When you think about advertising your business, you probably think about using various paid marketing options, such as putting up billboards in your area or hiring a digital marketing agency. Even though it is true that these types of advertising — and many more — can be great for promoting your business, you should know that there is one form of advertising that can be highly effective and that can be very affordable: encouraging your customers to market your business for you as unpaid marketers. These are a few ways that you can do so.
Provide the Best Possible Customer Service
Customer clienteling involves doing what you can to provide your customers with a positive, customized experience each time that they visit your business. There are even software programs that you can use that can help you focus on this. By investing in one of these programs and doing what you can to develop relationships with your customers while providing them with the best customer service that you can each time that they patronize your business, you can help encourage them to not only return to your business time and time again but also to tell their loved ones about their experience. If people know that they can count on your business to provide them with a great experience, then they might just let others know about their experiences as well.
Give Away Promotional Items
Ordering promotional items like T-shirts, customized bags and even customized magnets, pens and calendars can all be good ideas. Buying these products can be surprisingly affordable, and you can customize them so that they feature your company’s name and logo. Then, you can give these items out to your loyal customers as gifts. Your customers are sure to appreciate the gesture — after all, many people love getting things for free, particularly when they are items that they can use on a daily basis — and they can then advertise your business each time that they use these items in public or around their family members or friends.
Encourage Online Reviews
A lot of people look at online reviews nowadays when determining whether or not to give a business a try. If your business does not have a lot of online reviews, then potential customers might choose to go with a competitor that does. Simply letting your customers know about what major websites your business is listed on and asking them to share their experiences with your business on this website can be a good way to encourage your happy customers to leave reviews about their experiences.
Share Interesting Things on Social Media
Using your social media page is a great way to bring in new customers, and it’s also a great way to encourage your existing followers to share the word about your business at the same time. For example, if you share interesting or funny posts on major social media networks, your followers may choose to share these posts with their own followers. In no time, this can help you greatly increase your company’s exposure.
Offer a Referral Program
If you have not yet thought about implementing a referral program within your place of business, now is the time to give it a try. For example, you could offer to give your customers a gift card or a free month of service in exchange for referring one of their friends to your business. This can be a good way to offer a great perk for your customers while encouraging them to tell all of their family members and friends about what you have to offer.
As you can see, there are various ways that you can encourage your customers to market your business for you. Then, you may begin seeing more and more people showing interest in your business and the products and services that it has to offer, and you will not have to spend any extra money on advertising.
