In the early days of your business, your focus was on building brand recognition and defining your product line. You probably devoted lots of time to administrative aspects, like setting up your company and hiring staff. Now, you’re starting to see some traction and want to keep the momentum rolling. It’s time to learn how to grow your business.
Business growth is key for all organizations. Done correctly, growth means expanding your customer base, differentiating your organization from competitors, and increasing profits. To grow effectively, you’ll need to invest in your operations, especially client-facing areas like marketing, sales, and customer service that will help you attract and retain customers.
How to grow your business quickly
Business growth takes time and steady investment, but these 10 tips will help keep you on the path to healthy expansion.
1. Hire the right people
Every role in your organization has a purpose. From marketing to product development, each employee works toward a business goal. It’s vital to hire people with the expertise to do their jobs successfully — especially if they’re hired for key functions in your organization. When hiring new employees, consider their prior track record in similar roles, along with other qualifying factors like education.
2. Focus on established revenue sources
Invest your efforts into solidifying your existing revenue sources and building a strong foundation to grow from. Once your business meets your target growth goals, you can work on developing other revenue sources.
3. Reduce your risks
It’s crucial to mitigate your exposure to financial losses at every stage in the business cycle, but even more so when you’re first starting out. Find ways to reduce risks in every area of your business. You can protect against lawsuits and unforeseen events with a business insurance policy. Other ways to limit uncertainty include finding supportive business partners, avoiding unnecessary gambles, and keeping credit reliance to a minimum.
4. Be adaptable to change
If there’s one thing you can count on in your business journey, it’s change. Your industry and market will change over time, and so will customer expectations. Maintaining a close eye on industry trends and evolving client needs is crucial so you can pivot your business when necessary.
5. Deliver an outstanding customer experience
Customers are more likely to stick with you and become repeat purchasers when you offer a solid client experience. If a customer feels you didn’t meet their service expectations, they probably won’t return — and may share their poor experience with others. To keep clients happy, go above and beyond to meet their needs.
6. Invest in self-development
As a business owner, you wear a lot of hats — and you may be more knowledgeable in some areas than others. Take an honest assessment of your strengths and weaknesses, and develop your skills in areas that need work. For instance, if accounting isn’t your thing, you might take a general accounting class at your local community college to help you understand your business finances.
7. Plan for the future with forethought and strategy
It’s easy to get so caught up in day-to-day operations that you forget about your long-term plans. Set aside time to assess current business performance and establish future goals. You can identify strategies to meet your objectives and evaluate your progress as you work toward them.
8. Maximize the use of social media for business growth
Social media is one of the most effective tools to reach a broad audience with minimal spending. If you haven’t already, establish a business presence on a social media platform. Choose a platform where your target clients hang out the most. For instance, if you’re a B2B company, LinkedIn might be a good choice. B2C companies might find Instagram or YouTube are better alternatives.
9. Network effectively at professional events
Attending professional events is a great way to build connections with other business owners and leaders. Use the opportunity to forge strong relationships, especially with those who might benefit from your organization’s products or services or who might serve as a great partner.
10. Know your competitors
Keeping an eye on the competition is vital, especially when you’re working to make your business grow. Pay attention to your competitor’s strategies, product offerings, pricing, and marketing practices. See where you can differentiate your business to make it more attractive to your target clients.
Growing your online business
Most organizations have an online presence, even with a physical storefront. Consider these tips if you’re unsure how to grow your business online.
Choose the right online platform
There are multiple tools available that can help you build a business website without having to pay someone to develop one for you. Most platforms include pre-built themes you can customize to meet your needs. You’ll pay a monthly or annual fee for the theme and hosting service. Some options are WordPress, Squarespace, and Shopify.
Create a functional website with a simple design
Many business owners believe they need a complicated website with lots of bells and whistles to attract customers. However, that’s not usually the case. Instead, create a simple website that visitors can easily navigate. Ensure your clients don’t have to work too hard to get what they want from your website, whether ordering a product, scheduling an appointment, or signing up for your newsletter.
Optimize user contact and interaction
Anytime someone visits your website, it’s an opportunity to learn more about them through interaction. Consider incorporating a pop-up window that asks visitors to sign up for your mailing list. You might include a special sign-up offer, like a one-time discount or free download. Another way to facilitate interaction is through a customer chatbot that visitors can use to learn more about your brand and what it offers.
Start an email list early
Email has been around for decades, but it remains a highly effective tool for connecting with your audience. Even if you don’t have tons of website traffic (yet), create an email mailing list visitors can subscribe to. You can promote your list through marketing channels, social media, and physical storefronts.
Constant Contact offers a full-service email marketing platform you can use to send emails and interact with customers. It includes pre-built templates you can customize, plus additional features like email marketing automation and analytics.
Drive more organic traffic from search engines
In an ideal world, most website visits will occur organically — not from paid advertisements. Organic traffic is free, and it includes people looking for specific terms related to what your business offers. Incorporate relevant keywords into your landing pages and blog posts to help your page rank higher in the search engines. When your website ranks highly for targeted keywords, you’ll see consistent organic traffic.
Promote your site via social media
Ensure your social media followers can easily access your site. Include direct links in your bio and promote specific pages in your posts. For instance, if you want your social media followers to know about a new product, post a picture of it on social media and include a direct link for your audience to shop from.
Start an affiliate partner program
Marketing may be one of your most significant expenses — especially when trying to grow your business. To mitigate your marketing costs, consider implementing an affiliate partner program. Essentially, affiliates promote your products through blog posts, videos, and social media. Every time a promotion results in a sale, they earn a commission. It’s an easy way to build your brand without making a significant investment of your money or time.
Implement pay-per-click (PPC) advertising for quicker growth
You’ve probably seen PPC ads at the top of your search engine results, on webpages you visit, and on social media. PPC ads encourage people to visit a website and take some type of action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a mailing list. You can use PPC ads to boost sales quickly in the early stages of your business.
Advanced business growth strategies
Once your initial strategies take hold, consider implementing advanced techniques to skyrocket business growth. Here are a few options.
- Find a niche: A niche is a tiny segment of a larger customer market. There’s typically much less competition, making it easier to build an audience. Find a target niche and work toward developing a client base.
- Know your audience: Learn what makes your customers tick using the information they provide, such as their interests and demographics. You can also track their interactions with your social media and website, as well as prior purchase history.
- Content is king: Find ways to promote your company through informational blogs, social media posts, and email marketing. Publishing regularly helps you build a rapport with your audience.
- Use influencer marketing to tap into new audiences: Influencers promote products and services to their followers. Find an influencer whose audience mirrors your target clients and partner with them to hype up your brand.
- Personalize customer communications: Clients want to feel that you value their patronage and know who they are. Wherever possible, include personalized elements in your communication.
- Invest in video marketing through YouTube and webinars: Video marketing is ideal for promoting products or establishing credibility for your business. Use videos to showcase products or discuss relevant topics with your client base.
Metrics and accountability in business growth
As you implement your business growth strategies, tracking your progress is essential. Otherwise, you won’t know if your efforts are effective.
Measuring business growth effectively
Identify metrics that align with your growth objectives to measure your success. A few key metrics most businesses use include customer acquisition cost, customer lifetime value, and revenue growth. Define your target goal for each metric and note your current benchmarks. Then, you can evaluate progress toward your goals over future periods.
Keep detailed records for performance analysis
It’s essential to set clear benchmarks and measure progress accurately. Consider using an analytics tool to help you monitor your gains. One option is Google Analytics, which is free and offers customizable report options to track website visits, conversions, and other metrics.
Taking action: Building a better business
As your business growth accelerates, find ways to improve operations and enhance profitability. Here are a few techniques that can strengthen your business.
Stay organized and keep focused on business objectives
As your business grows, it can be hard to maintain focus on singular business goals. You may find yourself thinking of new product ideas, marketing strategies, or other ways to drum up sales. However, it’s important not to stray too far from your priorities.
Keep strategically working toward your initial goal. Once you reach it, you can open yourself up to new objectives.
Encourage creative thinking within the business
News flash: You probably aren’t the only one in your company with great ideas. Your management team, staff, and even customers likely have interesting ideas, too. Encourage everyone to share their thoughts on improving the organization. For instance, you might hold regular team brainstorming sessions or ask clients for improvement tips. If an idea is particularly good, act on it!
Maintain consistent business practices for reliability
As customers become more familiar with your brand, they expect you to stay reliable. For instance, if you always send a marketing email on Tuesdays, they may express dissatisfaction if you miss a week. Once you establish a schedule for your marketing and business activities, stick with it to maintain customer interest.
Prepare to make sacrifices for business growth
As you grow your business, you’ll likely encounter a few roadblocks. Maybe you’re not fully satisfied with your product, so you keep refining it rather than releasing it. Or, maybe you have a revenue stream that consumes lots of resources but doesn’t generate profits.
When serious obstacles arise, step back and determine whether they hurt your business in the long run. If so, stop expending your efforts and refocus on the positives that benefit your organization.
Unlock your business growth potential today
There are many ways to grow your business, from establishing an online presence to creating an effective email marketing strategy for business growth. However, you probably don’t want to implement every strategy simultaneously — that would be exhausting! Instead, pick a few ideas from our list and try them out. As you see your business grow, implement a few new strategies.
Next, learn more tips to help your marketing strategy succeed.
