5 Ways to Attract Customers to Your Local Business

Loyal customers are a valuable asset for any small business, but in order to grow and expand in the future, you need to attract new customers too. Attracting new customers to your local business might seem like a daunting prospect, but it doesn’t have to be. Simply understanding the best strategies and practices can help you to attract and sustain a growing customer base.

 

1. Improve Your Storefront

 

Your storefront has the potential to draw in new potential customers. The first step to improving your storefront is ensuring it’s spotless. Any graffiti or other hard-to-remove stains should be removed using the services of an industrial cleaning team. Once you have cleaned your storefront, you can then focus your attention on creating an original, eye-catching window display.

 

2. Create a Digital Presence

 

Even if your mission is to cater exclusively to local customers, you still need a business website. Without a website, your company might as well not even exist. This is because most customers will research before shopping at a physical store.

 

Your site should be designed to correctly represent your brand identity, which means choosing a functional, yet appropriate, aesthetic design. Use search engine optimisation practices to boost the ranking of your store for relevant target audiences.

 

3. Improve Your Google Ranking

 

When people are exploring a new location, it’s likely that they’ll turn to Google to discover businesses in the local area. Therefore, improving your ranking on Google will help connect you with potential customers.

 

Once your business has been optimised for Google, then your location, opening hours and reviews will show up when users are making a relevant search. You should use Google My Business to update business information, as this will enable Google users to review your business – which can act as another motivator for new customers.

 

4. Create a Loyalty Programme

 

Attracting new customers is a necessary practice, but it is equally important to retain existing customers. This is because returning customers are actually more valuable, spending an evrrage of 10 times more than a first-time customer.

 

Incentivise customers to return to your business by creating a loyalty programme and offering free products, discounts or exclusive sales to returning customers. Alternatively, you could create a points system where you reward a customer after their 10th purchase. You could also incentivise sustainability by rewarding customers who return packaging for refills.

 

5. Create an Impeccable Customer Experience

 

Studies have found that almost 90% of purchasing decisions are made by unconscious motivators. This means the way that a customer feels in your store will have a very big impact on whether they make a purchase and how much they spend.

 

You should try to create a top-quality customer experience to motivate larger purchases. Satisfied customers are more likely to tell their friends or family about the experience. This means that impeccable customer experience can act as an effective source of word-of-mouth marketing.