5 Things Every Seven-Figure Marketer Knows About How To Win The Best Clients

Here are five tactics that'll help improve the effectiveness of your client acquisition strategy.

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When it comes to growing your side hustle into a full-time career, few activities are more important than winning the best possible clients. This doesn’t change once you’ve more fully established your consulting business, either.

Client acquisition is your company’s lifeblood. It’s how you scale your business and maintain long-term profitability.

While winning new clients can be a challenge for any marketing consultant or freelancer, there are a few tried and true practices that'll help you be more successful at landing bigger, better clients.

I recently had opportunities to speak with both Nik Robbins, partner at Be Top Local, and Michael Laurens, founder of the Agency Accelerator Mastermind Program. Our conversations helped highlight some of the principles that seven-figure marketers live by, in order to consistently land high-quality clients.

1. Know Where To Find Your Target Audience

“Marketers often focus on demographics and psychographics to determine how to present their marketing message,” Robbins explains. “But far too often, they forget about the where. The most effective ads in the world won’t do you any good if you’re advertising in the wrong places. Savvy marketers narrow in on the best platforms to reach their target audience—both online and offline—to drive sales.”

The better you understand your target audience’s habits and identify where they're spending time, the easier it'll be to put your message in the right place.

For example, Pew Research has found that 91% of 19 to 29 year olds use YouTube, with urban-dwellers being even more likely to use the platform. For adults aged 65 and older however, Facebook is their most popular social media platform.

Knowing where your audience spends time will help you make the most effective use of your ad spend.

2. Educate The Consumer

While the latest blogging statistics show that content marketing is 62% cheaper than traditional marketing channels with arguably stronger results, this is far from the only reason it's become so prevalent in today’s marketing world.

“Customers rarely make a purchase from you the first time they discover your brand,” said Laurens. “Because of this, client acquisition strategies need to consider what you can do to motivate them to come back to your site after that initial visit. How can you provide value before you close the sale?”

High quality content that educates your audience will help establish you as an authority in your niche.

Webinars, blog posts and email tips can all serve as valuable resources that help potential clients make their decision.

As customers learn to trust you through the reliable content you regularly provide, they'll not only become more likely to develop a favorable opinion of your services, but they'll also place a higher value on your time.

3. Create A Sense Of Urgency

“Creating a sense of urgency is one of the best ways to get a potential client to act,” Laurens explained. “This is why on my site, the first thing you’ll see is a countdown timer for the start of the next online class, as well as a message that seating is limited to 100 participants. The implied scarcity makes the class appear even more valuable, which helps drive sign-ups.”

Laurens’ tactic is further supported by research into how urgency drives customer behavior.

A case study in the Netherlands found that the simple act of adding a countdown timer to a landing page increased conversions by 8.6%. Using language that creates a sense of urgency—including time-tested favorites like “act now” or “limited-time offer” further increases the scarcity mindset.

4. It’s Better To Retain Than Acquire

Studies have found that it typically costs a business five times as much to acquire a new client as it does to retain an existing one, while increasing retention by just 5% can increase profits by as much as 95%.

As important as it is to attract new clients, you can't forget about those who've already hired you. Continuing to deliver a high level of service, or regularly re-marketing to satisfied customers with new offerings, will help you maintain profitability by reducing churn.

Supporting this, a recent HubSpot customer acquisition study found that 90% of consumers are more likely to purchase more, and 93% were more likely to be repeat customers at companies with excellent customer service.

Make the satisfaction of your current clients a top priority in your acquisition and retention strategy. Instead of investing more to find new customers, you can continue to make a profit from people who've already gone through the buyer’s journey.

5. Your Current Customers Are Your Best Marketing Tool

Your current clients will always be your best resource for driving the acquisition of new clients.

“Our client testimonials are the most powerful tool in our marketing arsenal,” Robbins explained.

He continues, “When potential customers see real clients talking about the meaningful results they’ve received—new patients, improved ROI and so on—the rest of our message falls into place. Potential clients trust other people far more than they’d ever trust us on our own messaging.”

Research from Nielsen takes this a step further. They found that 92% of customers trust recommendations from friends and family, while just 70% trust opinions posted online.

Let your clients tell their story about how your company helped them succeed, and you’ll see a much higher conversion rate.

Especially for startups and consultant, it's crucial to employ techniques that'll lower your acquisition costs and generate more long-term revenue.

By using these tactics, you can improve the effectiveness of your overall acquisition strategy and ensure a more profitable future.

from Forbes - Entrepreneurs https://ift.tt/2JbnAqe