If you Google search the phrase ‘How to Grow a business’ right now, you’re probably going to find posts talking about satisfying your customers, hiring the right people, reducing risks/costs, and stuff like that. While these things are, no doubt, effective tips, they are presented in a scattergun approach.
They don’t give you a definite plan to follow. Should you hire more personnel or focus on generating more website traffic? Maybe you need to first concentrate on raising more revenue, and then later you can think of boosting brand reputation.
To get good results, you need to apply the right tips strategically. And that’s the reason we created this post – to teach business owners strategic tips to grow their businesses.
Tips to boost your business growth
A) Grow in terms of revenue: I.E. Tips to grow your business revenue
Intro: When a business owner desires growth, the first thing to target is immediate revenue. That is, to increase the cash inflow. Only after this can you start thinking of growth in terms of scaling up (expanding office space or hiring more labor), building a bigger reputation, etc. Do you feel me?
List of tips:
1) Product bundles: Apple is giving away a pair of Airpods with a Macbook Air/Pro or an iPad Air/Pro on education pricing. I’m sure this is getting you thinking about getting that new laptop you’ve been eyeing.
That’s how you create bundles and increase that damn revenue. It’s human psychology to get attracted to 2 products for the price of one.
2) Sales: People love discounts, even if it’s a tiny one, and they do set aside some of their disposable income to splurge on major sales. Grab the opportunity to shine. Make use of occasions like Labor Day, Black Friday, or just a random stock clearance sale to boost revenue whenever you’re having a dull business moment.
3) Pricing: Price and quality go hand in hand. If you have a pricey product, make sure the quality surpasses the expectations as per the price. Customers always connect high pricing to quality products. Thus, you must deliver the perceived value of your product in accordance with the price.
4) Constantly evolve your USP (Unique Selling proposition): Buyers are constantly barraged with a load of options to choose from. The only way to ensure your brand never leaves their minds is to focus on a unique selling proposition. Something you have that others can’t offer them.
Look at Amazon; ever since they came to be, the company’s been growing, despite the endless numbers of competitions rising by the day. How did they manage that?
Their USP – Customer Service and Innovation. As you may well know, many of Amazon’s innovative selling propositions (free fast shipping, few click buys, etc.) have been adopted (stolen) by many competitors over the years. Yet, they still kept on creating new ones.
You, too, need to develop your brand’s USPs. That’s the way to stay ahead of the competition, stay in the mind of consumers, make more sales, and grow your business revenue.
5) Focus on Existing customers: McDonald’s has a unqiue strategy for keeping its customer base intact. You know what that is? They have strategically worked on reducing the wait time to just a couple of seconds. As a consumer, you know McDonald’s is the fastest place to get your early morning snacks. So you always prefer to head there.
A brand that listens is a brand that sells. Keep an eye out for customer feedback and work towards customer satisfaction. Retaining a loyal customer is going to pay you way more than hundreds of unsatisfied ones.
6) Customer service: Having an efficient team to back your customer queries will make them feel at home.
Engaging with needy or unhappy consumers should not be considered a duty if you want to give outstanding customer service. Rather, your team should see these customers as a way to expand your customer base.
Customers who feel that your organization is invested in their success will be more likely to return and purchase your items again. Heck, they might even refer you to their friends/family. Free PR!
7) Testimonials: Still on the subject of free PR and business revenue growth. Testimonials are another useful tool you can leverage to your business’ advantage. Since satisfied customers will always leave feedback, you want to make it a habit to capture and showcase these testimonials on all your platforms.
The more legit testimonials you can showcase to people, the more sales you’ll draw in.
8) Develop new or additional products: Product development means creating new products to sell to an existing audience. For example, a company that sells fans can expand its line to include TV and sound systems. Such a company can sell these new products to existing customers and grow its business revenue.
9) Mobile apps: Think of the number of downloads and additional cash income stream mobile apps can fetch you. Plus the comfort and ease it offers consumers while patronizing you.
According to a study conducted by McFadyen Digital, 83% of consumers claim seamless experience across devices is paramount to customer satisfaction. This means consumers are more likely to patronize you if they have your app on their phones and tablets.
10) Sustainability: Consumers (especially Gen-Z and Millennials) would pay any amount in the name of sustainability.
If your brand can come up with a way to support the environment, you can bet more sales will come in. It can be via your products outright or brand messaging.
B) Grow in terms of customer/client base: I.E. Tips to grow your business customer base (how to get more customers)
Intro: After exhausting your existing customer base, you need more customers to further grow your revenue. And that’s where the tips in this section come to play.
List of tips:
11) Have physical branches: The era of brick and mortar stores is not over yet. The experience a physical store offers is unparalleled compared to an online shopping experience. For instance, Aesop is a personal care brand that offers you a boutique experience. This physical experience makes retail shopping fun and makes you crave more.
12) Market penetration: Dunkin’, formerly known as Dunkin’ Donuts, is a confection store that initally sold just donuts and coffee. However, the team wanted to explore the market a little bit. So they dropped ‘Donuts’ from their name to penetrate further. They now have a whole lot of baked goods, sandwiches, and a wide variety of beverages on the menu.
The market penetration move enabled Dunkin’ to cater to an audience that wasn’t just into confections. Therefore, widening your product horizons is an excellent way to penetrate into an untapped market.
13) Grow your website traffic: Search Engine optimization is the rave of the moment. Your business website stands a great chance of being discovered by newer audiences with it. Therefore, it is imperative to invest in SEO.
In case you missed the update, Search Engine Land confirmed that Organic Search (SEO) Drives 51% of Website Traffic.
You know what that means? That 5 out of every 10 persons that visit your business website come from search engines. It’s pretty obvious then that you need SEO to get newer customers.
Besides SEO, other methods of boosting a site’s traffic include referral marketing, display advertising, pay-per-click advertising, guest blogging, content marketing, Google My Business (Local SEO), online directory listings, etc.
All these can help attract the necessary traffic to your website and build a community.
14) Grow your social media presence: Not having social media is equivalent to your business not being legitimate. Be it on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter; a social media presence can bring you a whole new segment of customers that you weren’t even going to target initially.
15) Public Relations: Maintaining healthy ties with influencers or content creators can successfully convert their audience into yours. For instance, Daniel Wellington works aggressively with influencers to market their watches. As a result, it has been able to establish itself as a people’s brand, and one would kill to get their hands on a DW watch.
