Hey, it's Rick Kettner here. Let's explore 33 of the very best ways to get more customers or attract more clients. And let's talk about how to choose the best opportunity for your specific business.
This is a follow-up to my previous video on how to come up with great business ideas. You can find the link to that video in the description box below. And if you're interested in learning more about how to grow your business, I recommend that you subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications.
That way, you won't miss out. on future videos. Now, when it comes to attracting more customers, there are three different approaches, including an organic approach, a paid approach, and a social approach, also known as a viral approach. We're gonna start by going through practical options for each category, but stick around to the end, because I'll go over a simple framework that you can use to choose and execute on the best opportunities for your business.
But with that said, let's dive into the list, starting with organic. strategies. These are all geared towards attracting customers naturally. So rather than paying money to advertise, these strategies typically require an upfront investment of time or energy.
But what I love most about them is they tend to deliver more and more value over time. We're going to go through this list quite quickly, but if you want to follow up video on one or more of the strategies, just click the like button here on YouTube and leave a comment below to let me know which topics you'd like to learn more about in the future. First on the list.
is content marketing. This can take many different forms, but a few options include publishing videos, articles, case studies, how-to guides, podcasts, and even infographics. The basic idea is to create high quality content that people wanna consume, and then to leverage that content to build a large and engaged audience around your brand.
Next up, we have search engine optimization or SEO. This is all about getting your website or content to rank well, in search engines like Google. That way, you can get steady and reliable traffic without having to spend money on search engine advertising.
And of course, SEO also applies to any other platform that has some kind of search functionality, including YouTube, Medium, and even shopping sites like Amazon. Third on the list is media coverage. This is the art of getting free publicity by working with media outlets, including news media, and of course, industry publications. One popular strategy is called trading up the chain. The idea is to start with small media sites that are eager for new stories and then to leverage their early coverage to go after larger and larger media sites.
Next up, we have content partnerships. The idea here is to team up with other businesses or other brands to increase the exposure of your message. For example, you can write guest posts for someone else's blog. You can participate as a guest on their podcast.
Or you can even do what a lot of musicians do and trade audiences by co-creating or co-publishing content together. Fifth on the list, you can leverage existing platforms. The idea here is to take advantage of the momentum behind Amazon, YouTube, Medium, or even something like Apple's App Store.
Each of these platforms has a search function, an algorithm for recommending content, and often rating or sharing mechanisms. So you can use these platforms to attract people that may not otherwise find you. For example, instead of just publishing articles on a personal blog with few visitors, you can publish them on large platforms like Medium or LinkedIn. And as you learn how each platform works and as you build a following there, you can get bigger and better results over time. Next up, you can get into book publishing.
This is a form of content marketing, but it's so different that it really deserves to be treated. completely separately. And that's because physical media like books have a long history and becoming an author is still a great way to establish yourself as an expert in a field.
You don't have to write the entire book yourself. You can get co-authors to help with the process, or of course you can hire a ghostwriter to translate your expertise into written form. But regardless of the approach, it's important to consider this option if you want to become a trusted thought leader in your market.
Okay, next up, you can build... tools and widgets. The idea here is to create interactive tools to help people solve simple problems.
For example, HubSpot offers tools like their blog idea generator, website SSL checker, and email signature generator. They're 100% free and they attract people to the HubSpot website. So ask yourself, is there a task or process that you could help automate for your customers?
Do they often come to you with repetitive questions? Can you create a quiz or tool to address these questions? their needs. HubSpot uses web-based tools, but of course, you could also create a simple mobile application for the same purpose. Okay, next up, you can use a freemium model.
This is a very popular approach in the tech space. Services like Dropbox, Asana, Slack, and many others offer a completely free version of their product or service. And this approach can lead to a brand dominating their industry because it often attracts many customers that aren't yet ready to pay for the service.
The key here is to offer a really great free version that fully showcases the core value of the service and then to find ways to add even more value for paying customers. For Dropbox... this might involve increased file storage. Or for Asana and Slack, it might be in the form of additional collaboration features.
Whatever the case may be, it's important that the free version is still very compelling on its own. Ninth on the list, you can create a tripwire offer. Now, I'm not a fan of the name, but the idea here is to create an exceptionally compelling offer at an unusually low price, something that's so attractive that it converts people that would never normally consider your primary product.
This is powerful because not only does it create an opportunity to upsell your primary product, but it also triggers an important psychological shift. When someone makes the transition from prospect to customer, they view your business differently and are far more likely to buy from you again in the future. Okay, next up, you can get into community building.
This is a powerful way to connect with both industry leaders and highly engaged prospects. You can create an online discussion forum, start building a business, a Slack channel, or even just invite people to a Facebook group. And once there, you can initiate conversations, answer questions, and establish yourself as an industry expert.
And of course, this opens up all kinds of possibilities when it comes to building relationships with potential customers or clients. 11th on the list, you can get into email marketing. A list of loyal subscribers is one of the single most valuable assets that you can build for your business. And that's because it gives you the ability to instantly direct attention to new content, products, services, or ideas. But it does take time to build a loyal following.
The goal isn't just to attract subscribers. It's also critical that you create ongoing value for them so they always look forward to opening and reading your emails. Next up, you can create a lead magnet. The strategy here is to create something of value that can attract potential customers, like a PDF report, a how-to guide, or a short video tutorial, and then to offer it for free in exchange for a prospect's email address. It's a great way to attract subscribers, community members, or even signups to a freemium service.
Now, one big mistake that people make is they just slap something together without really taking time to think about their potential customers, or they over-promise and under-deliver. The key to this strategy is to understand your audience and to create something that offers practical and immediate value. That way, you not only get a new subscriber, but you also create a strong first impression with them. So that's a quick review of organic strategies. Let's move on to paid strategies.
These methods require money up front, but they also tend to create results faster. And one of my favorite aspects of paid strategies is that they're typically easier to track in terms of return on investment. You know exactly what you're spending and in most situations, you can get a pretty clear sense of how well the strategy is working.
Now, once again, I'll be going through these quite quickly. So if you want follow-up videos on any of them, please click the like button and let me know in the comment section below. But let's get into it, starting with search advertising.
The idea here is quite simple. You advertise to people that are already searching for products, services, or topics that relate to your business. Google AdWords is far and away the most popular option, but of course, you can also advertise on search results for Bing, YouTube, or even Amazon. Next up is social advertising. This involves buying ads on social networks like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
The ads typically show up in the user feed, but they can also appear elsewhere depending on the network. The unique power of this approach is being able to target users based on demographic data. So if people aren't searching for your product on Google, this is another great way to get your message in front of them. You can target audiences based on age, gender, location, interest, and more. 15th on the list is content advertising.
You can work directly with content creators to sponsor everything from articles to videos to podcasts, or you can work with large advertising networks to reach a broader audience across many creators. Generally, I recommend working directly with content creators. with people that way you cut out the middleman and you link your brand more directly with what one content creator is doing.
Next up is offline advertising. This includes print ads, billboard ads, television ads, magazine ads, and even radio ads. These are typically harder to track than online options and are more geared towards brand marketing. In other words, reminding customers that your brand exists so that when they need whatever it is that you offer, you're at the top of their mind and they consider buying from you. Next on the list is influencer campaigns.
This strategy involves finding influencers that relate to your business in some way and then having them endorse or promote your product to their audience. You can find influencers on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and even LinkedIn. This is a powerful way to build trust and credibility around a new brand. And of course, it's also a great way to remain relevant with potential customers over time. Next up, celebrity collaborations.
This is different than influencer campaigns because it involves working with a celebrity or influencer much earlier in the process. Instead of just having them endorse a product, you work with them directly to create an original product that is built around their personal brand. And rather than paying for exposure, this often involves paying them an ongoing royalty or offering them a stake in the venture. Next on the list is promoted content.
This is a great strategy to use in combination with content marketing. The idea is to give your content a boost by using paid promotion, rather than just waiting for people to discover it on their own. Sites like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and many others will gladly take your money to feature or boost your content to a larger audience. And of course, this can drive additional engagement, word of mouth referral, and help the content build momentum that much faster. Number 20 on the list is audience retargeting.
You can use this in combination with promoted content, content marketing, or even just a standard sales website. The idea here is that you can track users that have visited your website or engaged with your content. And then you can display ads to them on Facebook, Instagram, or across other sites using Google's ad network. If you've ever viewed a product on Amazon only to start seeing ads for it everywhere else on the web, you've experienced retargeting. It's an incredibly effective way to follow up with people that have viewed your product or engaged with your content.
Okay, the final paid strategy is affiliate marketing. This involves offering some kind of incentive to existing customers or independent businesses to generate interest in your products. Typically this involves paying a commission for each referred sale, but it can also involve paying for leads, paying for email signups, or even paying for free trial registrations. You can work with a major affiliate network like ClickBank or ShareASale or you can work directly with affiliates by creating your own custom program.
So that's a quick summary of paid strategies. If you're enjoying the list so far, please let me know by clicking the like button below. But let's move on to the third and final category, social strategies. These are built around social connections and creating a movement.
And what I love most about this kind of approach is that it tends to scale well with the size of a business. So while some organic and paid strategies become less relevant, as you grow, these tend to scale well as your business grows in size. First up on the list is word of mouth referral. This may be the single most important marketing strategy for any business. It's based on having existing customers recommend your brand to other potential customers on your behalf, and it leverages their built-in trust and authority to make a more compelling case than you could make on your own.
Now, many people assume that word of mouth just comes down to creating a great... product, but there are things that you can do to engineer something to be more shareable. If you're interested in learning more, I recommend that you pick up a copy of Contagious by Jonah Berger.
It covers the six principles of contagiousness. Simple things that you can do to make something more likely to spread. Next up is brand merchandise. Having customers wear or display your brand name in public is a great way to catch the attention of new potential customers. Not only does it get your logo in front of more people, but it also serves as a form of social proof.
In other words, it lends credibility to the business. If I know a friend or family member already trusts a brand, I'm more likely to check it out myself. Next on the list, public speaking.
Not only is this a great way to reach a large audience, but it's also a very powerful way to create a deeper connection with those in attendance. And that's because, as I mentioned earlier, people still value physical. or in-person experiences very differently than their digital alternatives.
Being in a room with someone and hearing them speak can have a more profound and lasting impact than consuming the exact same message in video form. And of course, you can also film your talk and publish it online to get the best of both worlds, greater impact for those attending live and greater reach online. Number 25 is hosting events.
The idea here is to host anything from small gatherings to huge conferences. You can make an informal event like a local meetup group, or you can host multiple speakers and put on a major production. In either case, this approach can strengthen your brand, position you as a leader in the space, and create valuable long-term relationships with potential customers. Next up is brand messaging.
The idea here is to be very intentional about how your brand is perceived so customers and prospects have a better understanding of who you are and what you do. That way, not only are they more likely to think of your brand when they have a need for your service, but they're also much more likely to recommend you to others. I like to think of this as enabling chance. The easier it is for someone to remember who you are, what you do, and how you can help them, the more likely they are to think of your brand. when it matters most.
Okay, next up is viral content. The idea here is to create highly shareable articles, videos, social posts, or anything else that is engineered to spread quickly. Now, this isn't the same as content marketing because where that content is generally geared towards meeting ongoing needs or delivering long-term value, this content is specifically engineered to be shared socially. And once again, I recommend that you read Contagious.
by Jonah Berger to learn more about this. And you may also wanna check out Breakthrough the Noise by Tim Staples and Josh Young. Both books cover very valuable insights on how to engineer content to be more likely to spread. Next up is live streaming.
This is a great way to make a deeper connection with an online audience. It's a strategy that's been growing in popularity over the past few years, especially as mainstream social networks like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube have been growing in popularity. have incorporated this into their platforms.
And unlike public speaking, this is a format that allows you to reach a global audience in real time. Next on the list is referral programs. The idea here is to reward people that recommend your product or service to others.
Now, this might sound a lot like affiliate programs or even word of mouth referral, but the difference is that instead of offering a commission or just letting referrals happen naturally, you offer social status or special access that relates to your product or service. For example, if customers invite people to your online community, you could reward them with a special badge on their public profile. Or if they invite enough people, maybe they could earn free products or get special privileges in the online community.
Number 30 on the list is platform integrations. This is most applicable to tech companies offering online services or SaaS products. The idea here is that integrating with popular online services can attract new customers.
So for example, if you integrate your service with a popular tool like Zapier, their audience might discover your app and be more inclined to try it out. Of course, this concept can be applied in many different ways. For example, some TVs may sell better because they have Netflix integrated right into the software.
And the opposite is also true. Netflix benefits when their app comes pre-installed on televisions right out of the box. So you wanna look for ways to integrate with other products and services. Next up is crowdfunding.
Not only is this a great way to raise funds for a new product or service, but it's also a great way to evaluate a business opportunity, collect money upfront, and motivate early customers to help spread the word. So for all of these reasons and many more, entrepreneurs turn to crowdfunding even when they don't actually need to raise capital. It's a great way to attract attention and increase social sharing.
Next on the list, is storytelling. People love to hear unique stories and they love to share those stories with friends and family. So the idea here is to craft compelling stories that relate to your brand.
These can be customer success stories, brand founding stories, or even just sharing a behind the scenes look at how you do business. The goal here is to craft these things into relatable stories that others are inspired to share. Okay, last strategy on the list is newsjacking. The idea here is to find creative ways to attach your brand to trending topics or trending news items.
You can make a funny video, support a relevant cause, share your expertise by publishing related content, or just weigh in on social media. The options are endless. And the more that you look for this kind of thing, the more that you'll find that everyone from celebrities to big business use this tactic to remain relevant and newsworthy. It's a very effective strategy that can generate a lot of attention. for your brand.
Anyway, that's the list. And again, if you want more details or practical examples for any of the strategies, click the like button and let me know in the comment section below. But when it comes to choosing the best strategies for your business, I highly recommend that you follow the Bullseye Framework from Traction by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares.
It's a four-step process for exploring options and then narrowing down the field to the most promising opportunities. Step number one, is to brainstorm potential ideas. This is where you take time to come up with realistic scenarios for each and every one of the 33 strategies that we covered in this video. This is important because it's really easy to dismiss strategies that aren't typical for your industry.
Meanwhile, it's often these uncontested opportunities that have the most potential. Step two is to select a few promising options. Of course, this is important because we need to dramatically narrow the field down to three to five options that are most exciting or most promising for your business.
That way, you don't spread your efforts too thin. Step three is to conduct inexpensive tests. The goal here is to learn as much as you can about each of the promising options without spending a lot of time or money.
You can run inexpensive campaigns, or if that's not appropriate for the strategy that you've selected, you can do additional research to get a better sense of the opportunity. Finally, step four, it's time to select the most promising option. This way, you and your team can focus all of your effort around capitalizing on the single best opportunity for your business before eventually- revisiting some of the other promising options as well.
Anyway, that's it for this video. If you have any questions or if you have recommendations for other ways to get more customers, please share them in the comment section below. And be sure to subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications if you wanna get an alert when new videos are published in the future.
Thank you for watching and I'll see you in the next video.