Getting a business up and running isn’t easy, but it can be even harder to start attracting customers. Reaching a large audience is crucial to growth and sustainability, but it is hard to turn views into actual paying clients.
When your business is online, it’s accessible to a wider audience—the whole world, even—but you still have to do quite a bit to get their attention. To expand your reach and connect with a wider audience, here are three suggestions to try out.
Take Advantage of Social Media Trends
What viral trends are taking over TikTok or Instagram this month? Whatever people are searching for and talking about, that's what you want to post. It takes some inventiveness to find ways to make trending content that's creative rather than cringy, but it can be done. Following popular hashtags can be a great way to generate hundreds to thousands of organic viewers and infuse some humor into your business's online presence.
It will help to be on multiple social media platforms. Even if your target demographic concentrates on one platform—perhaps most of them are only on Facebook or only on Twitter—having accounts across several different sites helps draw in potential customers, especially ones that might fall outside of your normal demographic.
It’s strategic to know when to post as well. Spamming followers with dozens of posts each day can irritate them, making you lose followers and potential customers. However, you want to post often enough that you stay relevant in their minds. Depending on which platforms you’re using, there may be certain days or times of day that are better to post during than others. You can schedule posts to publish during those times to ensure you have the best chance of catching your potential customers’ attention.
Optimize Your Website
Search engine optimization is based on the level of value and immediacy of information you provide customers. People search for different terms and often have different needs, even if one of your products or services is the final solution. Tailor your approach to suit multiple types of inquiries, and aim to be as valuable as possible. In other words, center your site more on providing solutions rather than promoting a brand. Oftentimes, people will leave a site that seems too advertorial or “spammy,” even if it might actually have valuable information on it.
Make sure that your site's SEO content is current with the latest Google algorithm. You should not only have web pages that incorporate proper HTML and popular keywords but also blog posts filled with plenty of evergreens, high-value content. Most importantly, you should consider how diversifying your content strategy can improve your existing SEO.
Run Different Ads for Multiple Demographics
The type of media that appeals to a 35-year-old mother of three in suburbia won't resonate with a 20-something living in the city. To reach a wider audience, you have to target specific demographics in different geographic locations. The age and gender may stay the same for one, but the content could vary based on where they live and what they tend to buy. Some audience research will help you design better ads that are more aligned with what particular groups of people engage with.
Don't make assumptions simply based on what's worked in the past, and don’t rely on stereotypes. To expand your audience, you have to venture into unknown territory, and that means hunkering down to learn about what others like before wasting time and money on campaigns that miss their mark.
Simple consumer surveys are a good, cost-effective way to get a lot of information about your target audience quickly and efficiently. Many people are willing to fill out surveys, especially if there is a small incentive. Just remember that the more questions or open-ended answer options you put in the survey, the more work you’ll have to do sorting through and analyzing the results.
As always, don't forget to concentrate on business growth as well as online impressions. While you may find more views, followers or website visitors rewarding, the most important thing to analyze is how a wider audience impacts your consumer base. From there, you'll need to address other aspects of your business to meet the needs and match the style of a larger group of people.