15 Foolproof Strategies to Attract More Customers to Your Business

As a business owner, one of your main goals is to attract more customers to your company and increase your sales — which is undoubtedly easier said than done!

One of the critical problems is that, when looking into how to get customers, you come across a myriad of tips, strategies, and formulas you can implement. So many that it can feel overwhelming trying to cut through the noise and find the ones that will actually work for you and your business.

We’ll try not to make that same mistake. Promise! 😉

In this piece, we’ve put together fifteen foolproof, broad-appeal strategies to attract customers no matter your company’s size, niche, or budget and organized them in a simple-to-follow format you can use as a reference moving forward.

Let’s dive in!

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1. Leverage Video Content

When it comes to solutions to attract more customers to your business, video content is undoubtedly one of the best places to start.

Yeah, Yeah… Ignore the giant Bias Elephant in the room for a second, please. He’s just here to deliver a few facts and figures to back us up 😋

By any metric you look at it, video has proven to draw more attention than other types of content, and most people prefer to engage with the medium because it’s both entertaining and informative.

It’s no wonder, then, that one of the most significant benefits of leveraging video content like explainer videos is precisely that it helps raise brand awareness, discoverability, and conversion rates.

Unlike text, video requires almost no effort on the viewer’s part — a person has to simply click play, sit back, and enjoy. Moreover, you get to tailor your message with the tone and delivery you know your audience would prefer and develop pieces that tackle specific marketing goals (like lead generation!).

All of that combined ends up in a medium that’s perfect for bringing more eyes to your online presence and ultimately prompting them into action.

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(Check out our list of video marketing agencies that can help you develop the perfect video for your business!)

2. Become a Reference in Your Industry

Showcasing industry expertise allows you to generate interest in your business and helps you make a good first impression that attracts more customers. One of the best-known strategies to position yourself as an expert in your niche is by starting a blog to deliver quality educational content tied to your business’s main activity.

Ahem, like this post 🙄 (*adjust their bowtie nervously, and tries not to look directly at the invisible camera*).

Jokes aside, in-depth blog posts can give you a great way to provide information that attracts and helps your customers at the early stages of their buyer’s journey, priming them to come back to you once they are ready for a purchase. Just create content that answers specific questions about the industry, explains market trends or specific solutions for your audience, and you’ll be on the right track.

3. Diversify Your Content

There’s no denying that videos and blogs are great tools to attract more customers to your business thanks to online portfolios, but they’re not the only option with great potential. Podcasts have become an increasingly popular medium to connect with new audiences as of late, and it only makes sense when you think about it.

As primarily audio pieces, Podcasts allow people to consume content while carrying out their daily activities. They can listen to a podcast while walking the dog, at the gym, or while enjoying a doughnut after they go to the gym.

What? It can’t be just Yum Yum Videos that does that!

Anyways, podcasting can help you build deeper and more meaningful relationships with prospects who can start a friendly voice to go along with the brand. And let’s face it, most of us prefer learning more about the people we do business with!

Even if you don’t want to commit to podcasting just yet, there are thousands of opportunities to be a guest on other podcasts related to your niche, such as those focused on branding for small businesses. Together with the right podcasting audience, your expertise could definitely attract more business and increase your sales!

4. Offer Discounts, Sales, and Freebies

If you’re wondering about how to get customers in a more straightforward way, you can’t go wrong with tried and true deals and discounts. They’re seen as an opportunity that can’t be missed, so they tend to convince people to at least take a look at what you are offering. Once there, it’s easier to convince them to take something home.

Show of hands, who here hasn’t checked out a company catalog solely because they hear a promotion is going on? Yeah, not many hands in the air at the office either.

The best part is that you don’t have to go crazy with the discounts and freebies. You can offer a coupon for the first purchase when a new visitor signs up for your newsletter, a free one-month trial of a service, or a free version of a piece of software but with limited features.

Bargains like these can attract customers who need a small push in the right direction to check your company out.

5. Organize a Giveaway or a Contest

You’ve probably seen it all over Instagram and Facebook: “tag a friend in the comments for a chance to win this.” It might seem too common and overused, but giveaways have become that popular because they work really well to attract customers.

Offering free stuff always catches people’s attention, but what makes giveaways different?

Well, they increase your visibility and scope by reaching people who might not have heard about you or people who wouldn’t have considered buying from you through social shares.

People like freebies, but they love winning and beating other contestants even more. So, ask your existing customers to complete some sort of challenge and invite their friends to participate as well! In short, consider running a contest if you want to up your game (pun definitively intended).

6. Create an Affiliate Program

Affiliate marketing is a more structured way of offering rewards than discounts or giveaways. In your affiliate marketing program, people would earn a commission or other benefits by promoting your product or service or by bringing in more customers.

One of the greatest benefits of affiliate programs is that the bulk of the promotional efforts lies on your affiliates, who have to come up with their own creative ways of promoting your company.

There’s also very little risk of loss because payments are only made when there’s an actual conversion. So even small businesses on a tight budget can benefit from them!

7. Get Listed on Popular Local Directories

If you’re a small business owner, you have probably asked yourself how do you attract customers to buy your product without breaking the bank. Probably more than once. Luckily, in this era of digital marketing, there’s an inexpensive and easy way to do so!

Having a profile on a few online business directories like Google or Yahoo Local represents a great marketing opportunity for local businesses on a tight budget; they’re completely free, very easy to set up, and often have a real, noticeable impact on your discoverability.

Prospects tend to become frustrated when they can’t find a way to contact you, and this might push them to move on to the next competitor on their list. That’s something we definitely want to avoid!

By making sure your business features on relevant local directories in your community can not only help more people learn about your business but lead them to check out the rest of your online presence and lead to improved sales.

8. Get on ‘Google My Business’

The next step up after local directories, we have GMB.

Google is the dominant search engine in the world, and it presents local businesses with a unique opportunity to attract new customers for free. Claiming your listings on Google My Business profile gets your business in front of people who are actively searching for services like yours in their area.

Well, digitally in front… you know what we mean.

If you go a step further and optimize your listing, Google might even push your company closer to the top of the results and promote you to potential customers.

The profile is very intuitive to set up, but core things to consider include listing the physical location of your business as well as the area you serve, opening hours, active phone numbers, and a link to your website or social media so that potential customers can reach you in multiple ways.

9. Build Your Social Media Presence

When you want to attract more customers, social media is one of the most obvious places to go nowadays.

It’s where everyone is hanging out, after all!

Nurturing a social media presence offers you several avenues and opportunities to attract more customers and grow your business – anyone who finds you on those platforms can get instantly familiar with your brand and products. However, companies have to be consistent and strategic with their content when it comes to social channels.

For example, you can post photos or videos about your products, get feedback through comments, or provide customer service via messages. But you have to do it all on a regular basis.

Engaging with customers builds brand loyalty and increases the chances of your content, and therefore, your company, reaching new audiences in their newsfeeds.

10. Improve Your Website’s Rankings

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of improving your website to ensure it shows up on the initial result page of search engines. In simple terms, with SEO, you can increase your chances of your site being found and clicked upon when searching for specific keywords related to your niche.

Some common SEO practices you can start with involve using your relevant keywords on headings and descriptions, using URLs that are easy to read, writing keyword-optimized descriptions for the images and videos on your website, and so on.

By targeting search queries that people are already looking for, you can attract new business while you sleep!

That said, SEO can be as complex as your time and budget allow, so we recommend taking this only as a very basic starting point and moving up from there into more complex strategies.

11. Get to Know Your Ideal Customer

Placing your product or service in front of the right audience is, quite obviously, crucial in order to attract more business. But to do that efficiently and effectively, you must get to know your ideal customer like the back of your hand, to tailor your strategy around it.

You’ve probably done a lot of market research already and have data from current customers such as their demographics, pain points, behavior patterns, motivations, goals, and so on.

If you haven’t, there are plenty of online tools that can provide such data. We do live in the age of information, after all!

Use all of this information to create carefully targeted marketing campaigns that adapt to your audience’s preferences and needs, and that will increase the chances of your brand crossing paths with the exact type of customers you’d be most interested in.

12. Learn from Your Competitors

Pay attention to what other businesses in your niche are doing and figure out the techniques that help them land new customers. Then, tweak and adapt them to suit your company and save your company the elevated costs of experimental marketing.

Another option is to discover what they often struggle with, be it customer service or delivery times, and use the feedback from their clients to transform your business into a well-oiled machine that will certainly attract more customers.

One caveat, though: take this advice with a huge pinch of salt! 🤨

Some strategies might work at different scopes, even if we are talking about the same industry or type of product. What’s more, some strategies wouldn’t work as well on their own without the support of other efforts a company undertakes.

So, pay attention to what’s working for your competitors, but take it only as a reference to inform your own strategy, not as a blueprint to follow.

13. Encourage Customer Reviews

People trust “word-of-mouth” when it comes to checking out a brand or trying out a product, and its online equivalent, customer reviews, are just as effective. Having reviews can be what sets you apart from the competition because people will tend to prefer buying from a brand that has a high number of positive reviews, and others can find your product by looking for reviews as well.

Loyal customers are an invaluable source of positive reviews, so don’t be afraid to encourage them to give feedback on their purchases!

Reaching them via email a few days after their purchase and asking about their satisfaction regarding the product and their buying experience can be a fantastic, budget-friendly way to prompt them to provide a review or recommendation.

14. Develop a Referral Program

Asking existing customers to refer your business to prospects in exchange for incentives can increase your trustworthiness, credibility, scope, and reach — all crucial components of effective selling and strategies for attracting more customers. A good referral program can be of big help to businesses of all sizes.

The program should encourage your loyal customers to share your brand with their friends, colleagues, and family members. You should typically offer a reward like a small discount or gift card in exchange for their effort.

15. Improve Customer Service

Any interactions with your customers, existing or potential ones alike, equates to an opportunity to land or retain customers, which is why you should try to improve your customer service if you want to attract more customers.

Most business owners believe that having short response times is all that matters, but making communication as natural as possible, being polite, and showing empathy is just, if not more, important when it comes to customer satisfaction.

If you want to attract more customers, one of your main objectives has to be maintaining fluid and responsive communication.

Pay attention and always listen to your customers; it will be the thing that often sets you apart from the competition.

The Takeaway

To increase your sales, you need to attract more customers first — easy peasy, right? It certainly takes hard work and dedication, but I’m sure you’re no stranger to that!

It can definitely look like an overwhelming task from the outset, but you’ve reached the end of this piece, which hopefully means that you now have some great ideas and inspirations for a good place to start.

With patience, we promise that things will get easier and you’ll start seeing positive results!