Small business owners often feel that they need to do something to stand out from the crowd to attract an audience. Many business owners will try to stand out by creating fancy logos and websites that grab people’s attention. These may work short-term, but it’s worth considering other ways you can build relationships with your ideal customers and market yourself as an industry leader.

So how can you position yourself as a leader?

It’s all about establishing trust with your customers by showing them that you’re an expert in what you do and care about their pain points.

Here are four tactics to build relationships that turn prospects into clients.

 

Reach out on social media

Social media is a great place to spread brand awareness, but you should also use it to highlight your areas of expertise. Share relevant content with your customers to show that you understand their needs. If your customers are in a specific industry, share posts about that industry. If they have specific needs in common, write about them.

Topics you could write about:

  • Changes in legislation that might affect them
  • Trends you see in their industry
  • Major upcoming issues and how to address them
  • Seasonal issues that would affect their business

You need to ask questions to better understand what customers want to read about or encourage discussion. When they comment on your posts, respond. Answer questions, find ways to further the conversation and thank them for commenting.

You can also search on social media for groups that are related to your industry. Look for groups who are asking questions in your area of speciality, then provide answers to their questions.

 

Write articles for contribution sites

There are many “contribution sites” seeking great content. If there is something you have to say that’s relevant to your clients, write articles and contribute to those sites. Once the article is posted, share it through your social media platforms and emails to encourage people to read it.

 

Encourage testimonials

Social proof shows potential clients that there are people who love your company and your services or products. People want to work with companies they trust, and they rely on other people’s word to help determine if they can trust your company.

When you have enthusiastic customers or clients, encourage them to share their thoughts through ratings and reviews on social media and testimonials. Encourage clients to share information about your business to their networks.

 

Focus on a niche

Trying to help everyone in every area will be a lot more challenging as a leader. Helping everyone with everything is also a recipe for burn-outs and potential disasters. You become a specialist by knowing only one or two areas really well. Focus in on one or two industries that you can become known in based on what your customers need from you. When people have an issue related to your speciality, more than likely, they’ll come to you, but if they only consider you as a generalist, you may be far down their list.

 

Final thoughts

You can adequately position yourself as a market leader with a little work and time spent getting to know your ideal clients.

If you have any questions, feel free to Join the conversation…

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