Seven business growth trends entrepreneurs should consider
There comes a point in their business journey where entrepreneurs want to expand their business. But what’s the best approach to take?
If you are thinking of growing your business, a good start is to identify and exploit the most effective tactics and channels for acquiring and retaining customers.
With the ever-evolving nature of the digital landscape, business leaders need to stay informed about the latest trends and strategies to ensure business success. Here are some key business growth trends that you would be wise to consider.
1) Personalisation
Personalisation has been a buzzword in many businesses for good reasons. Customers expect personalised experiences, and businesses offering this have a significant advantage in acquiring and retaining customers.
Personalisation can capture the attention of users by presenting them with content that is relevant and interesting to them. By understanding the customer’s needs and preferences, businesses can create a sense of connection and trust that can be hard to replicate with generic or one-size-fits-all marketing.
The first step to personalisation is gathering as much data as possible about your customers. This can include demographic data, purchase history, browsing behaviour, and other relevant information.
Many tools and platforms can help businesses collect and analyse customer data, such as Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, and customer relationship management (CRM) software. You can also leverage personalisation tools to make the process easier.
2) Artificial intelligence
It’s no secret that AI is rapidly transforming the business landscape. One of the most efficient applications of AI in business growth is its ability to analyse customer data.
AI algorithms can process vast amounts of data from multiple sources, such as social media, web analytics, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems, to identify trends and patterns that human analysts might miss. This can help marketers understand their customers better, segment them more effectively, and tailor their marketing messages to each category.
Moreover, by analysing historical data, AI algorithms can predict future customer behaviour and help marketers identify the most effective marketing channels and messages for each customer segment. This can help marketers optimise their marketing budgets and achieve better ROI.
3) Voice search
With the popularity of Alexa and Siri, voice search is becoming an increasingly important aspect of business growth. Businesses need to optimise their content and website for voice search to ensure they appear in voice search results. Voice search queries are longer and more conversational than text queries.
People are more likely to use natural language when speaking than when typing. As such, it’s important to optimise your content for natural language. Use long-tail keywords that mimic how people speak, answer questions in a conversational tone, and use phrases that sound natural to a human ear.
Since voice search is often used for local searches, optimise your website and content for local SEO. Include your city and state in your content, and ensure your website is listed in local directories.
4) Interactive content
Interactive content is more memorable and shareable than static content, and it can help businesses gather valuable customer data that can improve their marketing strategies. Options like quizzes, surveys, and polls are becoming increasingly popular to engage customers and drive conversions.
You can gather data on their interests, preferences, and behaviours by encouraging them to engage with the content and answer questions. This information can create more targeted and personalised marketing campaigns tailored to your audience’s needs.
Contests and giveaways are another effective way to use interactive content for growth marketing. By offering prizes or incentives, you can encourage users to share your content, follow your social media accounts, or sign up for your email list. This can help you build a larger audience and generate more leads, which can be converted into paying customers. Other strategies include interactive videos, infographics, augmented reality experiences, and so on.
5) Social commerce
Social media platforms are not just for building brand awareness and engagement; they’re also becoming powerful sales channels. Social commerce involves using social media platforms to sell products directly to customers. With the rise of social commerce features such as Instagram Shopping and Facebook Marketplace, businesses can now reach customers where they’re already spending their time.
6) Influencer marketing
Although influencer marketing has been around for a while, it’s still a highly efficient way to attract new audiences and build customer trust. Businesses can partner with influencers with large followings in their target market to promote their products or services. Influencer marketing can be particularly effective in the fashion, beauty, and lifestyle industries.
Before choosing influencers, it’s essential to identify your target audience. Understanding your audience’s demographics, interests, and behaviour can help you narrow down the list of influencers that you want to work with.
You also want to use tools like BuzzSumo, NinjaOutreach, or Upfluence to find relevant influencers for your brand. Analyse the quality of their posts, the language they use, and the tone of their content. Ensure their content aligns with your brand’s values and suits your target audience.
7) Customer retention
While customer acquisition is important for growth, customer retention is equally important. Regular customers are more profitable than new customers, and businesses retaining customers over the long term have a significant advantage. Business growth strategies should build long-term customer relationships, so keep this in mind.
Providing exceptional customer service is the foundation of customer retention. Ensure that your customer service team is well-trained, polite, and responsive. Respond promptly to customer inquiries, complaints, and feedback. Go above and beyond to make your customers feel valued and appreciated.
Personalise your interactions with customers and show that you care about their needs and preferences. Alternatively, your brand experience can create an emotional connection with customers, increasing their loyalty. Fortunately, you can work with a credible brand experience agency for the desired outcome.
Business growth strategies are constantly evolving
In conclusion, business growth strategies are constantly evolving, and businesses that stay ahead of the trends will have a significant advantage in acquiring and retaining customers. For effective future trend prediction, you can use data broker services such as Coresignal.
By familiarising yourself with the latest trends in personalisation, AI, voice search, interactive content, social commerce, influencer marketing, and customer retention, business leaders can develop business growth strategies that are effective, efficient, and sustainable.
