Continuing the New Client Acquisition Series, the second approach to New Client Acquisition is the Attract & Pull approach: expand your reach and awareness in order to attract and pull-in traffic of potential clients.
But what are the best practices of the methods out there? And which on to focus on?
#1 MARKETING CAMPAIGNS
Marketing campaigns are still a common practice to pull in customers. Even though TV & Radio commercials are not fully gone, companies today focus on more innovative ways of running marketing campaigns.
What are the key 3 must-dos?
- UX & Emotions: Crucial is to not talk about your product and how “special” it is, but companies now put the entire customer experience at heart of their campaigns. They make them feel, see, hear what they want them to, incorporating the significant aspect of provoking the just-right emotions in order to win the over.
- Leverage the crowd: Make sure you create a campaign that is ready to Go viral! Even if its an event or one-off sponsorship, successful companies out there first of all record it and then (re)package it in a way that is easy to spread with a domino effect around the globe getting them some free PR. The issue here? It needs to be worth sharing. So make sure your campaign is catchy, shocking or out of normal.
- Technology: Innovation walks hand with hand with technology, so make sure you use the right tools and tech out there to “wow” your audience away. Tech-your-campaign-up by equipment or features, incorporate 3D holograms or use VR.
#2 IN-PERSON MARKETING
The power of face-to-face and eye-to-eye conversation and contact is just huge. How come? Well, in the end people make business with other people and…it is important to trust and confide in the person to close a deal with him/her. Social media networking is of course important too, but still it is essential to have a strategy for your offline presence on top.
What are the key 3 must-dos?
- Walk The Talk: Make sure you are aligned in how you come across online and offline. This is key in order to be seen authentic and reliable. By walking the talk, and actually honestly sharing your passion / vision / why potential clients will be more naturally attracted and pulled to you.
- Personal Connect: Connect regularly with your past / current & new clients in your or 3rd party events or simply invite them for a coffee or lunch. Once you are in front of them, give them the stage and keep the active-listening hat on instead.
- Go “Hand-made”: Never underestimate the value a handwritten thank you note, birthday card, event invite will make. Giving your business a personal touch is key in order to build long-lasting client relationships based on trust.
#3 ONLINE MARKETING
Recently I heard the famous “If you are not online, you don’t exist” and there is some truth in there. Having an attractive and well-working website, potentially a blog, run a webinar and be present at some of the key social media platforms, such as Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Xing, Instagram or Pinterest,is a “must” now. The online world became so full of opportunities and options businesses are overwhelmed not knowing where to start and who to manage their online presence effectively.
What are the key 3 must-dos?
- Focus: Primarily its key to know where you audience is and then focus on one channel at a time. Rather than to have all profiles set-up and a half-ready website, it’s the best to take one channel at a time and do it well. Half-baked approach never works. Once ready to expand to another channel – integrate your channels using platforms as hootsuite.com.
- Outsource: If you are not a digital or online marketing specialist or a SMM (social media manager) let a professional do it for you. First of all, it will allow you to focus your time on activities with highest ROTI (return on time invested) and secondly you will switch getting tired and frustrated to actually having a sound and running online strategy. Today it is easy to find experts (and some non-experts claiming they are experts) on platforms as fiverr.com or upwork.com or simply use one of the many Facebook groups uniting Virtual SMM.
- Consistency: Finally, be consistent and aligned across all of your online channels. Make sure you use the same colors / font / images / style of writing / language but also the messaging and frequent rhythm of engagement with your audience.
#4 PR & PROMOTION
Create a strong public image and offering your audience a “unique” offer are the last two tactics to explore in order to expand your reach and awareness.
What are the key 3 must-dos?
- Know your target: For PR or Promotion to really have its effect, you need to define your customer target, niche or even micro-niche and then outline where can you find them. Only then you can select the right press-release, events to sponsor, talk show or online newspaper for your post or promotion.
- Call attention: As discussed at with leveraging the crowd, for PR & promotion to work, you need to offer something of value. Did you hire a famous tennis player to become your new brand ambassador? Did you launch a special contest or a premium offer / discount?
- Preserve exclusivity: Don’t launch 5 PR or promotion campaigns a week. Keep them rare. Keep them exclusive, as otherwise your PR could be seen suspicious and pushy and your promotions rather as a discount house offering a promotion every day for everybody.
YOUR TURN
What methods can your business benefit from in order to expand its reach and build more awareness? Which method or tactic will help you trigger more traction and traffic of potential clients? What key must-dos are you already doing well and which ones can you implement in order to accelerate your business growth?
