Related Articles
In today’s highly competitive market, acquiring and retaining new customers is a top priority for any business. However, many businesses struggle with the costs associated with marketing and advertising efforts to attract new customers.
Fortunately, there are low-cost strategies businesses can implement to acquire and retain new customers without breaking the bank. These strategies not only help businesses save money, but they are also highly effective in building brand awareness, increasing customer engagement and driving sales. Below, Rolling Stone Culture Council members share 11 low-cost strategies any business can implement to acquire and retain new customers.
Build Key Relationships
Building relationships is not only a low-cost strategy but a free tool that all businesses need to leverage if they want to succeed. In today’s instant-gratification-based business models, it is easy to stand out and build loyal clients if you make strong connections and relationships a core business tenet. Long-term client retention is likely if you are a business partner and not a transaction. – Nathan Green, New Level Radio
Use Direct Mail
Traditional marketing, such as direct mail, can be a low-cost marketing solution with the potential for a high return on investment. Cards or flyers promoting sales, discounts and other announcements can be delivered directly to potential customers for much cheaper than large-scale digital campaigns. The local post office also provides free tools to find potential customers and local printers. – Ashley Deese, Naturalist’s Guide
Engage With Your Current Customers
Connect to your network in a genuine way that keeps your brand top of mind. We often underestimate the number of people we know and overestimate the number of people who know what it is we actually do. It’s OK to remind them. Ask a happy customer to share their experience. Acknowledge a client milestone on social media. Write a handwritten thank-you note. Gratitude and reciprocity are free. – Traci DeForge, Produce Your Podcast
Provide Value Through Education and Entertainment
You can attract new clients to your business and keep them engaged over time by providing content that educates, entertains or inspires your target audience. Blog entries, social media updates, videos, podcasts and other types of material can all be used to create this content. The key to this technique is to make sure your material is useful and relevant to your target audience. – Theo Sastre-Garau, NFTevening
Launch an Ambassador Program
Develop an ambassador program for individuals to sell your product for a commission. The network effect of passionate representatives building communities around your brand using their social channels gives you relevance and urgency. It scales your customer base and increases revenue, which will more than cover the commissions the ambassadors have earned. – Michael Klein, cannabisMD
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
Give Rewards Instead of Discounts
If you’re a direct-to-consumer business, don’t give discounts! Not only do they cut your profits, but they also lower your brand value. Instead, give reward points or cash back, which your customers can claim after repeated purchases (usually two to three purchases). This increases brand loyalty and profits as your customers pay full value and are retained in the long run. – Candice Georgiadis, Digital Day
Provide Personalized Human Interaction
Because CRMs can be expensive, companies shouldn’t underestimate the value of creating ideal customer personas, refining messaging and providing personalized (and personal) human contact. This ensures your efforts are well-channeled. It’s about recognizing human contact’s efficacy over sales pitches. – Jacob Mathison, Mathison Projects Inc.
Agree to Speaking Engagements
Offer to speak on a panel or host a local event. Many people are afraid to speak in front of groups, but it’s more effective to direct your messaging to a large group of people. Collect business cards from the events and follow up. People are more likely to remember you if you were the speaker. – Summer Westerbur, Kairos Insurance Group Cannabis Division
Focus on Doing Great Work
All of my firm’s clients for the first several years came strictly from word-of-mouth. You can, of course, encourage your clients to tell their professional connections about your work and offer incentives to customers who refer friends — doing good work should be the priority, though. Impress a client enough and they are going to want to spread the word about your business no matter what. – Evan Nison, NisonCo
Use Content Marketing
Content marketing is a cost-effective way of reaching potential customers, building relationships and convincing them to purchase. Content marketing provides valuable information about the company, showcases its expertise and establishes trust with potential customers. Additionally, it can help businesses reach existing customers by providing them with continuous updates. – Kristin Marquet, Marquet Media, LLC
Send a Direct Message
Reaching out to customers by cold direct messaging them never goes out of style. Why? Because it’s highly cost-effective and there is really no limit to finding new customers across platforms this way. – Christian Anderson (Trust’N), Lost Boy Entertainment LLC
