WATCH: 6 ways to grow your business with a small customer base

File Image: IOL

File Image: IOL

Published Sep 9, 2017

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CAPE TOWN - If your business has a small customer base and you are wondering how to capitalise on it then you might find these six points helpful to try and grow your business.

1. Know your customer.

According to the National Small Business Chamber (NSBC), it is important to identify your target market. Not only by identifying the basics of the customer like age range, income or marital status but by going deeper.

In order for businesses to do this, they need to know what makes their customer tick and how many customers exist in their chosen niche market.

Businesses can do this by identifying how much and how often they need their customers to buy in order for them to reach their sales target.

2. Customise your offering.

When business owners know who their customers are, they can customise their offering.

As a business, you must be able to check what your products are and also make sure that you have enough variety in your products and services that you offer to your client.

NSBC states that if you need to you can offer complementary services to the product you sell.

"If you sell leather shoes, you could offer to sell polish and tools which can be used to keep your shoes in tip top shape," the NSBC said.

3. Solve a problem.

According to the NSBC, in a niche market, it is probably more important than in bigger markets to solve the customer's pain point.

NSBC suggests that businesses ask what its unique selling point is and if they are taking care of their customer's needs.

It is important to fulfill your customer's needs who is the cornerstone of your business.

"Furthermore, it is important to ask your customers what they want from you. You can do this through a simple survey on your website or social media page," the NSBC added.

4. Choose the correct social media channels.

Businesses have to ensure that they are on the correct social media channels.

The NSBC said: "You do not need to be on every social media channel but you should be active on at least one to ensure your products can be easily shared, liked and tweeted."

This will help a business grow its customer base as people hang around those that are like-minded and they will naturally be encouraged to buy your product through a trusted link of their friend.

5. Consider pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.

According to the NSBC, the fact that you have a niche product would make PPC marketing very useful as it will expose your product to new and existing customers.

PPC marketing is when a certain amount is paid for each time a person clicks on your advertisement when it pops up in a search engine. Marketing as PPC is specific as you can put in the keywords which are important for you product.

"Furthermore, it is cost effective and with more people using the internet to get their information, you could be missing out on a large percentage of your target market," the NSBC added.

6. Keep your product top of mind.

As a business, you have to make it easy for your customer to sign on to a newsletter.

You have to ensure that the content in the newsletter is useful and adds value to your customer.

According to the NSBC, "By giving good advice and informative content to your customer, they will be encouraged to use your product because they will know that you care about the product you are delivering."

- BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE

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