Technologies on Customer Engagement

Buyers are the key to every business’s success. That is how much people are interested in your product or service that determines the speed of business development and increased profits. Therefore, specialists have long been looking for and inventing various ways to attract customers. Some of them, more traditional ones, are familiar to most businessmen, and some are just starting to enter into practice. In this article, we tried to cover all possible ways to attract new customers and describe their features.

Ways to attract customers: and three main areas

Attracting customers can be carried out in a number of ways, which are usually divided into three groups. The first group – active techniques based on the focused activities of the company; the second is passive, the meaning of which is to create the prerequisites for the client to come to the company; the third – combined, combining the features of the previous ones.

Active customer acquisition

Such methods of attracting customers to the company are based on the work of employees who carry out active advertising activities.

To do this, they collect databases of people who, for whatever signs, are defined as potential customers. Personally or by telephone, these people are provided with information about the company, various services are offered, etc.

For customer acquisition to be successful, employees must be proficient in the art of communication and have a comprehensive understanding of their company. To improve work efficiency, employees are often sent to courses, conduct various exams and encourage.

Active ways to attract customers are used everywhere by firms of various profiles. This type of advertising has established itself as bringing a certain result. However, new methods of attraction appear, the effect of which is sometimes much higher, for example, Internet marketing.

Passive customer acquisition

This group includes ways to attract potential customers in which sellers do not play a leading role. This includes almost all types of advertising, including on the Internet.

Advertising on the Internet includes several ways – contextual advertising, promotion in search engines, social networks, etc. And with the correct introduction of such advertising methods into the practice of a company, the results are sometimes overwhelming.

It is hard to imagine that a business is actively developing without the use of any advertising media.

One can only say unequivocally that it is quite possible to attract people’s attention without using the labor of sellers. A number of goods and services are much more rationally promoted in other ways. And for online stores, for example, it’s generally difficult to find adequate ways to actively attract customers.

Combined customer acquisition

Practice shows that it is best to combine active and passive ways to attract new customers. And even if active methods work quite productively, creating a website will never harm the image of the company.

Although, of course, you need to approach the creation of the site wisely. The site will not work like a business card, which already by its existence informs the person to whom it was handed over the business line and telephone of the company. If the site is poorly made and without taking into account the specifics of online advertising, its attendance will be minimal, and the effectiveness of attracting customers will simply be zero. Global Network users are accustomed to high-quality content and professional execution of the sites of large and successful companies. Therefore, for the method of attracting customers through the site to work, you will have to meet high requirements.

It is clear that the same methods with different uses will have different effects. A professional and competent seller will always attract more customers, as well as a beautiful high-quality website. We can say that every way to attract customers may disappoint you, or it may please you.

The most effective ways to attract customers

Advertising. Here we talk about the most common methods of attracting customers. Traditionally, firms advertise in the media. Advertising on television and radio continues to show great effectiveness, especially if it is created professionally. A much smaller effect is shown by advertising in newspapers and with the help of printing products. The audience’s interest in this kind of message is minimal. Newspaper ads are ignored, and leaflets are most often thrown into the bin. New – and undoubtedly effective – distribution channels for advertising include the Internet. Along with television and radio advertising, this channel of advancement in the 21st century is becoming one of the main ones.

Billboards. Ways to attract customers through outdoor advertising can work very productively if you choose their location and meaning. First of all, the billboard should indicate the direction to the store, as if recalling its existence. You can specify in which shopping center, on which floor it is located. If we talk about information on a billboard, most often these are images of popular goods, as well as discounts and promotions. In a word, you should prefer the information that most affects the interests of the potential buyer.

Providing discounts on goods. One of the most reliable ways to attract attention. In this case, the “bait” is the reduction in the cost of goods, thanks to which the buyer can save a lot. Since most buyers pay attention to the price of goods, discounts always increase the number of purchases. A symbolic price reduction is also used (price tags with numbers 99, 999, which give the impression of a profitable purchase).

Organization at a point of sale shares. Many stores use ways to attract potential customers through promotions. This can be a global reduction in prices for a certain group of goods, promotions such as “buy goods and get the second for free”, gifts for a certain purchase amount, etc. Promotions are aimed at attracting a flow of visitors to the store, as they provide them with real benefits in the form of an additional purchase. Sometimes the desire to get something for free is so strong that people buy goods that they have not used before.

Distribution of flyers. This method helps to disseminate information about any action and encourage more potential customers to participate in it. To do this, colorful leaflets are created that tell about the conditions for receiving gifts or bonuses during the campaign period. To distribute flyers, companies use the services of promoters who distribute them to passers-by. Promoters can pronounce a special text or dress up in costumes that match the theme of the action.

Demonstration of your product and its benefits. This way of attracting new customers is based on the personal acquaintance of potential buyers with the benefits of the product. Here the expression “better to see once than hear a hundred times” works. If during a public demonstration of the qualities of an object, people are convinced of its usefulness, they will be more likely to acquire it in the future.

Planned price cuts. This is one of the standard types of attention-grabbing campaigns that firms arrange to remind themselves from time to time.

Holding various exhibitions or presentations. This method is especially relevant for those companies whose customers are various firms. By inviting representatives of companies with whom you would like to establish relationships, you can show them your product on the beneficial side and lay the foundation for cooperation.

Distribution of various commercial offers can also be called a frequent practice of companies in the field of b2b. A well-written text of a commercial proposal should clearly and concisely state information about the conditions and benefits of possible cooperation.

Creating your own customer base, taking into account various characteristics of customers. Thanks to this, you can determine the audience of a particular action or offer and get the maximum effect from the information distributed through calls and newsletters.

Cold calls. There are ways to attract customers to the company based on direct interaction. In this case, an employee of the company makes a call to a certain base of potential buyers according to a “script” (scenario). The “script” should contain information about the conditions and terms of a proposal. The goal of the calls is to awaken a person’s desire to take part in the action.

Instead of a conclusion, why ways to attract customers do not work for you

1. Too wide audience reach. In this case, the businessman tries to spread his advertising to as many people as possible, without thinking about whether they are his potential buyers. He spends money on various ways to attract customers to the company and at the same time does not get any result.

Here one of the main rules of advertising is violated – careful selection of the audience. You can be successful only with those people who initially need your services.

2. Shifting responsibilities to attract customers to employees. The fact is that the business owner, in this case, is the most interested person, and it is he who must manage the advertising.

3. Using a small number of ways to attract customers.

It happens that some advertising channel has exhausted itself and something needs to be changed, but businessmen are in no hurry to do this. In advertising, you need to be flexible and not neglect new trends.

4. It is thoughtless to use new ways to attract potential customers whose effectiveness has not been proven.

There are a number of proven ways of advertising, but often new ones appear that may be suitable for you or not.

It is most reasonable to try new methods, investing little money in them. After checking the effectiveness, you can include them in a permanent arsenal.

5. Do not keep track of the effectiveness of advertising. Reporting is needed in order to track how many customers come to you through a particular advertising distribution channel. This information can help you determine the most working ways to attract customers and use them in the future and eliminate ineffective methods. This way you can get the best advertising at a lower cost.

About the author

Melisa Marzett is famous in writing circles for her numerous articles written for different web resources. Currently working for essay-editor , she travels throughout the globe combining work and pleasure. Due to being a workaholic by nature, work is a pleasure in her case. Writing has always been her passion. Apart from that, she is into psychology, a movie enthusiast and a yoga practitioner.