How Can Your Small Business Appeal to a Much Larger Customer Base?

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Helping a business reach a wider audience is no walk in the park, especially if you are a small business on a limited budget. 

You will find that there are many hurdles and pitfalls when it comes to bringing in new customers, especially if you are considering dipping your toe into the world of international trade. 

Trying to do everything at once is never a good idea, so concentrating on a few key areas might be the best way to get the best results from the smallest amount of effort and outlay. 

How-Can-Your-Small-Business-Appeal-to-a-Much-Larger-Customer-Base
Table of Contents

#1 Learn how to cater to a worldwide audience

This, on the surface, might sound a little bit difficult; however, in practice, it should turn out to be a lot easier than you might think. Learning how to cater to a worldwide audience means being able to be found online and providing international shipping.

You should also have your website and services available in many languages to be able to appeal to them. Although a lot of countries do speak English, you might find that going the extra mile and looking into, for example, a Chinese translation service will allow you to form a stronger rapport with customers, and you are more likely to generate more leads and sales. 

#2 Take advantage of social media and social media influencer marketing

Once you have that box ticked, you are going to need to make sure that you are investing in social media. It is a quick and efficient way for you to be able to reach a wider audience quickly, and you can target certain audiences and topics by using hashtags and following trends.

Social media influencer marketing can be a great way to make sure that you are marketing your products directly to your target audience through a face their viewers know, trust, and recognize. It is very similar to when brands use celebrity endorsement to market their products or services, a technique used by many charities. 

Young contemporary female owner of small business working in the internet

#3 Keep your website up to date

Keeping your website up to date is very important anyway, but in this situation, it is absolutely crucial, especially if you want to keep your bounce rates low. One way of doing this is to ensure that your website is well-maintained and easily accessible. 

An up-to-date and well-designed website can not only add authenticity to your social media account and your business, but it can also provide a place where your customers can visit and know that they are going to be given reliable and solid support and won’t be left high and dry after purchase. 

#4 Put your employees through customer service training

This is not the cheapest solution on this list, but if you haven’t realized already, what you need to understand is that the experience of buying a product is as important as the quality of the product itself. If your product isn’t as good as your competitor’s, but the customer experience is better, you might find that your customers won’t go looking elsewhere. 

It can help you create a relationship with your customers, and it can help them put a lot of faith in your business so they are less likely to move to a competitor. It brings a lot of loyalty, which you’ll find pays off in the long run. 

#5 Try a range of different marketing techniques

Trying a range of different marketing techniques might be a good way forward. Of course, there is social media influencer marketing, which was mentioned earlier, but there are some other ways that can be equally as beneficial to your business, such as:

  • Custom swag. This helps give your clients more incentive to purchase from your business again, as they get extra freebies. 
  • Mass marketing texts and emails. This can be a good alternative to social media when it comes to sending out information to your clients quickly.
  • Storytelling. This can help hook your customers in and help them build a stronger emotional connection with your business. This can be highly beneficial if you have a compelling narrative for your business, especially if you make it seem like a quest or you are purpose-driven. 

A few final thoughts

Appealing to a wider audience is a challenge that all small businesses face if they want to become bigger. However, there are some ways to achieve this, principally by catering to individuals on a worldwide scale and taking advantage of different marketing techniques – as well as social media and the services it provides. 

Once that interest is generated, you need to keep your website up to date so that customers can find what they are looking for and by training your workforce to make the most of every inquiry. 

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