One of the biggest challenges you will face as a business
owner is attracting new customers. Expanding your customer
base can be expensive and time-consuming, but it is
necessary in order to continue to grow your business. As a
business owner, what can you do in order to attract more
customers without breaking the bank?
The first thing you will need to do is identify your best
or ideal customer. It is important to think about what
constitutes your ideal customer. These characteristics
will vary, depending on the nature of your business and
your specific industry. It is a good idea to take a few
minutes to make a short list of characteristics and
behaviors that will help you identify your ideal customer.
This is called profiling a customer.
Once you have profiled your customer, you can use this
profile to your advantage. For example, one local mobile
home dealer was surprised to learn that his ideal clients
are retired couples, not families. In his research, he
found that his best clients are retirees who are looking
for a smaller home on the lake. Once the owner discovered
this information, he could begin to attract more retirees.
He started asking clients about the local newspapers and
magazines they read. He found that they often read a
different newspaper than the paper he regularly advertised
in. This means that his ads were not reaching his target
audience. He clearly had to change the way he advertised.
This allowed the business owner to change the way he
advertised in order to attract more of his ideal clients,
getting more results for his advertising dollar.
When creating his advertising, the business owner also took
his ideal customer into account. He created print ads and
commercials that showed he had experience helping retirees
find their dream vacation home. One of his best ideas
included using a story approach to advertising. In his
ads, he related a specific example of he how helped a
couple purchase their vacation home. This helped clients
visualize how his mobile home business could help them
realize their dreams.
This business owner also involved his clients in his
advertising. He used pictures of real clients in their
real homes purchased from his business. These pictures
were not only used in print ads and television commercials,
but they were also posted in very visible locations in the
office. This serves as a constant, yet subtle reminder to
the clients that his business has experience helping people
just like them.
His most successful project included using customer
profiling to his advantage. He learned the main route his
customers took into the area and rented a billboard. He
then used a picture of a real client moving into a
lakefront property. The only other information on the
billboard was his phone number. This simple billboard
increased sales by 20%.
Profile your ideal customer and sales will increase
significantly. All you need to do is a little research,
and your customer base will expand rapidly.
Copyright, All Rights Reserved, Nicole M. Shields
----------------------------------------------------
Nicole Shields is the creator of the 7 Step Marketing Plan
which simplifies the overwhelming task of creating and
managing a profitable marketing plan for small businesses.
It includes forms, formulas and worksheets in a Quick Start
Kit full of Word and Excel files. Sign-up for the f'ree
marketing course, too at http://www.7stepmarketingplan.com