Attracting customers is a very important
marketing
element when starting any kind of business. Attracting customers means gathering “customers” who use your company’s products and services. In this article, we will explain the importance and methods of attracting customers.
What is attracting customers? Importance of addressing
Although you understand that you need to attract customers to increase sales, you probably have many questions such as “Why do you need to attract customers?” and “I don’t know how to attract people.” Is it? We will explain in detail the overview and importance of attracting customers.
What is attracting customers?
As mentioned earlier, attracting customers means attracting customers who use your company’s products and services. You also want your customers to keep coming back, and you need them to become your fans. Note that if you gather people who have no prospect of purchasing, it cannot be called customer acquisition because it does not result in sales. Therefore, attracting customers is not just about attracting people, but also about attracting people who are likely to make a purchase and guiding them to continued purchase.
The target customers to attract can be divided into two types: “new customers” who will make a purchase in the future, and “existing customers” who have already made a purchase. If you want to acquire new customers, you need to discover “potential customers” who have the potential to make purchases.
A “potential customer” is someone who does not yet know about your company or products/services, but who understands the problem (
need
) you are trying to solve and is likely to purchase it as a means to solve the problem in the future. It’s about the customer. If you are an existing customer, you can increase the number of purchases or increase the purchase amount per purchase (upselling) because you already have a history of purchasing.
Purpose and importance of attracting customers
The reason why attracting customers is important is because increasing your ability to attract customers will lead to improved sales. Sales are calculated using the formula “Sales = Number of customers x Number of purchases x Average purchase amount.”
*Average purchase amount: Average purchase amount per customer.
Based on these facts, it can be said that increasing the number of customers and the number of purchases will directly lead to increased sales. If you want to increase the number of customers, you need to make them aware of the appeal of your products and services and get them to use them once. Therefore, customer attraction measures such as advertisements and flyers are effective when increasing new customers.
On the other hand, if you want to increase the number of purchases, you need to get customers who have used your service once to use your service again. Also, if you want them to use your site repeatedly, it is a good idea to implement measures to attract customers such as email newsletters and point cards.
Seven typical offline methods of attracting customers
Here are 7 ways to attract customers without going through the internet. The advantages and disadvantages of each method are also explained. The typical methods are as follows.
- DM
- posting
- OOH advertising
- Teleappointment
- Free seminar
- Referrals through customers
- exhibition
- TV taxi commercial
I will explain each in turn.
DM
DM is a method of attracting customers by mailing information about products and services in the form of flyers, catalogs, booklets, etc. This applies to both new customers, existing customers, and those who have dropped out. The advantage of direct mail is that it is different from posting, which manually distributes information one by one, so it is possible to advertise to people living in remote areas such as outside the prefecture. Additionally, since you can approach your target audience, you can deliver more information such as catalogs and booklets.
On the other hand, the disadvantages include the hassle of addressing and enclosing documents, as well as printing and shipping costs. In addition, it is necessary to obtain the name and address of the mailing address in advance, so it is necessary to collect information by registering as a member and issuing a membership card.
posting
Posting is a method of attracting customers by directly placing flyers in mailboxes in areas where you can expect to attract customers. There are two ways to do this: you can have it done by internal staff such as employees or part-time workers, and you can outsource it to a contractor.
The advantage of posting is that you can precisely control the distribution area and size of the flyer, and depending on your research, you can deliver exactly the information your customers want. Another advantage is that it is easy to catch people’s attention, which increases the response rate and attracts more customers.
OOH advertising
OOH is an abbreviation for “out of home,” which in marketing terms means “outside the home.” In addition, there are various types of OOH advertising, and the main media include “street vision,” “digital signage,” “billboards,” “wrapping cars,” “sampling at street events,” and “traffic advertising.”
The advantage of OOH advertising is that it has high visibility and visual effects, and it is easy to reach and appeal to an unspecified number of people. When using digital media, it is possible to effectively expand awareness through
targeting
and memorable promotions.
On the other hand, the disadvantage is that it costs money to produce results. There are also disadvantages such as limited installation locations due to power supply and installation space issues.
Teleappointment
Tele-appointment is a method of attracting customers by conducting sales over the telephone. Teleappointments are primarily used to promote your company’s products and services to new customers. The advantage of tele-appointments is that you can directly talk to customers and gather their needs, which is not possible with internet-based methods such as
e-mail newsletters
or websites.
On the other hand, the disadvantage is that it takes time for the person in charge of teleappointment to call each person on the list. Another disadvantage is that it requires mental toughness, as you are making calls with the assumption that you will be rejected.
Free seminar
A free seminar is a method of attracting customers by holding a free seminar and introducing products after the lecture. Lectures may be given by in-house personnel, or lecturers may be invited from outside the company. The advantage of free seminars is that the majority of participants are interested in the product or service, so the closing rate is high.
On the other hand, the disadvantage is that it takes time and effort to offer instructors, adjust schedules, select venues, request rentals, prepare announcements, and conduct public relations activities. Additionally, if your brand does not have a strong brand, it may be difficult to attract customers to your seminars unless you do some creative work, such as promoting them through advertising or creating unique seminar content.
Referrals through customers (word of mouth)
Customer referrals are a way to attract new customers by having existing customers refer you to new customers. This is a method of getting referrals from customers with whom you have established a relationship of trust when the situation is warm, such as immediately after signing a contract. The advantage is that you are introduced by a customer with whom you have a relationship of trust, so you can obtain useful information for your company. The disadvantage is that without a trusting relationship, you are unlikely to receive a referral.
exhibition
Exhibition visitor attraction is a method of acquiring potential customers by exhibiting at exhibitions. You can set up a booth to introduce your company’s products and services and conduct business negotiations on the spot. The advantage of attracting customers at exhibitions is that people gather, so if you can appeal well, you are more likely to become customers.
On the other hand, there are some disadvantages, such as the time it takes to select a venue, arrange equipment, and set up and operate a booth on the day of the event.
TV taxi commercial
Taxi advertising is an advertising medium that effectively utilizes the inside and outside of a taxi to place advertisements. Compared to other transportation advertisements such as trains, taxi advertisements have the advantage of being able to place advertisements in a private space because they are closer to the target audience.
On the other hand, it has the disadvantage that it can reach only a few dozen passengers per day per taxi, so the number of people it can reach is smaller than with web advertising.
Additionally, using TV advertising to attract customers has the advantage of covering a wide range of customers who can serve as new targets. On the other hand, the disadvantage is that it costs several million yen to produce and distribute commercials.
10 representative ways to attract customers online
Here we will introduce 10 typical ways to attract customers online. The main ways to attract customers are as follows.
- Home page
- Web advertising
- SNS
- landing page
- Web media publication
- movie
- webinar
- Mail magazine
- SEO
- owned media
Let’s look at each in turn.
Home page
The homepage
attracting method is the method of creating a homepage and attracting customers. Additionally, attracting customers through your homepage has the advantage of not requiring tele-appointments or walk-in sales. On the other hand, if it is paid, it will cost money, but if it is free, it has the disadvantage that the quality of the homepage is low.
Please note that the following materials explain in detail the structure and concept of the homepage, so please use them in conjunction with this article.
Related materials:
Web advertising
Web advertising is a method of attracting customers by increasing awareness of your company’s name, products, and services through a website and acquiring customers. The advantage of web advertising is that by displaying high-quality content and implementing
SEO
measures, your website will be more likely to be seen by many people, increasing your chances of attracting more customers.
The disadvantage is that you need SEO knowledge to aim for high rankings. It can be a bit difficult to attract customers for people who don’t have knowledge of SEO.
Regarding banner ads, which is a type of web advertising, there are materials that explain the steps to create them, so please use them in conjunction with this article.
Related materials:
SNS
SNS customer attraction is a method of attracting customers through SNS such as Facebook and Twitter. The advantage of attracting customers via SNS is that you can communicate closely with customers who have purchased your products, and by disseminating information that is highly satisfying, you can increase the likelihood that they will become repeat customers.
On the other hand, the downside is that if you don’t advertise regularly or post frequently, you’ll disappear from news feeds and timelines, so you have to do a lot to get noticed by customers.
landing page
A landing page is the first page a user views when visiting a website. The advantage of landing pages is that they allow a high degree of freedom in design, making it easy to emphasize the content you want to convey, making it easier to remember.
On the other hand, because it basically operates on listing ads and banner ads, it has the disadvantage of incurring monthly fees for each display and click.
Web media publication
Web media places advertisements in general business media, also known as paid media, and media specialized in specific areas (vertical media), which leads to branding, leads, and sales acquisition. The advantage of posting on web media is that you can create “fans for your company” by continuing to provide information that users want.
On the other hand, there are disadvantages such as the lack of a certain level of knowledge and experience will reduce the effectiveness of attracting customers. If you want to use media effectively, you need to learn knowledge and how to use media.
Please refer to the following materials as they provide detailed explanations on how to use media without making mistakes when publishing in paid media.
Related materials:
movie
Video customer attraction is a method of attracting customers by uploading videos to video sites such as YouTube to promote products and services and attract customers to your company’s website. The advantage of attracting customers through videos is that the explanations are easy to understand when conveying products and services, so you can effectively appeal to customers.
On the other hand, creating videos requires a certain amount of knowledge, so the disadvantage is that it takes time to acquire the knowledge. Additionally, if you are unable to create it yourself, you will need to outsource it to a specialized company, which will take time and costs for meetings.
webinar
Webinar is an abbreviation that combines the words “web” and “seminar,” and as the name suggests, it refers to a seminar that is held over the Internet by distributing video and audio. The advantage of webinars is that they can attract a wide range of customers. It has the advantage of being able to provide seminars with low hurdles to a variety of potential customers with whom we have not had contact before.
On the other hand, the disadvantage is that you cannot take the course without an internet environment. If a system failure occurs, you will not be able to stream or view the scheduled seminar. For those who want to attract customers through webinars, please refer to the following materials, which explain the method in detail.
Mail magazine
An e-mail magazine is a method of attracting customers by sending e-mail newsletters to people who have registered their e-mail addresses. By disseminating information on advantageous campaigns through e-mail newsletters, we encourage people to purchase products and use our services. The advantage of e-mail newsletters is that they are different from general web advertising, but because the effort involved is writing, it is possible to quickly distribute the information you want to convey all at once.
On the other hand, the disadvantage is that it is necessary to create the text of the email each time it is sent, so it is necessary to create a structure that is appropriate for the delivery time, covering all the information that you want to send, and also including information that the customer will find useful. . Please note that the following articles and materials explain the structure of e-mail newsletters and how to increase clicks, so those who run e-mail newsletters should refer to them.
SEO
Attracting customers using SEO means gathering access from search engines such as Google and Yahoo! and attracting customers on your company’s website or homepage. SEO is an abbreviation for “Search Engine Optimization” and means search engine optimization. The advantage of SEO for attracting customers is that it is highly cost-effective. Once you successfully get your site ranked high, you can expect continued search traffic without spending on advertising.
On the other hand, there are disadvantages to outsourcing SEO, such as the initial cost of around 200,000 yen and monthly maintenance costs. Additionally, even if you spend a lot of effort and money, you may not get results due to the complexity of search engine algorithms.
owned media
Owned media
is media that is operated by your own company. For example, “blogs” and “homepages” fall under owned media. The advantage of owned media is that it is possible to attract customers according to a wide range of purposes and issues. In other words, because there is a high degree of freedom in content, content can be created by users from the awareness stage to those whose needs have become apparent.
Please note that
a CMS
is required to create owned media. CMS is a system that allows you to easily create homepage content. There are many CMS, and many people may not know which CMS to use. We are developing the web marketing support tool “Switch Plus”, which combines an intuitive CMS and MA (marketing automation) into one. We also accept free trials, so feel free to take a look at the overview first.
What is the key to success in attracting customers?
The bottom line is to have a clear customer image. Effective methods of attracting customers vary depending on the customer image (persona), so be sure to clarify the persona your company is looking for. By clarifying your customer image, you will be less likely to deviate from the concept of your product or service, and your approach will be easier to determine, making it easier to come up with a catchphrase that will resonate with your customers.
summary
In this article, we explained an overview of attracting customers and how to attract customers offline and online. In conclusion, when attracting customers, make sure you have a clear customer image. Once you have a clear picture of your customer, you can attract customers through marketing by considering customer behavior.
In addition, the following materials provide detailed explanations of BtoB marketing methods. If you want to learn from scratch or if you want to learn more about marketing, please take a look.
Related materials: