Marketing Tips to Boost Customers and Profits

Attracting an audience brings in new business and raises your bottom line.

Promotion is an ongoing battle, both for small businesses that have just opened their doors and big companies that are profiting millions annually and everything in between, but it doesn’t have to be a hard fight.

While every business has its own set of needs, there are many tried and true tactics to turn to for encouraging growth. Strategies involving raising awareness, generating demand, and offering promotional pricing can bring revenue up to the next level.

While working for a grocery store expanding into new territory, I’ve taken part in each of these same tactics that work for smaller businesses or other industries.

Get the word out

Encouraging people to engage with a business for the first time and raise awareness of it is an important first step in expanding a customer base.

Efforts like offering free trials or refunds to any dissatisfied customers may feel like an easy way to lose money but think of it as an investment. Consumers tend to stick to brands and products that they know and may be uneasy about trying something new. Making it low-risk will encourage them to do so.

Free samples are universally successful and can be applied in most every industry, like offering the first month free subscription services or mailing out trial-sized versions of products.

Most people are used to seeing free samples at the grocery store. It’s a great way to sell more of a new or promoted product.

As well as encouraging consumers to try something new, giving free samples may increase the desire to buy a product that wasn’t originally being shopped for.

A study done by Snack Factory that included giving away samples of their Pretzel Chip showed that at least a quarter of those who tried the sample ended up buying the product.

Introducing potential customers to the brand is a great stepping stone into expansion and encouraging further expansion through word of mouth.

Create a presence

Giving your brand an image is vital to bringing customers in and keeping them coming back.

Recognizable logos, slogans, and anything that will make a business stand out will put it in the mind of consumers. When people are already aware of a brand, they’ll be more likely to choose it when they’re ready to make a purchase.

Advertisements are a great way to get out there, but it’s not the only way to make a brand recognizable. Creating a memorable experience for guests is vital.

Since shopping happens in person and online, assessing a customer’s experience on both fronts is important to creating a good experience.

Online, a user-friendly, easy-to-navigate space is key.

In person, creating a memorable guest experience can look like having greeters by the entrance, ensuring that there’s always someone around to help, and keeping registers well-staffed.

Something that sets my place of employment apart is always having someone available to help cashiers with bagging groceries and offering to take them outside for a customer. It’s a service that most grocery stores don’t offer, and that makes us stand out. It’s especially important in new territories where we’re surrounded by competitors.

Generate demand

Creating a sense of urgency to buy encourages customers to take action.

Putting limits on availability, including offering a limited run of a product or a limited-time sale, will push consumers to buy faster.

A lot of creating demand comes down to showing potential customers that there are lots of people already happy with the product. When a product is low in stock, people see that it has lots of buyers. Advertising with positive reviews and consumer-made content will demonstrate the same thing and push people to make a purchase.

Use promotional pricing

Sales are a great way to attract attention.

As mentioned in the context of generating demand for a product, limited-time offers create a sense of urgency to buy.

Potential customers are also attracted to a business that feels more personal. This can be done by crafting a relationship with customers, using tools like exclusive offers and rewards programs.

Money earned off of large purchases for loyalty program members and weekly savings for non-members are both offerings that have seen great success at my store.

Getting attention paves the road to getting business.

Increasing the company’s presence in the public mind and encouraging engagement will push an increase in sales. Keeping in mind what consumers respond to best will take a business far.