A dream customer. Every small business owner has one. However, few know how to attract that customer and keep them returning to do business for years.
Attracting and retaining the perfect customer requires a careful balance. It involves excellent consistency on the small business owner’s behalf. They must ensure their business’s brand remains consistent both externally and internally. If they do so, small business owners can draw their dream customers into their stores and ensure they continue to do business with them in the future.
Here are five ways for small business owners to attract and retain the customer of their dreams:
1. Make your marketing message count.
The first step for any small business owner looking to attract their dream customer is to ensure they are marketing to the right people. They must remember if they market to everybody, they are marketing to nobody. Therefore, they must use a targeted marketing approach. They must clearly define the demographics, psychographics, and geographics that make up their dream customer. From there, small business owners can ensure they place advertisements that their dream customers frequently visit. For example, if you are the owner of a boutique and your dream customer is a woman in her mid-20s, you may consider marketing on Instagram and using behavior layers to ensure you are targeting the right users.
2. Use the correct language that speaks to your customers.
Once small business owners have identified who they want to target and where to place their advertisements, they must ensure they are using the proper messaging. Their ad copy must connect with their dream customers and make them want to engage with their small business. For example, a boutique owner should use young, trendy language to gain their target audience’s attention. Ads personalized to attract a small business owner’s dream customer will increase the likelihood that they will become loyal customers.
3. Use the right images that your customers will connect with.
Small business owners must also ensure they are reinforcing their ad copy with images that will attract the customer of their dreams. They should use their ads to showcase their products and services in a way that will resonate with their dream customer. Furthermore, they should communicate the culture and personality of the business with their ads. For example, boutique owner should showcase their clothing to young models, so their dream customers can easily envision the clothing for themselves. This will also boost the likelihood that these customers will visit their store and purchase something.
4. Ensure your products and services match your advertisements.
Once small business owner has attracted the customer of their dreams, they must focus on retaining them. To do this, they must strive to ensure customers’ experiences with their products and services represent those shown in their ads. Doing so will build trust between the small business owner and their dream customer. For example, a boutique owner will find it much easier to retain customers if their clothes represent the quality level portrayed in their ads. Furthermore, customers will assume all of their garments are high quality and be more likely to return to do business there again.
5. Create a seamless experience.
Small business owners can also work to retain the customer of their dreams by creating a seamless user experience. This means keeping their messaging, creative content, and brand consistent. Therefore, their dream customer should feel the small business’s ads, social media content, and website mirrors its in-store experience. Employees should be encouraged to speak to customers in the same style and tone of voice used in the small business’s ad, social media, and website copy. For example, if the boutique’s ads employ trendy, young language, the employees should also use this language when interacting with customers. This will help customers become wholly immersed in the small business’s brand, increasing their connection to it and the likelihood they will continue to do business there.
Every small business owner dreams of attracting and retaining the customer of their dreams.
However, doing so is not always as simple as it may seem. Small business owners must pay attention to small details to create a customer experience that will encourage them to visit their stores and keep them returning.
Small business owners should not be afraid to use their creativity when employing these tips. Creating a unique and consistent customer experience will help any small business owner attract and retain the customer of their dreams. Small business owners should not be afraid to showcase what makes their business original!
PaySmart is a payroll provider located in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, supporting small businesses in the Central PA region. We are dedicated to helping small businesses take care of their payroll needs. To learn more about how PaySmart may provide payroll solutions, please get in touch with us at 717-766-1777. Our New Client Concierge is waiting for you!