Standing Out From The Crowd
Jon Richardson • October 4, 2020
5 Tips to ensure you are the first choice for your customers
We may all be individuals and our businesses are all different, but unless you are very niche you will be competing for your share of the market with everyone else. So, the question is how do you ensure that you stand out from the crowd?
Below are four tips on how to keep your business visible.
1. Have a website
It is not enough just to be on social media. Social media is important, but your website is the foundation of all your marketing. It is where cupotential customers go to learn about you, your business and to understand your ‘Why’. Why you do what you do and Why thy should choose you over your competition.
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes; how do you decide on a supplier, where do you do your research on a particular company. I bet their website is in that list of places you visit. It is an easy way to shorten a long list of potential suppliers by discounting those that do not have a website
It is also where customers can go to purchase from you or book your services.
2. Build your social media presence
As mentioned above, social media is important. It is often how you get in front of your potential customers. It provides a forum for you to promote your recent successes and enables you to establish credibility with your audience.
It is a given that you need a presence on social media nowadays. But what platforms do you need to be on. The answer to that is ‘the ones your potential customers are on. Setting up a business page on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn is very easy. What is more difficult is regularly populating it with engaging and interesting content is more difficult. The key to this is to plan it out in advance.
If you want to stay in the front of your customer’s minds, you must be regularly update each platform you are active on but make sure your posts are valuable and engaging.
It should also go without saying that you should keep politics and personal opinions off your social media feeds and either ignore negative comments or respond to them in a positive and conciliatory manner.
3. Using SEO
Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is the process employed to push your website up the ratings on the various search engines and therefore more likely to be on the first page. Being on the first page and preferably near the top is crucial. When was the last time you clicked on the 2nd, 3rd or 4th pages of Google? Only about 1 in 5 people click on to the 2nd page of Google one you get to the 3rd and 4th pages the percentages are reduce exponentially.
How can you boost your SEO score? There are many ways in which you can boost your SEO score. For one, you can hire an SEO expert to do the hard work for you, however if you currently don’t have the budget for one, you can do some basic things to boost your score.
Ensuring that your website is mobile friendly, i.e. it adapts to the screen size of mobile devices is crucial, Google and other search engines will punish your site by pushing it down the rankings if it isn’t.
Having a monthly blog on your website, is a win / win not only are you providing fresh content for your website which boosts your SEO ranking it also gives you valuable marketing content you can use. It is also important that you have used the appropriate key words on your website and blogs.
What key words or phrases do you need. Well put yourself in your customer’s shoes; what will they type into the search engine when they are looking for the product or service you provide? For example, if someone is looking for a plumber locally, they would search ‘plumber near met’ they may also search for toilet, bathroom, water leak as well. Have you got those key phrases throughout your website? Whilst it can seem expensive SEO can be a game changer to get that edge on your competitors and win more customers
4. Networking
Networking is a fantastic way for you to meet both potential customers and partners. Be open, authentic and helpful and you will soon build a supportive network. Try and connect fellow networkers with individuals or businesses that you know, which may benefit them.
By being a supportive, helpful networker, you will make a lasting impression. You must work at networking; it is not enough to just show up. Make a good first impression, talk to as many people as possible but more importantly listen to people, you never know what opportunities will come your way and it will has a massively positive impact on your business.
5. Nurture Prospects
Just because there is not a deal to be had, doesn’t mean there isn’t one to be had tomorrow or next week, next month or even next year. Keeping in contact, or nurturing your prospective customers is key to growth for all businesses for the simple reason that when the customer decides to purchase the product or service that you provide, your business will be in the forefront of their mind.
There are many ways you can nurture your customers, regular calls, email communications, social media posts even informal ‘coffee’ meetings. Which of these is appropriate depends entirely on your business, but generally it will be a combination of the above actions or even some different ones. Decide what is right for your business and put a plan in place to execute.
Conclusion
If you are not in the forefront of your prospective customers minds’ then one of your competitors will be. The loss to your business may not be just one sale, there is repeat business and referrals to consider as well. In fact, with an effective nurturing program, you will get referrals from prospects who have yet to buy from you. However, there is a fine line between staying relevant and being see as annoying. Where this line sits is a judgement call you need to make.
As with all your marketing efforts the key is to know your customers, have a plan to engage with them and execute that plan!
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