In the era of traditional marketing, businesses could only influence customers who visited their brick-and-mortar stores. The evolution of online shopping and digital marketing has changed the way brands communicate with customers.
With a strategically planned digital marketing strategy, you can reach customers from all around the world via multiple online channels and devices and learn what your customers think of you. Above all, you can implement various data-driven strategies to target the right audiences and provide them with personalized customer experiences.
In this article, you will learn a few proven tactics for expanding your customer base.
Nail your Customer Support
No matter how effective your lead generation strategy is, it will fail if you do not have reliable customer support.
Many businesses neglect the importance of customer service. When it fails to live up to customer expectations, companies lose leads and sales opportunities. Research studies found that companies lose $62 billion annually due to inadequate customer service. Another survey claims that, for 90% of Americans, quality customer support can be a differentiating factor when making purchasing decisions.
Now, there are numerous ways to improve customer support, and here are some of them:
- Be empathetic and patient.
Your customers paid for your products or services. Therefore, when they face a problem, it is logical that they expect your agents to listen to them and fix the issue as soon as possible. Some customers might be frustrated, confused, or even annoying. Regardless of their behaviors, your agents need to walk in their shoes and understand the source of their frustration.
- Provide multichannel customer support.
Your customers use multiple digital channels to communicate with you, from social networks and email to phone calls and live chat. So, meet them where they are. For example, tracking your brand mentions on social networks allows you to deliver faster feedback and humanize your brand presence.
To improve customer experiences, you can also deliver various self-service options, including a detailed knowledge base, chatbots, or FAQ pages.
Invest in a customer service CRM solution. It centralizes different customer service channels under a single tool. With it, your CS team can manage support inquiries faster via a single platform.
Optimize your Payment Methods
It is vital to understand that your customers have different payment habits and preferences. Unsurprisingly, if you do not offer their preferred payment method, most customers will not convert.
For starters, focus on user-centricity. How many times have you abandoned the shopping cart because you could not afford the item at that very moment? That is where promotional financing offers shines. That way, you allow customers to buy products immediately and pay for it later. The process is highly flexible since customers can choose their interest period. It usually stretches from six months up to 36 months. For example, the Humm90 interest-free credit card gives customers up to 110 interest-free days.
Next, diversify your payment methods. For example, you can offer the following:
- Cash
- Checks
- Debit cards
- Credit cards
- Mobile payments
- Electronic bank transfers
- E-wallets
Encourage Customer Advocacy
In today’s hypercompetitive digital landscape, putting yourself in front of the right customers and attracting them can be challenging. Customers are skeptical of the branded ads and content they see everywhere. No matter how awesome your content is, it will probably not take your audiences’ breath away.
Online users want to hear from the people they trust – your previous customers. According to statistics, 91% of them trust online customer reviews as much as personal recommendations.
Therefore, to build trust with your leads, you need to encourage customer advocacy. For example, ask customers to rate and review your brand and products on your website, Google My Business, social networks, and relevant business directories. Encourage your repeat customers to write testimonials and publish them along with their names and photos.
Invest in user-generated content, too. To encourage customers to publish original photos of your products, consider creating a contest and offering valuable incentives.
Deliver Freemium Offers
Your customers love free stuff. Relevant, freemium offers will immediately grab their attention and increase brand awareness.
When creating a freemium offer, make sure you give away something valuable for free. That is one of the most effective lead generation techniques. Namely, you give away a valuable product/service for free in exchange for customer information. That could be anything that resonates with your target audiences, such as an exclusive research study, a prototype of your latest software, or an ultimate guide.
For example, many SaaS companies offer freemium versions of their software. While users do not have to pay to use them, they need to register and leave their email addresses. That allows your company to analyze customer accounts and, based on their behaviors, tailor your sales and marketing efforts. Above all, you can start building and deepening customer relationships.
Improve your Digital Presence
In 2021, having a website is a necessity. However, it is often not enough. You need to optimize your website to reach the right audiences. Consider hiring a digital marketing agency to help you identify the right audiences and start ranking for the keywords relevant to them.
Above all, remember that not everyone uses the internet in the same way. Some online users have disabilities that require them to use special features on their devices to visit your website. If your site is not compatible with them, you will lose a potential customer. That is why your site should be user-oriented and inclusive.
Finally, start expanding your digital presence. Use social networks, email marketing, content marketing, and PPC ads strategically. When combined, these digital marketing practices can increase brand exposure and generate more leads.
Over to You
Today’s customers are highly demanding. To choose you in the sea of similar businesses, they expect you to provide exceptional customer experiences.
From the tips mentioned above, you can conclude that attracting customers goes hand in hand with user-centricity. Only by providing seamless and personalized user experiences will you expand and retain your customer base.
How do you expand your customer base? We are listening!
