• The importance of your customer base
• Identifying your most valuable content.
• Here's how to get in front of potential new customers.

Building your customer base has never been easier. With the rise of Social Media, there are so many new and exciting ways to expand new business opportunities.

Through Business Coaching and Mentoring so many Small Business Owners to help set up, grow and evolve their Businesses, I see first hand on a daily basis the importance for each business in having a focus on building a targeted Customer Base.

Having a great product or service that you're sure many people will need and want is just the start to any business. The next step is finding your Target Audience and also making it super easy for potential customers to find you!

Usually organic business and word of mouth make up a large portion of customers however, it's important to market beyond this if you're really wanting to grow the business.

Acquisition Marketing is extremely important in gaining new customers on a regular basis, even once the business becomes established. To do this, we need to grow the Businesses Customer Base.

Below are 6 quick tips to expand your customer base through adding value to the experience you are giving your customers or clients.

Get Personal

Business and sales get a bad rap in the sense that they are seen as impersonal and one-dimensional. In fact, they are the very opposite.

Many leads and referrals can come out of networking events and workshops that require you to get a little ‘personal’ with other like-minded people. To foster personal relationships with potential customers and referral partners you meet at these events, it is pivotal to follow them up with a quick acknowledgement via social media or email.

Let them know how great it was to meet and connect with them. Asking whether you can do anything to support their business and continue to keep in touch can help to establish some really meaningful connections. These relationships often take time to create, though these same relationships will help to establish you as a reliable resource and may open the door to potential business opportunities.

Partner with a Non-Competing Business who has a Similar Target Audience

Look for other businesses that have a similar target audience and are actively marketing their business. Seeing that they are actively marketing their business indicates they’re invested in growing and will be more receptive to your partnering idea. It also shows they will be easier to work with through splitting the workload in a manner that will suit both of you.

Through partnering with businesses, you will unlock a whole new customer base and add value to your own business by having other products / services on hand to refer your clients to. These are usually reciprocal relationships, whereby helping other businesses to grow, your own will grow!

Expand on the Content your Already Providing

Look at your analytics to identify the content on your website, blog and social media platforms which have gained high engagement.

Consider the different ways you could provide further valuable content on similar topics. For example, if engagement on a particular blog post is high, think about transferring this content to a podcast episode where you will be able to expand upon it and share even more of your expertise.

Adding value to your business and the experience potential clients have in their engagement with you can easily be done by engaging them through “freemiums” like an e-Book or a free download. This will lead to capturing their email addresses, which you can then Market to via email.

Step Outside of your Comfort Zone

Get comfortable with being outside of your comfort zone. There is the cliché saying that outside of your comfort zone is where the magic happens. Truth be told, this could not be more relevant to creating success in business. You may not be comfortable with taking a step outside of your comfort zone but the more frequently you do, the better you get at it and before long, you will be unstoppable.

Running your own business is a huge discomfort for so many people, so do it in a way that suits your personality. This comes up time and time again in my Business Coaching sessions. I always create Marketing Strategies for my clients to showcase their passion, skills, message and innovation in a manner which stretches their comfort zone however is done in a way that they are happy to give it a try.

Leverage Existing Partnerships

Word-of-Mouth provides a high amount of revenue for most businesses once they are established. Referrals are your existing ambassadors for your business. Referrals usually come from existing customers, clients, suppliers and referral businesses, all of whom can become some of your greatest allies for increasing your customer base.

Have a think whether you can apply some Marketing Strategies to these categories to increase your leads and enquiries.

Showcase your Expertise

There are so many ways to get in front of potential new customers and clients to generate interest in your offerings. Social Media has made showcasing your expertise so simple and easy!

In addition, whether it’s starting a Podcast, Blog a YouTube channel or hosting regular Workshops; educating your audience about relevant topics in your state of business is essential to growing your customer base. Other ways you can do this may include creating a challenge, hosting group sessions, publishing an e-Book, speaking at a seminar, trade show or exhibition or even hosting a meet-up. All of these methods will allow you to get in front of people who are already engaged, interested and potentially ready to sign up for your product or service.

A great activity from here is to create a list of how your existing customers and clients are currently finding you. Once you’ve identified this, then have a think about how you can improve on this and put a further focus on it. The above tips are a fabulous guide on how you can begin to take action.