Growing Your Customers Organically

When you’re launching a business, expanding into a new product or location, or taking advantage of particularly profitable periods of the year, being active with business growth is crucial. Getting it out there and in the faces of the consumer can help you maximize profits and brand awareness when you need it most. Otherwise, however, taking it slow can sometimes be the wiser option. Going organic is as healthy for the business as it is for anyone. It creates long-term sustainable growth in the gaps that immediate action sometimes simply doesn’t fit.
The brand comes first
Your services and products are going to be the backbone of the business. There’s no doubt about that. But for longevity, it’s the brand that will continue to survive. Long after your methods and products have changed so that almost no aspect of the original business exists, the brand will remain consistent. It carries across the same appeal, the same value proposition, and the recognition factor that businesses need to stick around for years into the future. Start defining your business not just by what you do, but by building a brand that can stick throughout the ages. Brands help you be a lot more competitive, too. When customers can’t decide between the products or services of one company to another, it’s the branding they’ll turn to.
Be the answer to their question
The brand is just one part of a good marketing strategy. The other part is how you end up in front of them. Advertising is very effective, but not always cost-effective. It can cost a lot less and do more good in the long-term to encourage customers to find you themselves. This is organic or inbound marketing. Usually, it means positioning the business so that it’s in the way the customer already wants to take. For instance, in SEO marketing, don’t just focus on making your brand and site more likely to appear to those directly looking to make a transaction for the services or goods you provide. Look at the difference in intent behind Google searches. You can develop content that fits different intentions, such as instructions, solutions, and even simple news that makes it more likely someone who might have an interest in the business will appear on the site. If it’s share-worthy content, it can spread your brand much further than a simple advertisement.
Build that town
Sharing is keen, too. The online world is one big community and social media has become the place where that community flourishes. Having your own social media accounts and building a base of online followers is like setting up your own town. Not only does it give you the chance to chat with customers and potential leads, answering questions and providing content without aggressively marketing to them. It creates the impression that the business truly is connected with its market, and that its market truly supports it.
Be newsworthy
There’s a good reason to get your name on other people's’ tongues. First of all, newspapers, influencers, blogs, and other content providers might have a much larger audience than yours. However, finding PR opportunities also gives you the chance to create a certain legitimacy that your business might not otherwise lack. Online shoppers are naturally predisposed to doubt any business website or marketing tactic that comes directly from them. Being featured in the news (for good reasons) and having others talking about your brand adds a bit of trustworthiness that it can be hard to get on your own. For SEO purposes, getting on some truly popular sites can improve the brand’s chances of being found through Google, too.
Be a guest
You don’t have to necessarily wait for others to speak about you, other. You can do it on their behalf. Online, blogs and content sites are some of the best ways to get your name and services out there. Look for opportunities to write guest posts for blogs with lots of followers. Again, this gives you the opportunity to tap into an audience that might not know about you yet. But it’s also your chance to write content that provides real value, thus proving that there is some expertise and knowledge behind the business that makes it look like a much more legitimate proposition.
Reach out after purchase
Don’t just focus on organically growing new consumers, either. Grow repeat customers, too. The customers that come time and time again are your goldmines. If you can keep them interested and in support of the brand, they can be a huge part of your success. Having them follow you on social media is just one part of that. Appeal to them directly. Send them thank you notes and follow-up emails after their purchases. Ask if there’s any support you can offer or any feedback they can give to help you improve the business. People value their opinions a lot and many of them will value having it asked for by a business. Above all, champion customer success and your own is a lot more likely to follow.
Engage word-of-mouth
The word of a happy customer is worth its weight in gold when it comes to growing an audience and creating a market share for yourself. Word-of-mouth marketing comes in a lot of forms. It might come as a result of creating content or a marketing strategy that ends up going viral. It might be as simple as asking your customers to write good reviews and testimonials. It might even take the form of a referral rewards system that further incentivizes sharing. Whatever methods you can use to engage happy customers in sharing the brand, you need to start making efforts to do so. Influencers, PR opportunities, and guest posts are nowhere near as effective as someone simply telling their friends and colleagues about you.
We’re not saying give up on direct lead building, outbound marketing, or any other direct growth strategy. Simply that finding the right balance of organic and active is a lot more cost-effective and, in the long-term, a much more reliable strategy.