What Can A Small Business Do To Impress Customers In 2023?

Impressing customers in the modern age can be a bit tricky, don’t you think? Nothing seems to quite scratch the itch of the current shopping generation, and they’re likely to flit back and forth until they find the cheapest deal that’s convenient for them. How is a small business supposed to keep up? 

By ensuring you understand who you’re selling to. Impressing a customer is a little more difficult than it used to be, sure. But you’ve also got more choice than ever when it comes to bringing in more time and attention for your company. You just need to know how to capture it!

That’s why we’ve put together the list below. If you want to impress customers in 2023 and beyond, all you need to do is institute a few new marketing methods, both proactive and in-house. Using them in tandem will always serve you best. 

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Entice New Customers with Exclusive Discounts

An exclusive discount is always going to be an exciting thing, even for people who have no need of buying your products. That’s why you might notice a sharp uptick in your sales whenever you post a coupon on your website or a discount on social media. But such discounts aren’t one-time, one trick ponies – oh no! 

You can use them time and time again to repeatedly bring in new custom. For every hundred customers that take advantage of the offer, at least a quarter of them are going to come back again for more. That turns a new customer into a repeat customer, and that slowly yet steadily builds your customer base over the months. 

For a small business, that’s a very promising state of affairs. Make sure this is something you focus on during your acquisition efforts. It can be used very effectively in concourse with other marketing methods. 

But Don’t Forget About Your Loyal Patrons!

Discounts that only apply to new customers should be carefully balanced against perks for loyal customers. We touched on this above but here’s the one thing you really need to know: someone who has shopped with you before, who has signed up to your mailing list and/or follows you on social media, has a lot of shopping power.

They’re clearly the kind of customer who sticks it out – don’t let them go in your pursuit of expanding your custom pool! You want to keep such customers around for as long as possible, as they’re going to be the biggest source of your income for the course of your company’s lifespan. 

The more you offer them, the more they’ll come back, and on and on the cycle will go. That makes for a very positive customer business relationship! 

Have Easily Accessible Customer Service

Your customer service needs to be top notch. There really is no wiggle room here! The easier it is for a customer to get in touch about an issue, the more trustworthy you’ll come across. 

You won’t be that shady business that hoards money and disappears as soon as a problem crops up. You see a transaction through to the end and you’re happy to provide a service even after a customer has walked out of the door. So, make your customer service line as accessible as possible. 

Let people know how to contact you as soon as they get onto your website. Make sure your customer service hours are readily displayed. Even install a chat for website app that allows someone to just ping off a message! Make it convenient, and your customers will find it far easier to trust you. 

Have a Stellar Website

Your website is essentially the face of your business. As such, it’s important you make it up to look the best it can. It’s the one point of contact your customers will have with your business, even when you’ve got a physical storefront. It’s also the place they’re going to go when they have concerns and queries both.

Because of all this, you want your customers to be able to trust you. You want them to be pleased by what they see. This makes your website design and general layout very, very important. 

Most of all, your website needs to be easy to use and navigate through, product categories and tabs need to be set out clearly, and your landing pages should be refined for SEO purposes. No matter how you made your website, you should be able to construct it to align with each of these factors. 

Post Regular Social Media Content

Another element of your business’ ‘face’, your social media presence is another portal for your customers to get to know you through. That’s why it’s very important to post regular content on your profiles. 

You want there to be something for your customers to see and then come back for, whether this be a new offer, some product/service advice, or an in depth review from a customer, etc. When you’ve got a good stream of content on the go, which is regularly posted and then updated as time goes on, there’s always going to be something ‘valuable’ for your customers to get involved in. 

However, make sure you’re creating both evergreen and trending topics that relate to your business and its niche. You want to have a variety of content on the go, which makes your feed a lot more interesting to comb through. 

Collect Plenty of Reviews

Do you know what a slew of good reviews says to a potential customer? You’re the right place to shop! Of course, too many good reviews and they might get suspicious, but as long as you’ve got more good reviews than you do mediocre or negative ones, you’re going to impress from far away. 

Good reviews tell someone that you’ve got a history in delivering on your promises. Similarly, it allows someone to feel trust in the business relationship; that can be in short supply in the modern era, especially when it comes to online shopping! 

So encourage reviews, and encourage your previous customers to be both in depth and truthful. You can even offer an incentive to ensure you always get something worth posting, whether this be a free (albeit small) item or a short term, one use discount. 

Take Part in the Community

Your local community matters. As a small business, it’s the closest support network you’ve got, no matter how long you’ve been in business or how far you feel you still have to go. Give back to this support network as often as possible. 

The more you’re present in your community, the easier it’s going to be to build up a local customer pool. Your name will become recognizable within the area, and people won’t have to go far to find a trustworthy service they can depend on. 

You can then use local SEO tactics to further establish your presence within the local scene. This is very good for business, as success at home can be replicated on an international scale!

Let Them Know Why You’re the Best

What do you do that makes you the best business within your field? Or the best business selling your product? There could be multiple types out there, all of which are made differently with slightly different features or are covered under different patents. 

You want a customer to be sure from the moment they visit your website that you’re the one they should buy from. Showcase customer testimonials, create great copy, and design your homepage to be user friendly.

Identify What Your Competitors are Doing Well

Following on from our above point, you need to get to know your competitors. What are they doing well? They have strong sales, sure, or they seem to have a very strong following on social media – but why? 

What is it about their tactics that’s drawing people in? It could be due to their long standing history, it could be down to the budget they’re working with, it could be the fact that they’ve had little competition in the past. 

Once you understand why these points work out for them, you can then look into what isn’t working so well. They’ve got some shiny elements, there’s no doubt about that, but something is going wrong somewhere. You just need to find it, do your research into it, and then do it better on your own terms. 

A small business can impress their customers, as long as they use their budget well and understand what the modern shopper wants from a business like theirs. Next time you’re in the boardroom and about to draw up a new marketing campaign, keep this in mind. 

The more you know about who you’re selling to, the less time, effort, and money you’re going to waste. So, do your research, identify what your competitors are doing well (and forgetting about), and never forget the power of a well put together website. Invest in yourself and your customers will come running!