At some point or another, you will need to reach out to new customers. No matter your industry, no matter what you do or who you are or how big or small your business is, customer outreach will play a role in it at some point. It’s practically a law of nature. In the age of email newsletters, banner ads and viral marketing, there are more ways than ever to reach out to customers, both new and old.
Don’t Underestimate Traditional Outreach
In the digital age, it can be easy to dismiss telephone, paper and in-person outreach as old-fashioned. Despite that, people keep cold-calling customers, sending real estate mailers and even going door to door for face-to-face salesmanship, because it still works. Depending on your product and your client base, traditional marketing can still be a powerful tool.
Word-of-Mouth vs Viral
Where people used to talk a lot about word-of-mouth, now you often hear about viral marketing. In point of fact, the two aren’t so different from each other. They both rely on customers telling each other about your product. Word-of-mouth carries more weight, but viral marketing, when it’s successful, has infinitely more reach.
Targeted Advertising
With the advent of tracking and the widespread use of machine learning and algorithms, there are more ways than ever before to target your advertising directly at the customers most likely to be interested in a completely automated way.
The better you are at customer outreach, the more successful your business will be. Just remember, what works for other companies and industries may not work for you. Try lots of different approaches. Experiment with new campaigns and new methods. You may find that some kinds of customer outreach are more or less effective. Find what works and stick to it, but don’t be afraid to branch out and try new things from time to time.