Top tips on getting more sales leads for SMEs

1. Know your target audience

This is probably a no brainer, but it’s crucial that you know exactly who your target audience is. Think about strategically segmenting your customer base to avoid incurring unnecessary advertising dollars – for example, if much of your business is local, it makes sense to target customers in a specific geographic location. If you are segmenting by demographic, make the process more efficient by targeting multiple segments (gender, age, income etc.) all at once. Knowing your customer will go a long way in helping you formulate a strategic marketing plan and to provide products and services that your customer base will love.

2. Harness the power of Social Media

Social media platforms are a great way to engage prospective customers and generate sales. Be sure to have a presence on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest, and use these channels to highlight and promote products to your target audience. Engaging a marketing expert will help you reach out to social media users in your target demographic, while such platforms allow discussions that will help you find out more about what your customers want.

3. Start an e-mail newsletter

Once you’ve built a solid customer base, it’s essential to build customer loyalty so they keep coming back. An e‐mail newsletter is a great communication channel you can use to touch base with your customers on a regular basis, keeping them informed of promotions, events, new products and the like. Using an e‐mail marketing platform like ActiveCampaign or Constant Contact will ensure your e‐newsletters are sent out on schedule, and invest in engaging a great content partner to produce a mailer which strikes a good balance between promotional and informational material.

4. List your business on online directories

Simply listing your business on a variety of online directories is a great way to get your business noticed. If yours is a niche business, be sure to get listed on both general business directories and those specific to your niche area. If you expect to do a significant amount of business within the local and regional community, be sure to look up local and regional business directories you can get listed on as well. Popular business directories in Singapore include Yellow Pages Singapore, inSing, ST Classifieds and more. On your listing, include as much relevant, up‐to‐date contact information as you can.

5. Develop a referral programme

If you already have a base of loyal customers who love your product, now’s the time to make them work for you. Think about starting a referral programme, offering promotions and rewards to existing customers who introduce new customers to your product.