Top Tactics To Make Your Business More Appealing To Customers
Competition is critical within the world of business, but trying to outshine rivals can be challenging. Customers today have a huge range of options and choices and it can be tough to persuade them to choose your brand over others. If you’re on a mission to attract new clients or expand your reach and boost sales, we’ve put together a guide packed with top tactics to make your business more appealing.
Branding
Branding is often associated with logos and straplines, but it goes far beyond a distinctive, eye-catching badge or a memorable motto. Effective branding should communicate brand messages and values, providing information about what your business does, how it makes a positive difference to customers and why it’s different from other companies. It’s important to focus on design, imagery and aesthetics, but it’s crucial not to forget that branding also plays a vital role in helping you to connect with customers. Celebrate and showcase your identity, tell people what your brand stands for and build relationships.
Creating a clear identity for your brand has never been more important due to consumer trends and changing preferences, which mean that customers look for more than value and quality. Today, brand values, company culture and corporate social responsibility are increasingly influential. Did you know that more than 80% of consumers now prefer to buy from brands that share their values? As a business owner, it’s beneficial to outline your values, share them with your audience and show how you’re turning words into actions. Social media is an incredible platform for storytelling and bridging gaps between brands and customers. Let your followers get to know you and understand more about the human side of the business.
When working on branding, always ensure that the message and tone are consistent and tailor your strategy to suit your brand and your target customer. You want everything from your logo and packaging designs to the posts you share on social media and your email subject lines to resonate with your ideal client.
Customer service
Customer service is one of the most significant metrics by which customers judge businesses and organizations. If the service is poor, a client may leave negative feedback even if the product is brilliant. If you run a business, it’s advantageous to prioritize customer service and support and go all-out to make sure that your customers enjoy the process of shopping with you, visiting your store or working with your team.
Providing employee training and introducing customer service policies and procedures are excellent ways to enhance customer service. It’s also a fantastic idea to evaluate existing customer support channels and consider adding more options, such as live chat or 24-hour call handling. Try to make sure that you respond to queries and questions via email or social media promptly and add informative articles and FAQ sections to your website to help customers to access the information they need.
It takes the average human being just 7 seconds to form a first impression. The first encounter when you walk into a shop or arrive at a restaurant can shape the way you perceive the brand. Encourage your employees to extend a warm welcome, make the store or venue look inviting and welcoming and make customers feel comfortable and at ease. Monitor staffing levels to prevent delays and long waiting times and collect feedback. Read reviews and use customer feedback to make improvements and solve problems.
Investing time and energy in customer service and support can help you to retain customers and collect positive reviews. More than 90% of us now use reviews to help us to make decisions when buying products or looking for businesses that offer services. Five-star feedback will set your business apart and help you reach new audiences.
Packaging design
Research suggests that over 70% of consumers in the US are influenced by packaging design when purchasing products. Whether you own a start-up or your brand is established, it’s essential to ensure that your products look appealing and that they stand out. If you sell products, there’s a good chance that you’ll be competing against multiple companies. If your packaging design blends in, or it looks drab or uninspiring, you could lose out.
If you’re working on new designs for your brand, or you’re launching a new product, it’s wise to seek expert advice and take advantage of the creativity, talents and knowledge of experienced designers. Look for businesses or agencies that specialize within the relevant industry, such as nutraceutical packaging companies, food and beverage packaging design agencies or firms that work closely with clothing and accessory brands. You will need to ensure that your packaging is eye-catching and stylish, as well as practical and functional. Test different designs, analyze existing products and highlight key competitors, and gather feedback through market research. Connect with target customers, encourage them to offer opinions and suggestions and find out more about what they’re looking for in designs and what motivates them to buy one product over another.
Always ensure that the design is relevant to the product, the brand and the target buyer. As well as looking great, your packaging should also up-sell the product’s USP, include important information about how to use the product and provide facts and figures. If you’re making health claims, for example, back them up with data.
Events and tours
While online communication is convenient for many customers, there are still many benefits to physically meeting customers. It is often easier to build relationships with customers face-to-face. You can also appeal to customer’s five senses - allowing customers to physically touch, taste and smell products (which could be essential with products like food and perfume).
In some cases where you may need customers to part with a lot of money, tours and events could also be key for building trust. For example, many manufacturing companies use factory tours to show potential clients what’s going on behind the scenes before they agree to have a product manufactured,
As fundraising guru Caitlin Brodie explains, events and tours can also be important when attracting investors or donors. Getting people more physically involved can make them more comfortable putting their money towards a cause as they have a better idea of where their money is going.
Review and update your marketing strategy
Marketing should promote businesses and encourage customers to get in touch or make a purchase. Effective marketing campaigns can send sales soaring, but it’s not always easy to deliver campaigns that work. If previous campaigns haven’t been successful, or you feel that there is room for improvement, it’s beneficial to review and update your strategy. If you don’t have a marketing team, consider outsourcing or working with an agency on a short-term basis to get the new strategy off the ground.
Marketing campaigns should be targeted. Identify your target customer and build a detailed profile of your ideal client. Use market research to collect information and get to know them better. Analyze feedback, use suggestions and ideas and learn more about your competitors and new and existing market trends. Select marketing techniques and channels that will help you to connect with the right customers and create high-quality leads and use analytics to monitor your performance continuously.
Enhance value for money
It’s understandable to assume that customers want to buy products at low prices, but the cost of an item isn’t always the determining factor. Increasingly, customers are searching for value. This means getting more for your money. As a business owner, it’s important to try to enhance value for money for your clients. This will make your products and services more appealing and it could also help you to gain a competitive advantage.
Monitor the market closely and use research to see what your competitors offer. Compare prices, packages, promotions and deals and try to ensure that your brand stands out. A competitor may be under-cutting your prices, but what if you offer free delivery or a freebie with specific purchases, which make your offer better value? There are myriad ways to create more value for clients, including offering access to exclusive deals and discounts, giving away freebies, using better quality materials or ingredients, adding extras, such as personalization options, or providing perks like next-day shipping or free standard delivery.
Recommendations
More and more of us make decisions based on reviews we read or recommendations from friends, colleagues and family members. Word of mouth is a hugely powerful marketing ploy. To capitalize on the popularity of reviews and the influence of recommendations and referrals, it’s an excellent idea to offer incentives. Encourage existing customers to leave reviews and share feedback and details of purchases they’ve made. Incentivize referrals. If you run a coffee shop, for example, you could offer a customer a free coffee if they bring a friend along. If you own a spa, a hair salon or a beauty business, you could give your customer and their friend or family member a 10% discount on their next treatment. Positive reviews get people talking and they often steer prospective customers towards companies that have high ratings. Negative reviews put people off.
If you’re a new business and you don’t have many reviews, encourage customers to leave a review when they receive their order or pay you a visit. You could leave cards or short surveys on tables and counters, or provide a link to leave feedback online when you send out order confirmations or promotional emails, for example.
Beating competitors is one of the most challenging aspects of running a business. Competition is often very fierce and it can be tough to convince customers to choose your brand over others. If you’re keen to attract new clients or increase sales, there are several ways to make your business more appealing. Invest time, energy and effort in branding, targeted marketing and packaging design and use market research to track competitors, identify trends and get to know your target customer better. Encourage customers to leave and share reviews and feedback, enhance value for money and provide excellent customer service and support for your clients. Engage with customers, celebrate and share your brand values and try to ensure that your business stands out.
