Increase Your Bottom Line with a Local Business Marketing Strategy – One of the hardest things to get a handle on these days is customer loyalty. Your consumers know what they want and where they can get it. You have to offer them a pretty spectacular experience to get them to exit their comfort zone and switch to a new provider.
If you’re a small business, what can you do to pique their interest? You may not have the widespread recognition that they the big guys do, but you CAN ensure the online and offline customer experience is smooth.
Determining Your Customers’ Wants
First off, you have to address what your customers really want. It’s not always about a top-quality product, and it’s not always about the promises you make. It’s much more basic than that: they want maximum convenience. They want to know they can buy your products through a variety of channels when they want: at home, on the go, wherever. If you can’t give that to them, you can expect them to move on to the next business that can.
However, it’s also a lot about customer loyalty. This isn’t easy to build up, as you know. You don’t have the billions of advertising dollars and name recognition that the Wall-Marts of the world have. Therefore, you’re going to have to take the grassroots approach: give your customers convenience, give them speed, and give them options.
Take it Step by Step
Next, it’s time to sit down and start brainstorming. Take a long hard look at your existing online presence as well as your offline service. What is lacking in both spaces? What can you improve on? What’s already great? How can it be better? It’s no longer enough just to have a website. You need a mobile optimized website with local SEO so your local customers can find you at the moment they need you. More and more people are shopping with their phones. They’re researching as they are in the store, or on the way to the store, or as they’re leaving a store that carries something they want but don’t have. Where else can they get what they want RIGHT NOW? Be there at that moment.
To appeal to your on-the-go customers, use a variety of approaches, from in-app messaging to geo-targeting. The more digital channels you can utilize to stay connected with your target audience, the better off you’ll be. With more sales and more exposure, your bottom line will see the results too.
It’s imperative to give your customers several ways to engage with you. Taking away barriers to communication will ensure long-term loyalty. One further way to gain trust is to act on customer feedback immediately. Good, bad or ugly, addressing customer concerns will show you’re trustworthy and care about your business. No one expects perfection. Your customer WILL, however, expect their problems to be rectified in a timely manner. Make good on your promises and you’ll secure local customers.
Want more tips on how to provide a seamless customer experience online and off? Call us today at 732-526-7590 or complete this easy contact form.