Reach More Potential Customers

reach, more, potential, customers

I had received a request asking me for additional ways to "reach more potential customers" online. So I decided to run an experiment to determine which method of reaching more potential customers online would yield the best results in the fastest time. So I turned the question into a blog to share with you all, as this is one of many earnest questions people want to know about. I must say this is not an exhausted list of all marketing methods, but a good starting point for many.

Remember depending on your product or service, your stratergy will need to be amended to fit. As an example, if you are selling watches, a person can purchase one of them at any given time, so your turn around from social ads to purchase maybe quicker. However, if you are a solicitor, client engagements happen when they need you, so a different approach of building awareness of your brand will need to be taken, so potential customers know where to come when a problem arises. Non the less, there are also techniques to meet them at there time of need. So lets explore some of them, as one size doesnt fit all.

The four methods which i used to reach these potential customers were as follows:

 Organic reach - this basically is the method of me creating the content within the blogs and allowing both search engine robots to find and list the blog, as well as the automatic submissions of the blogs to multiple other search engines (as well as google) via the Goodwill Networks Onestop Website platform. 

 Google ads - I setup two seperate campaigns to target individuals within a specific geographical location. I looked at what keywords and phrases my content was geared around, and have been daily filtering the results to ensure the budget was being best spent. Yes i conducted some keyword analysis, looked at the competition and metrics using various methods.

 Linkedin - when the blog was complete, i visited it, and used the quick share link, which can be found at the bottom of every blog i create. This allowed me to post the blog directly to linkedin to share amongst my connections. It was laid out beautifully with the image and titles of the blogs. All visitors needed to do, was click on the image and they would be sent straight to the blog. 

 Facebook page - again, when the blogs were complete, I visited them and used the quick share link, which can be found at the bottom of every blog I create. This allowed me to post the blogs directly to my facebook page. However I additionally boosted each blog, from the meta business suit (I’ll explain why later). Note, just like with linkedin, the blogs were beautifully presented with the image and title from my blogs automatically inserted. All visitors needed to do was click on it and be sent to my website to view the blog. With the boosting feature of the post enabled, I set the same geographical location as i did with the google ads, but went further by targeting individuals based on there interests in order to find my ideal customer.

Using varied methods would hopefully allow people of all budgets to gain some insight and reach new customers for themselves. Honestly at this current stage of constructing this article Facebook was winning with the amount of targeted individuals it had been able to send to my website. But remember i also boosted the post, so lets drill down into my findings.

 The organic reach, could be seen as a long term investment. Yes it is free, however as the content is not date specefic, it will be able to draw visitors for months and years to come, via multiple search engines.

 Google ads was set over a 30 day period, which after that time my ad would not be visible unless i paid more money to keep it going. However, with the refinements I made to the ad, it was able to target individuals who wanted insight into the problem i was solving. It ensured the content was relevant to them, so they spent an average longer time on each blog. To keep it fair, i ensured that google did not show this ad on its search partners. I only wanted it to be shown to those visiting the google search page. Also please remember that each keyword you use to target individuals will be charged differently. So its important to run a keyword analysis to have some idea how much each click will cost you.

 Linkedin - this was an interesting one, as i never used any paid advertising within the post. This was just to keep the results varied. I may revisit this later if people have an interest in knowing more about it. So i had to rely on how many connections i had and their engagement with my post. If they liked it or commented, it would be shared with all of their connections. I personally have a mixed selection of connections on linkedin, many of which are business owners, some of which may not still be active on the platform. So I wasn’t sure how this would pan out.

 Facebook, was off to a flying start, with some interaction from current followers of the page. However, as you may know, Facebook has so many algorithms, some of which limit your reach, to steer you into using their paid ads boosting system. The paid ads where presented to a lot of people each day, not to far off what google was doing. However I had the extra benefit knowing I was targeting people who have particular interests (eg they like gaming). When i look at the analytical data, of how many visitors came to my website without a paid boost influence; i can positively say the boosting definitely helped (Although it was an unfair comparison due to the algorithm restrictions on ordinary page followers). So to keep it fair, i ensured that facebook did not share my ads on Instagram via the boosting feature. Check out our article "successfull ads with facebook" which you may find useful. Important fact to note, if you have two blogs, with two different titles. Even if your boosted ad has all the same settings, you will be charged different amounts to reach your customer. This is but another facebook algorithm which will charge you more based on the keywords used similar to google.

In conclusion I would say, that the results had a lot of variables to initially contend with. As mentioned this was not an exhausted list of marketing strategies, as there are many online and offline methods which can be utilised to engage with potential customers (Remember content is key). You can use things like: Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Ebay, SMS, Email, Forums, Directories, Networking meetings, Social meet-ups, TV, Newspapers, Leaflets and so much more; of which they all have there own tools and strategies to be effective. So knowing where your potential customers are, will save you both time and money.

Secondly, I would say that every method I used played an important role, of being able to build awareness of my brand as well as each method being able to contribute to the marketing campaign of gaining new customers. We could look at return on investment within the short term, of which generating awareness played a large part. But we will only see its true reach within months to come. But as a whole it was able to reach my initial objective.

A few tips I would add are; Having clear wording in any images you use, not just within titles, will help to catch the eye of your visitors. One size doesnt fit all, so have a clear objective and get to know your market and your customers. The platform which you use to reach your potential customers is important. I was using the Goodwill Networks Onestop Website service as a focal point for all other platform methods to return too; As this website is where all of my services are listed and can be accessed. This took a lot of the hassle out, and gave me an advantage over others who use similar platforms because of the innovative inbuilt technology. But remember to set yourself a budget. I’m not saying it cannot be done without a budget, I’m suggesting that either way it will cost you, be it time, money or your business. So ask yourself which one you can afford.

Hopefully, you have been able to gain some insights and be able to take these final thoughts away. A website is a marketing tool. Unless you sell websites for a living, it is not your product or service so don't treat it as one. You should start using it effectively, instead of having it sitting in cyber space, waiting for someone to fall over it. This tool (your website), should form part of your marketing stratergy; of which you can utilise some of the additional tools mentioned above to reach your potential clients. If you need a platform and support to be successful, talk to us. The Onestop Website service is £25pm and is packed with so many features at no additional cost. You can simply drop us an email and we’ll do all the website stuff for you, whilst you manage your business.

Please feel free to check out our other articles addressing the questions you want to know about, in order to aid your success online. Thank you to the contributors for all of your questions and the viewers who got to the end of this article.