If you own a business, it pretty much goes without saying that one of your main objectives is to expand your operations. A lot of businesses strive towards growing overseas, like, for example, from America to Australia. Growth can, however, be quite a challenge, especially for small businesses and startups which don’t work on a high budget. Still, there are many ways that you can do it and stand toe-to-toe with the big players.
The solutions that we are going to discuss in this article are often referred to as growth-hacking. In other words, you are going to be experimenting with various aspects of your business. This includes your marketing strategy, sales, developing your product, and many others. By making use of these hacks, you will be able to grow faster than you have thought you could.
Hack #1: Make use of customer retargeting
It is crucial to note that the majority of your customers will not make a purchase during their first visit to your website. This is why retargeting is one of the most useful hacks out there. People may come and go without buying your products, but if you use Facebook and Google retargeting, they will most probably return.
Basically, these two big platforms show targeted ads to your website’s visitors, encouraging them to come back to your website. If you have managed to interest them before, but not enough for them to stay and make a purchase, a retargeted ad can be enticing enough for them to do so.
Hack #2: Benefit from social proof
Another fact that you have to keep in mind is that the majority of customers read reviews before they decide to buy or invest in something. Online reviews and testimonials matter a lot because they serve almost as personal recommendations. Therefore, you should take advantage of this and present social proof to your audience in a trustworthy manner via your website.
For example, it is a good idea to show satisfied customers’ comments. If someone is uncertain whether they are making the right choice by purchasing from you, such social proof could be the very thing that pushes them towards deciding what to do. Trust is essential for every brand. A lot of people tend to purchase from companies from another part of the world like Australia or Japan. Therefore, you need to bring your “foreign” brand closer to them the best way you can.
Hack #3: Ask your audience for feedback
While you can earn your audience’s trust via social proof, you can strengthen it further by asking them for feedback. The best way to find out what you are doing wrong, while enabling your users to play a role in improving your business efforts, is to simply ask directly and openly.
After all, your business can always improve, and your audience will grow even closer to you if you show them that you care about what they think.
Hack #4: Market yourself via video
Video marketing is one of the easiest and best ways to promote your business. Internet users love to share videos that are useful and interesting. A promotional video is made to engage the audience, so if you properly place a CTA, people are going to take action. Videos also build brand awareness. Everything that you put into it has to reflect your brand image, so that it is almost instantly recognizable that you are behind it.
Every video has to answer three questions:
- What is the problem that your audience has and your product or service can solve?
- How can your product or service be used to do that?
- Why should the audience choose your business instead of another?
By answering these three questions in a short and clear manner, while paying close attention to the quality, you will surely attract a lot of customers.
Even if you don’t have the expertise to make top-notch promotional videos, you should make use of this tactic by hiring expert help. There is a large number of companies all around the globe that deal in creating great video content for businesses. For example, if you are located in Australia, you can easily find a company that does business video production in Sydney, the country’s most economically developed city.
Hack #5: Answer burning questions
You need to be aware of the fact that whenever someone has a question that they need an answer as soon as possible, they are most often going to visit particular forums on the web which serve that purpose. There are various Q&A websites out there, such as Quora and Yahoo Answers. You can also find them in various LinkedIn groups.
The reason why this is so important is that such platforms are perfect for promoting your business. You need to have accounts on all of them so that you can answer any questions that people may have about your certain products or anything related to them. Customers trust the manufacturing companies the most, so if you are the one that helps them with a product that they’ve purchased from you, you will most certainly earn their trust and loyalty. Furthermore, if you help them with a related issue they have, they will be interested in learning more about who you are.
On top of it all, everything that you post on these platforms gets indexed by Google. This means that whenever someone searches for a particular question, your answers will come up in the search results.
In summation
Promoting a business can be a tricky thing, but if you rely on creativity and transparency, while not being afraid to try new things, you will be able to attract customers even if your budget isn’t particularly big.
You can turn to more inconspicuous hacks such as customer retargeting, or play your game in the open by gaining people’s trust through acting like you are more of a friend than a company that wants their money.
Try different approaches and see which ones work best for you.
About the Author!
Emily is a business psychologist with a passion for marketing. Researching, exploring & writing are her favourite things to do. She occasionally works as a consultant for Alpha Omega Video Company in Sydney. Besides that, she loves traveling and animals.
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