In the business world growth is often the name of the game. If growing your business was as simple as wanting it to happen, however, every business would be doing it. The key to taking the company you have today and growing it into the business you want it to be is developing a product or service that people want but also developing the right marketing campaigns to let customers know that your business is out there. If you’re ready for a step up for your business, here are some key practices to implement.

Do Your Research

Sometimes the simplest tasks are also the easiest to overlook. When you’ve been doing the same thing in your marketing for a long time it can be easy to think that you fully understand your clientele and know exactly the type of customer icon you should be gearing your campaigns around. If you have not assessed your data recently, however, that may not be the case. Not only should you be performing regular research into the types of customers who are purchasing your products, but you should also keep an eye on your competition’s marketing. What are they doing that is effective and what are they doing which seems to be failing to draw in viewers. Take what’s working and adjust it to fit your brand and you’ll be on the path to a bigger business.

Utilize Sales Funnels

If sales funnels are not a part of your digital marketing campaigns then you are likely missing out on potential customers with every ad that you run. On a well-executed sales funnel, browsers are directed from your ad onto a landing page which entices them to provide you with value. Whether that means producing a sale of a product immediately, or simply using a promotion in order to get contact information of interested consumers, the funnel guides them from where they were initially browsing online to where you need them to be.

Reward Loyal Customers

When you’re trying to grow your company it may seem like a tangent to discuss ways to reward current customers but you should approach customer retention as a part of your greater marketing strategy. It’s more cost effective to maintain a current customer than it is to find a new one, so keeping the customers you already earned makes it significantly easier to invest enough in marketing to grow into your targets. Loyalty programs are even better as they often can kill two birds with one stone. While systems like loyalty points keep customers coming back and occasionally provide the extra nudge when a customer is deciding between your store and another, referral bonuses get your customers to market for you.

Grow Your Lists

A fully developed set of email lists is a must for any business in the modern marketing landscape. You should maintain multiple lists with everything from currently active members to former customers and those who merely expressed interest in the past. Online funnels are a great way to gather emails from prospective customers by offering a simple deal for those who provide an email address.Once you have a set of lists set up you can target your email campaigns to hit the types of customers most likely to be intrigued by the emails you are sending. Email lists are an excellent way to get your offers and deals in front of a large number of consumers who have already shown they are intrigued by what you’re offering.

Find the Right Partners

When two companies have crossover in their client lists without having competition it’s the perfect opportunity to work together so that both companies benefit. An office with a health policy which helps to cover gym fees can partner up with a local gym for special rates, for example. The gym gets increased business from the employees choosing to use the gym for greatly reduced out of pocket spending while the office benefits from being able to offer a great deal in order to attract top talent.

Embrace Innovated Technologies

There’s no better way to set yourself apart from the competition than being innovative and changing the game. When your company has something that makes it truly unique you should take advantage of that unique hook to draw eyes to your brand, like Mark Crumpacker, Zume Culinary’s Chief Marketing Officer, did in his time with the company and its fleet of mobile pizza kitchens. There are few industries which are not crowded with competition, so highlighting what makes your business special helps you to make a name for your brand and stand out from the crowd.

The right marketing campaign can take your company to places it’s never been before. If you’re unsure of the next step for your marketing strategies try some of the above techniques and you’ll likely see new faces walking through the doors before you know it.