5 Ways to Expand & Diversify Your Customer Base

Intro

Are you hitting a plateau in growing your customer base despite already employing a broad spectrum of marketing strategies? You're not alone.

Many marketers and business professionals are searching for the next step, a pathway to connect with new market segments. This blog explores five strategies for expanding and diversifying your customer base.

Keep reading to go beyond the basics – these solutions can help your business unlock, expand, and diversify your customer base.

Strengthen Your Online Presence

Your business likely already has an online presence with a website, search optimization strategies, and online marketing. But with a crowded digital landscape, adopting advanced strategies can significantly boost your visibility and attract a wider array of customers.

Starting with SEO, go beyond simple keyword optimization. Organize your content into topic clusters and content silos. This means creating a series of related content pieces that link back to a central pillar page, establishing your site as an authority on specific topics.

This approach can improve user experience by making information easier to find and signal to search engines your expertise in the subject matter, leading to higher rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs).

Voice search optimization is another frontier for customer acquisition as more people use voice-activated devices for Internet searches. Optimize your content for conversational keywords, phrases, and questions. These queries tend to be longer and more natural-sounding, so including these in your content can also improve your chances of ranking higher on SERPs.

For businesses with a local focus, advance your local SEO efforts by using Google Posts within your Google My Business profile. It allows you to share news, offers, and events directly in search results and on maps.

When it comes to pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and remarketing, use long-tail keywords for better targeting and higher conversion rates. These keywords are more specific and less competitive, which can lower costs per click and lead to higher conversion rates.

Dynamic remarketing takes this a step further by showing potential customers ads that display the exact products or services they viewed on your site. This makes your ads highly personalized and more likely to convert.

Create Customer Referral Initiatives

Next, harness the power of your existing customer base to further expand and diversify your audience. Implementing customer referral initiatives turns your satisfied customers into brand ambassadors, leveraging their networks to bring in new clientele.

First, identify the referral initiatives that align with your business model and customer base – cash rewards, discounts on future purchases, and exclusive access to new products or services. Other popular referral options include limited-time offers and rewards that scale as customers refer more people. However, also consider more creative rewards, such as donating to a charity of their choice.

The key to running a successful referral program is transparency and simplicity – your program should easily outline how to refer others and the potential rewards:

• Integrate Into Customer Experience: Seamlessly integrate the referral program into the customer journey. For instance, prompt customers to make a referral after a positive interaction with your service or product, such as after making a purchase or receiving customer support.
• Utilize Email Marketing: Send personalized email campaigns to existing customers explaining the referral program. Highlight the benefits for them and the people they refer. This can be particularly effective if you segment your email list based on customer behavior and tailor the message accordingly.
• Make Sharing Easy: Provide customers with simple tools to share their referral links via email, social media, and messaging apps. The easier it is to share, the more likely they will.
• Track and Analyze: Use referral program software or CRM tools to track referrals, successful conversions, and the overall performance of your program. This data will allow you to refine and improve your strategy over time.

Expand Into Fresh Markets

Leveraging your existing customer base through referral initiatives offers a solid foundation for growth. But you can build on this by expanding into fresh markets to further broaden and diversify your audience.

Start by collaborating with other businesses in complementary or adjacent industries. These partnerships can lead to cross-promotions where exclusive bundles or discounts are offered to customers who shop from both platforms, effectively tapping into new segments with potential.

Similarly, your business can collaborate with influencers who wield considerable power in shaping consumer preferences and decisions. A targeted collaboration can help your business capture the influencer's following, many of whom may not have been within your original customer base.

By collaborating with similar businesses and influencers, you engage them with tailored offerings that meet their specific needs and interests. This approach increases your visibility across different markets and builds upon the trust and reliability established by the businesses or influencers you’re collaborating with.

Provide Flexible Financing Options

As you broaden your range of products or services, providing flexible financing options makes your offerings more accessible to a wider audience, including those who may be interested but hesitant due to upfront costs. By easing the financial burden, you not only attract new customers but also enhance the purchasing power of your existing ones.

Offering a variety of financing options, such as Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), lease-to-own, installment loans, and deferred interest loans, caters to the diverse financial situations of your customers. These options include.

When looking to offer consumer financing options, many businesses partner with a Software as a Service (SaaS) provider with a turnkey solution. Here's what to look for in a SaaS partner:

• Partners With a Large, Reputable Lender Network: Choose a SaaS provider with a broad network of reputable lenders. More lenders often translate to more opportunities for your customers and clients to find a financing solution that works for them.
• Provides Industry-Specific Solutions: Opt for a provider that offers solutions tailored to your specific industry. This ensures the financing options are relevant to your business and customers' purchasing habits.
• Has Variety in Financing Options and Competitive Rates: A provider whose lender network offers a spectrum of financing options, amounts, competitive rates, and promotional offers will enable you to cater to a broad audience and make your offerings more attractive.
• Caters to Diverse Credit Profiles: Ensure the SaaS provider's lender network accommodates a wide range of consumer credit profiles. This inclusivity maximizes the potential customer base that can benefit from financing.
• Offers Easy Integration: The SaaS provider should offer software that integrates easily into your business’s existing workflows, allowing your customers to request financing directly in-store or on your website.

Explore Cold Calling as a Strategy

For additional personalization, cold calling allows your business to expand its customer base by addressing specific needs in real-time. This direct method of outreach enables you to tailor your pitch and quickly respond to objections, laying the groundwork for a successful customer acquisition strategy.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to cold call:

• Identify Your Prospects: Start by defining your ideal customer profile to target the most promising prospects. Utilize business directories, LinkedIn, industry forums, and existing networks to compile a list of potential clients who would benefit from your products or services.

• Craft a Compelling Script: A good cold calling script serves as a roadmap rather than a word-for-word monologue. It should include a strong opening statement that captures attention, highlights the value your business can provide, and poses questions that engage the prospect in a conversation. Personalize the script for different segments of your target market to address their specific challenges and needs.

• Handle Objections Gracefully: Anticipate common objections and prepare responses that address concerns while steering the conversation back to the benefits of your offering. The key is to listen actively, validate the prospect's concerns, and provide information that alleviates these concerns.

• Set Clear Goals: Define what success looks like for each call – whether it's setting up a meeting, getting permission to send more information, or making a sale. Setting goals helps to measure the effectiveness of your cold-calling efforts.

If your business already uses cold calling, here are some strategies that can enhance its effectiveness in attracting new clients:

• Personalize Your Approach: Use information about the prospect to personalize your call. Mentioning a recent company achievement, commenting on a mutual connection, or referencing a relevant industry trend can make the call feel more relevant and less intrusive.
• Timing is Key: Research the best times to call your target industry. For some, early morning might work best; for others, late afternoon. Avoid calling during known busy times, like lunch hours or Monday mornings.
• Leverage Social Media for Warm-Up: Before calling, connect with potential prospects on social media platforms like LinkedIn. Engage with their content to get your name recognized. A warm introduction increases the likelihood of a successful cold call.
• Follow Up Without Being Pushy: If a prospect expresses interest but isn't ready to commit, ask for permission to follow up. Schedule a specific time and date for the follow-up and stick to it. This shows respect for their time and keeps your business on their radar.
• Use Technology to Your Advantage: Implementing call tracking and analysis tools can help you refine your approach by identifying patterns in successful calls. These insights can be invaluable for training purposes and for enhancing your overall strategy.

Final Thoughts

By embracing advanced online strategies, fostering robust customer referral programs, and expanding into new markets, businesses can significantly increase their visibility and reach. These efforts not only enhance customer acquisition but also solidify long-term growth and customer loyalty in a competitive digital landscape.