With the economy not in the best of spots right now, small businesses are at a loss of what to do when it comes to continuing to captivate their customers. This is especially true in instances where the service or product is not a necessity for the consumer. In addition to your current advertising and marketing plan, there are some other ways that you can reach out to your community and continue to increase your business.

Get involved in your community and take advantage of city festivals, fairs, or community gatherings. These events provide a low budget way for you to reach hundreds of consumers in your community. We all know that word-of-mouth advertising is the best way to create buzz about your business, so in addition to your online local advertising, like CityWaboo, get out in your community and show them what you’re all about. Participate by setting up a booth, handing out flyer’s, menus, gift certificates, t-shirts or any other collateral items you’d like to hand out.

Create a theme day at your business, maybe a contest for your customers, for example, if it’s close to Halloween, tell your customers that if they come into your business in costume you’ll offer a discount, free item, or candy. Are you an online business, if so, you can still create this theme by creating an online contest, or even just changing your home page picture. If it’s Christmas, hand out candy canes to your customers and throw on a Santa hat to get a quiet chuckle.

With the economy in such bad standing, people shop where it’s most affordable, most of consumers choices are driven by affordability. That means to compete in the market right now, not only do you need to make sure you are offering competitive prices for your industry, but also that your customer service skills are top notch! It’s often assumed that if a service is offered at an affordable price, there’s gotta be a catch-prove your clients wrong and let them know that they’re money is being well spent.

Make sure your staff and team is on-board and knows the expectation, especially if you’re in a business that requires person-to-person interaction. No one wants to deal with a bad attitude, especially if they are paying you… so what’s the solution, make sure your working incentives for your staff. If they have a great day, don’t hesitate to let them know. How does this correlate with captivating your customers? I assure you, if you’re staff is rude, irritable, snappy, short-tempered, or lousy with their service, your customers are not going to be enthusiastic to come back to your business again, it’s also likely you’ll begin a negative word-of-mouth buzz around your business instead.

Encourage your clients to write reviews on sites like Yelp and CityWaboo so that you can monitor how your business is doing, what your customers love and what they hate.

Making your business stand out from the competition is key. Providing a fun experience for the customer makes your business unforgettable because you’re clients will have had such a pleasant interaction within your boundaries. Experiences are what drive repeat customers. Make sure that you’re offering an incentive for both the client and your employees, everyone likes something for free or discounted, and it never hurts to acknowledge good work. Keep your customers captivated by participating in low budget activities, creating those personal relationships, and projecting your business in a positive uplifting light.