So how can you get customers to call you?

There is no one way of doing this but below details a number of ways that will help expand your brand awareness and generate new leads online.

Understand your target audience

When you’ve set up a business or been running it for a long time, it is easy to assume your target audience. Before you can hope to increase sales, you need to truly understand who your customers are. Do you really know who they are, and what their expectations are? 

Conducting market research is key here, finding a gap in the market and giving your product or service a competitive edge. Or you could simply ask your current customers why they buy from you. Conduct a survey with a few key questions and really find out why they chose to buy from you. 

Content

Once you’ve discovered (or in some cases rediscovered) your target audience, you can begin creating content directed at particular pain points your customers encounter. AKA, start blogging. Topics could be the gap in the market you discovered in your market research or difficulties outlined in your customer surveys.

If you’re thinking ‘I already publish regular content, but it isn’t working’ analyse the style of content your posting. Is it about you, what your company does and why a customer should buy it - you could have found your problem. This is called ‘company-centric’ marketing, and will not engage your readers. Instead switch to ‘customer-centric’ marketing, where the topics of your blog or article focus on a particular problem that you know your customers face, and your product solves. 

Regular content that is engaging will improve your company branding and awareness. If you share the content on social media and send it to all your contacts by way of a newsletter, your content has the potential to reach more clients than ever before, and be shared numerous times over.

Networking

Go out and meet new clients! Update your LinkedIn profile. Both of these options are simple enough.  Nothing gets across a passion for a product or service that seeing it in person, and as it is your business, you’ll be able to speak passionately with ease. Attending networking events or trade exhibitions allows you to meet a completely new group of potential clients and customers, all of whom are willing to discuss your product or service. 

LinkedIn is also a powerful tool for networking. Whether you’re using it to reconnect with old acquaintances, or connecting with new prospects. If you haven’t already, posting information from your business page on LinkedIn will reach more than just your followers. Not only can you post information but you can find prospective customers, searching for people with specific job titles, or by location, and target content at your customers. This is a paid marketing tool but is a great way to get in front of your customer base.

A honey pot

Or advertise it on your website and social media pages, send out an offer that your customers can’t refuse. A free trial for example, or free download. Entice customers to come to you! But be careful, make sure that what you’re offering is worthy. Likewise, on your website, add a clear and concise call to actions. For example, on a web design website ‘build your website now’ or ‘get a free consultation now’ - you get the idea. 

Get your customers hooked on the quality of your service. 

When customers are looking for a new product or service, it can be extremely difficult for them to know who to choose. You can bet there are other companies offering the exact same product or service as you. Give them a reason to pick you!

Testimonials

You’re already selling to someone - are they singing your praises whenever they call? It is always worth asking your customers to write a testimonial if they are satisfied with your service. Positivity generates positivity. 

Over 90 per cent of customers will read testimonials when deciding whether to purchase. Positive testimonials build trust and reputation, and when attracting new customers this is an important stage in the buyer’s journey. If you haven’t already, ask your customers for testimonials and dedicate a place on your website to showcase them all. Make them easily accessible for new customers to read. 

Final thoughts

Getting customers to call you can be a laborious task, but it isn’t impossible. It’s all about raising awareness of your product/service and understanding your target audience. Implement these strategies and test their performance. Some will resonate better with your customers, so focus your efforts on those. 

The first and most important step is to understand your audience.