32 ways to attract customers: proven and non-standard

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The number of customers determines the success of a business project development, so companies seeking stable growth in sales and profits are constantly looking for new ways to attract them. Agree, in conditions of fierce competition, this is simply necessary. But first things first.

From this article you will learn:

1. Groups into which all methods of attracting customers can be divided
2. Steps on how to choose the most
3. Effective ways to attract customers
4. Why ways to attract customers to the company do not work

3 groups into which all methods of attracting customers can be divided

Despite all its diversity, all methods of attracting customers can be divided into the following groups:

Active ways to attract customers

The use of these methods implies the active work of sellers.

The task of the team is to find new buyers.

Ways to solve the problem are the same for all companies:

• Building a customer base (usually done by the sellers themselves).
• Preparation of a commercial offer.
• Calling customers (sometimes use a personal visit).
• Sending commercial offers and information about the company, etc.

In order to work with the client smoothly, salespeople work to improve their knowledge about the product and pass certain exams right at the place of work (knowledge of the product, work with objections, etc.), they attend specialized trainings, participate in motivation programs, etc. .d.

Passive ways to attract customers

"Passive" means "inactive". In this case, the participation of sellers is excluded. How is this possible? First of all, these are various forms of advertising and Internet marketing.

Today, Internet marketing is considered much more effective than traditional advertising. Contextual advertising, promotion in search engines, etc. "work" much more often than, for example, advertising on a billboard.

Combined ways to attract customers

Most often, maximum efficiency is achieved with the proper use of the above methods: the active work of sellers and various. Just as a company should have its own website, so the seller should have his own business card.

Naturally, both sellers and websites, product catalogs, commercials, etc. “work” in different ways: something works, and something doesn’t. So, it is worth taking into account that the ways to attract customers have different efficiency.

3 steps to choose the most effective ways to attract customers

Stage 1. Drawing up a plan

Planning is the first and most important stage of work. It is during the planning process that you have to choose which methods of attracting new customers you will use.

When planning, it is necessary to predict the following results:

• number of clients;
• sales sizes;
• desired income.

To make this data a reality, you need to establish the required number of regular customers, determine the interests and needs of your target audience.

It is necessary to associate the proposed product with a potential buyer. In other words, it is necessary to determine why the client should buy this product: to solve certain problems or to improve something (for example, living conditions)? Quite often, one serious mistake is made - targeting everyone. If, when choosing ways to attract customers, you focus on a specific consumer, then the planning process will go without much difficulty.

Stage 2. Informing the client

After drawing up a plan, it is necessary to solve the following problem: how to convey information to a potential client.

First, decide what exactly you want to report. The consumer is not at all interested in how good your company is. He is interested in his own benefit, which he will receive by using your services. Moreover, for the buyer, the criterion for evaluating the benefits is not always the subject of the purchase itself, but the effectiveness of the transaction.

Professional call centers do an excellent job of solving the problem of “informing the client”. Here you can order the Cold Call service.

Stage 3. Calculation of profitability

Once the plan is in place and the ways to attract customers are chosen, it's time to calculate their ROI by working with the numbers. Review the following data:

• the required number of regular customers;
• allowed number of potential customers;
• required monthly sales volume;
• required sales amount.

Moreover, the starting point of calculations should be the desired monthly income of the company.

If you know these indicators, then it will not be difficult to calculate the number of customers that you need to attract during the day, and how much you need to earn that day. Now you need to establish how much the company is willing to spend, and choose the most appropriate methods to attract customers.

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Effective ways to attract customers

Method number 1. Give something for free

By giving people something useful, you attract the attention of those who knew nothing about you at all, and those who knew, but did not purchase your company's products. Such "gifts" are pleasant to customers and beneficial to you.

Method number 2. Communication with customers

These methods of attracting customers can increase loyalty and interest in the products offered, although they do not guarantee fast traffic. Communication can be established in the following ways:

• In a thematic group or blog

Stick to the main rule: do not use a group or blog as an advertising platform. Fill the resource with interesting high-quality content, answer questions from visitors. Work on attracting new group members or blog subscribers. The number of participants or subscribers will grow - the site traffic will be provided.

Of course, it is unlikely that the traffic will be the same as with regular advertising, but it will have a serious qualitative advantage: interested loyal users will be visitors to the site. But keep in mind one caveat: if people receive comprehensive information in the group, then they will have nothing to go to the site for. Keep the intrigue!

• On thematic forums

All forum visitors want to chat and get answers to some questions. If you are ready to help such people, communicate with them, spending a considerable amount of time, then this will not be in vain. You will definitely get noticed.

• By mailing

If by the time you created the site, you have already used the newsletter, then your subscribers are the first loyal customers. Now you will have the opportunity to post all useful information directly on the portal, and use the newsletter as an "informer" by sending a message about an event or action, a link.

Method number 3. Create situations for discussion

To date, the discussion of the positive aspects of the company or product, the hype - the most effective ways to attract customers. If you can launch a “virus” of the discussion, then new clients will literally pour in to you.

As a topic for discussion, you can use high-quality service and a very good attitude towards customers. They will start talking about this and transmitting information by word of mouth, which will positively affect not only the level of sales, but also your reputation in general.

Method number 4. Build Relationships

Building the right relationship with potential customers is just as important as selling a product.

It happens that providing the necessary contact to the client or a minor consultation can develop into a long-term mutually beneficial cooperation. Be active and don't treat potential customers as buyers who are ready to purchase a particular product "here" and "now".

Method number 5. Showcase your expertise

Be active and speak at conferences and seminars, keep a blog or podcast - this will show you as a good expert who can be consulted and whose opinion can be trusted.

Method number 6. Host a contest

Today, many ways to attract customers are associated with the use of the Internet space. Is it difficult to run a contest or a quiz on your site? No. And if you do it on some social network, it will be even better.

This method is quite relevant and quite a large number of users respond to it. Agree, there are many gambling people, and even more who want to win something.

Method number 7. Organize a social event

We are talking about an event aimed at the social or sports component of life, for example, a bicycle race or a mass race. It can be timed to coincide with an event of state or local significance, a holiday.

You will be able to engage a large number of potential customers who are united by the idea. You will have a wonderful opportunity to showcase your product both directly and indirectly.

Method number 8. lead by example

"Live" your idea. Relationship builders say you can easily attract like-minded people by hanging out with them. Arrange corporate events, hikes, attend dance classes and post information on your blog and social networks. People who are interested in this will be drawn to such a company and it is likely that this will be the beginning of a mutually beneficial cooperation.

Use different marketing channels.

Control the marketing system. Everything should work for you: both social networks and word of mouth. Don't deviate from the annual plan, check the performance on the quarterly and monthly "checkpoints". Do not deviate from the chosen strategy and make changes only if it is required by real indicators: numbers and facts.

Method number 9. Maintaining a corporate website and blog

Creating a company website is one of the most effective ways to attract customers using the Internet. If your business is related to sales, then a corporate website is a must. Before buying anything, customers browse various websites to "get acquainted" with the product.

Your resource may contain, for example, generalized information about the product being offered. Let's say you sell furniture. In this case, articles containing the rules for choosing furniture, recommendations for caring for it, assembly instructions, etc. can be placed on the site.

Getting acquainted with your articles, visitors will understand that you understand what you are talking about, you are experts in your field. In addition, it is desirable to create sections dedicated to the company itself and your activities, offer favorable prices and provide visitors with the opportunity to express their opinion in reviews or comments.

The site may contain an order form - this is very convenient if the company is located in a small city (it is possible to work with residents of other regions and cities).

Method number 10. Mobile advertising

Ways to attract customers must meet the requirements of the time. Mobile advertising is an innovation in the advertising industry. The essence of the method is that advertising messages come directly to the user's phone. Moreover, every year this channel becomes more interesting and creative (not only the format changes, but also the methods of communication).

There are the following mobile marketing tools:

• advertising in mobile versions of sites;
• banners and Toolbar in the mobile Internet;
• advertisements in mobile applications;
• advertising on thematic sites;
• voice messages.

Method number 11. Virtual assistant on the website (chatbot)

Not so long ago, communication with smartphone owners required the intervention of a programmer who created a special application. Moreover, if your goal was maximum coverage of users, then they created a separate application for each operating system (Android, iOS, Windows Phone).

Today, this is no longer relevant, because there are chatbots. You do not need to spend money on a specialist, you can do everything yourself using various online services. Messenger developers themselves adjust applications for different operating systems. In addition, chatbots can scale to make things easier. For example, if you launch a VKontakte chatbot, then you can work in other services without any problems.

In addition, using these methods of attracting customers, you can:

• achieve global coverage;
• achieve a high customer retention rate;
• popularize the resource among the youth;
• reduce payroll costs (you can do without a call center or reduce the number of employees in the sales department);
• increase customer loyalty;
• increase sales volumes.

Chatbots are convenient not only for you, as the site owner, but also for your potential customers: they will help you find information about a product, fill out an application, give answers to questions, etc.

Method number 12. YouTube channel

YouTube is second only to Google in traffic. This is worth considering when thinking about ways to attract customers to your company.

The YouTube search engine is the second largest search engine in the world, providing unlimited free targeted traffic to business owners.

Note:

• during the day, the site is visited by billions of users;
• video hosting, being very popular, remains free;
• one of the largest search engines;
• the site is visited by every seventh inhabitant of the planet.

Advantages of YouTube:

• users prefer video content;
• watching a video involves not only vision, but also hearing, increasing the impact on the user;
• visitors trust video materials more than printed articles;
• given that YouTube belongs to Google, it is moving better (when results are returned for a query, videos are first displayed, and then blogs);
• the base of subscribers and buyers is formed directly from the video (this is possible on YouTube, but not everyone can do it);
• proper optimization of a video posted only once can ensure its continuous operation;
• low competition (there are not many targeted channels on YouTube);
• fairly easy channel promotion;
• using video, it is easier to find the target audience;
• broadcasts can be carried out directly on the channel.

Method number 13. Press release

No private company can do without such a PR document as a press release.

A press release is, in fact, an ordinary text document, which sometimes includes illustrations or photographs. The material contained in a press release may contain internal company news, a commentary on an event or event, a statement on a specific issue.

The main function of a press release is informational. This is one way to attract customers or public attention by publishing information in the media about significant events that have taken place in the company.

By distributing a press release, you can attract the attention of not only potential customers, but also investors. In addition, this method allows you to popularize the company, tell about yourself.

Method number 14. Advertising in online media

The essence of the method is to place graphic or text banners on popular Internet resources. Usually the cost of the service depends on the number of impressions. At the moment, this method cannot be called relevant, since its effectiveness has greatly decreased due to the increase in the “volume” of the Internet. Today, a banner is more of an image technique than a marketing ploy.

Method number 15. Popup windows

Advantages of the method:

• Bright and original design (very important for any advertising).
• Almost unlimited possibilities for the implementation of non-standard solutions.
• Wide scope.
• To influence a specific target audience, you can choose any suitable resource.
• Accurate statistics (for the advertiser, this information is very important).
• High efficiency.

The disadvantages of the method:

• Antivirus programs and browsers treat them "with caution".
• Meet irritation from site visitors.

A competent approach to advertising can not only quickly recoup all costs, but also bring tangible profits to the advertiser. If an amateur does this, then the risk of “sending” the site to the black list of search engines is quite high (good intentions for good advertising will turn into anti-advertising).

Method number 16. We use search engines

Most often, users get to the site through various search engines. But this is possible only if the resource is in the first positions when issuing. This is related to many parameters. Here are just the most significant in our opinion:

• site age;
• the number of pages on the resource;
• quality and unique content on the site.

If you are in the TOP 10, then you have every chance of getting into the field of view of a potential client. Keep in mind that the modern buyer trusts advertising much less than search engines. However, these methods of attracting sales customers also have their “cons”: regular financial investments and lack of instant efficiency.

Method number 17. Catalogs

Method number 18. contextual advertising

Advertising is paid, but effective (the number of clicks to the site is paid). The user sees it after he has typed a key phrase in the search engine. The main thing is that the site/page placed on the advertised site should correspond to the request, that is, the site must be relevant.

Method number 19. Advertising in social networks

This way of attracting customers lies in the possibility of placing targeted advertising (that is, advertising that is configured for a specific target audience). Moreover, you can choose a fairly small segment of the audience to which you will show the ad, getting a good result. The disadvantage of targeting is that for a fairly short demo period, you can spend a lot of money.

Method number 20. Thematic portals

Many sites that seem to have no commercial goals (for example, entertainment) earn exclusively by placing ads on their resource. For example, you decide to look at an online magazine, and the page is full of advertising banners - this is exactly such a resource. Terms of advertising can be found, as a rule, in two ways: on some sites they are freely available, and on some they offer to contact the admin. If the theme of the portal corresponds to what you are doing, then the effectiveness of advertising is quite high.

Don't forget about "banner blindness". If there are too many advertisements on the portal, then the user is simply not able to respond to everything that is offered to him. Therefore, before placing your banner, test not one, but several thematic portals.

A good example is the Jaguar banner:

Method number 21. Advertising mailings

All mailing services offer a directory where you can find a topic similar to yours. You need to contact the author of the newsletter and discuss the possibility of adding your advertisement. Quite often, these ways to attract customers are quite effective, because they directly affect your target audience, getting straight to the mail.

Method number 22. affiliate program

The principle of its operation is similar to those described above (thematic portals and mailing lists), but there are some nuances. Advertising is absolutely free. You pay for the work of a partner only if his “recommendation” turned out to be effective (that is, the client made a purchase or placed an order). Affiliate programs are considered the most profitable, since they do not require initial investments in advertising, but work on the principle: "sold - paid."

Method number 23. Involvement in the game (gamification)

User behavior can be stimulated using social networks and mobile applications, forming positive emotions in them. All the ways to attract customers in use today are aimed at financial results, and not at actually engaging customers. Such methods are called "frontal".

However, there are also ways to attract customers that affect emotions, increasing interest in products.

Example. Coffee company Starbucks (USA) uses a mobile application to make the purchase process easier. When paying for an order, you can use not only personal finances, but also bonuses. In addition, if the visitor used the services of the establishment in the morning, then, having visited the coffee shop again in the afternoon, he can count on a free cold drink. This is how Starbucks "provokes" a repeat visit.

In addition, Starbucks has partnered with Lyft. Now people who use Lyft services earn points for themselves, which they can then spend on paying for an order at a coffee shop.

Method number 24. Conducting entertainment events (shows)

Often, entrepreneurs do not have enough funds for a full-fledged advertising campaign or other marketing activities. They begin to use creative ways to attract customers, thereby emphasizing their individuality very favorably and “bypassing” competitors.

The Samospas company, founded by Ilya Malikov, manufactures equipment that is used during fires to evacuate a burning building. The problem with his business lies not in the quality or cost of the equipment, but in the ignorance of the consumer: people simply do not know that in the event of a fire they themselves (without the help of firefighters) can safely leave the place using special equipment.

To raise public awareness, Ilya Malikov organizes spectacular events to which TV journalists are invited. He and his team perform in front of the lenses, clearly demonstrating the usefulness and rules for using their equipment. This is a wonderful free advertisement for Samospas.

Method number 25. Storytelling

Communication with a potential client by telling certain stories is called storytelling. The result should be a desire to use the services of your company.

Marketers recommend introducing short but meaningful stories. This technique allows for various ways to attract the attention of customers: texts, videos, comics and infographics. Viewing information should not take much time, therefore, the main attention should be focused on the content, so that the consumer “browses and understands everything”.

Example. The cooperative of farmers "LavkaLavka" began its work by introducing visitors to the stories of the members of the cooperative on its website, how the idea of ​​​​creating a common project arose and its further development. Moreover, not only the Internet resource was used, they did it at any opportunity and in any convenient place.

The guys did not want, and could not, use the services of professional advertising agencies, therefore, the issue of free promotion of the cooperative has always been quite acute. Once they distributed stickers with their slogan to their friends, who distributed them among their friends and acquaintances. This was the start of the photo project "The Adventures of a Man with a Pitchfork".

But they did not stop there and began to look for other ways to attract customers. Their next step was the creation of a beautiful film, shot, again, by acquaintances. The short film was dedicated to winter fishing on the Rybinsk Reservoir.

LavkaLavka gets into Forbes! The history of the cooperative was given quite a lot of space, and the sponsor, NOKIA, was indicated in small print at the end of the text. Together with LavkaLavka, NOKIA decided to promote the Windows Phone platform and presented several Lumia phones to them.

This interested buyers and Google. So when in 2012 Google decided to remove the Chrome ad that was shown on TV channels in Russia, they offered LavkaLavka to become the face of the ad (as a company that became successful with the help of the Internet).

This video became very popular, on YouTube it was viewed by about 3 million users. After that, the creator of the cooperative, Boris Akimov, noted in his blog that they not only increased site traffic by 8 times, but also increased sales (more than 30%). They began to recognize Boris by sight, which contributed to the conclusion of very lucrative contracts with large trading companies. The print and online media and television became interested in the project.

Method number 26. Community Solution

"Brand social responsibility" is a concept inherent in American business. What does it mean? Everything is quite simple: business should benefit society. Moreover, the benefit should lie in the activities of a social orientation, and not in what industry the company or businessman represents.

You can use the same principle too.

Rethink your ways of attracting customers and try to find that social component. This will increase public interest and attract customers.

good example may be the philosophy of the TOMS Shoes company: after the sale of one pair of shoes, the second is “sent” to needy children as a gift.

The company Warber Parker Glasses (manufacture and sale of glasses) operates according to a similar scheme. After the start of the Buy a Pair, Give a Pair promotion, every second point is intended for the poor, who have already received more than five hundred thousand points.

The photo below shows how the poor boy is being put on by Blake Mykosky (founder of TOMS Shoes):

Similar methods of attracting customers are used by Russian companies. For example, the Evert company, having paid attention to the social component of business, managed to avoid bankruptcy. Its founder, Evgeny Popov, in order to strengthen his competitiveness and attract customers, who practically did not exist, made the following decision: every second employed person will be a person with a disability. Thus, providing services on a paid basis (employment of the company's clients), he also finds work for the disabled free of charge.

Method number 27. Visual social networks

Also check out Instagram! The platform is ideal for companies that have something to show and something to please the eye of the consumer. And now that you can add videos, you can use it even more effectively: film the production process and showcase the dynamics of the company.

Fortune 500 companies that use these ways to attract customers, according to the analytical bureau TrackMaven, are very helped by Instagram. The most effective resource was felt by Nike (the number of their followers exceeds 3.2 million).

However, it is worth noting some Russian companies, such as Trends Brands (brand clothing store), VTB Bank, Yandex, CROC (system operator), QIWI Wallet and the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia.

Method number 28. Free education

Today, more and more companies use in their work ways to attract customers directly related to Internet marketing, and this is not surprising. However, not everyone is ready to train a potential or real client for free and with high quality.

Method number 29. Feel free to share information

The social media management tool (Buffer) gained the trust of 30,000 users who signed up within its first nine months of operation.

The secret of success lies in the harmonious combination of trust of both parties to each other: users publish their information on the blog, and blog owners provide full information about the company.

Method number 30. Stimulate

It's simple: an offer in exchange for a result.

For example, Dropbox offered to get 125 MB of cloud storage by following them on Twitter and Facebook.

Method number 31. poach

Today, Airbnb is the world's largest rental property search company. But this was not always the case, just one day they found “their” ways to attract customers: they decided to contact those who place ads for renting housing on other resources.

Airbnb employees contacted the people who posted the ad, for example, on Craigslist, and acted in an unusual way: they asked to change the resource and place an ad on them. Not very beautiful, but the result, as they say, "on the face."

Method number 32. Connect referrals

The PayPal referral program, for example, paid $10 each to both the newcomer and the referrer. Such methods of attracting customers made it possible to increase the number of customer base to several tens of millions.

Why methods of attracting customers to the company do not work: typical mistakes

Often companies, having spent significant amounts to attract customers, do not get what they were striving for.

After analyzing their activities, the following errors are revealed:

Many errors can be identified without much difficulty - analyze your activities. Business needs constant study and observation - this contributes to the timely identification of problems and increases the chances of their rapid elimination.

In order to avoid such mistakes, you can always use the help of specialists. And you should start with checking the work of your site - a professional audit.