There can be many reasons for this, but in order for your business to get back up on its feet, it needs to evolve, and here is how you can business to the next level.
Less discounts, more rewards
Most businesses that experience a slow period tend to go for their all time favorite tactic – giving clients discounts. Promoting a new offer at your business is a piece of cake – you throw a post on Instagram or Facebook, and watch the likes start pouring in. Sure, it is a commonly used method of bringing clients into your business, or selling a product or service that is not too popular, but when push comes to shove, you’ve created a group of bargain hunters that make purchases only in the “offers” section.
Although it may be difficult at the beginning, you should stop providing offers for an extended amount of time and instead, launch a client loyalty program. Successful businesses, both physical and online, utilise such programs which turn current clients into loyal customers that promote your brand for you. For promoting your business and purchasing products/services, customers gain points which they can use to choose prizes at your business. Unlike providing offers, loyalty programs work both ways, helping your business grow, increasing your client list and satisfying clients.
Social media presence
Nowadays, almost everyone is on one form of social media or another, and platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are very business friendly. So why not take advantage of this? Since your potential clients make use of social media, you should too. Creating a business page here and there is a good start, keep in mind that just having a fan page is not enough to help your business evolve. Make sure that you are actively posting things like upcoming events, new products/services, or any offers. Relevant information keeps clients informed and gives life to your page.
However, taking it a step further with ads is the boost you’ve been looking for. Imagine getting the word out about your business to an intended audience, with just a few clicks – with Facebook and Instagram ads, it’s a breeze. Once you have an idea about your content, you can create the ad and include certain criteria, such as the location you’d like to target, buyer age, gender, and interests. Once you have provided all information and a budget, it’s time to launch your campaign, and everyone that falls under your requirements will see your ad! After you’ve gained a number of clients and followers, you can make ad campaigns aimed just at them as well.
Staying in touch with clients
Every business owner knows that staying in touch with clients is a definite must in order to run a successful business, and with the help of modern tools, it can be done with minimal effort. Imagine thanking every clients that comes through your door, asking them to leave feedback on their experience and to bring friends in next time. Sure, some clients will remember, but most will go about their day and forget. Instead, communicate with clients so much that your brand name gets stuck in their head.
Spamming clients would not be a good idea, but sending them information relevant to your business from time to time would be a good start. In fact, businesses both online and physical have been utilizing CRM (customer relationship management) systems and text/email marketing tools to reach clients with important news. Such systems gather information, like the client’s recent purchase history, gender, age, etc. which can be used to send messages that would interested the individual specifically. If you have a product/service that appeals to men over 30, then you wouldn’t want women, 65+ to receive information on it, would you? Best of all, these systems allow you to send messages at any time, which is a perfect time-saver for the busy business owner.
Article written by Juliusz – beauty business blogger at Versum salon and spa software