How to Acquire and Retain New Customers

What We Discussed with Tim

On this episode, host Eric Dickmann interviews Tim Wu about acquiring and retaining new customers. Here are some highlights of our conversation:

• [00:03:34] How do you define your target market to be successful with your marketing efforts? – Tim mentions that he and his team at Hatch go back to the basics when finding their target market. They experiment and try to understand what messages effectively resonate with their target audience. Success never happens overnight; it's a step-by-step process.
• [00:06:42] Brand awareness and staying targeted – New companies need to strengthen their brand awareness. They need to effectively articulate the pain points their product or service solves. It may be hard to operate in a crowded space, but focusing on a specific niche can help businesses find an audience.
• [00:12:12] The importance of educational content in your overall marketing strategy – Tim believes that educational content is very important for a startup. He mentions that at Hatch they create a variety of content to inform and entertain customers and prospects. Tim also hosts Hatch's official podcast called Small Business Spotlights. They talk with small business owners about their inspirational life stories featuring how they started their business, challenges, and road to success.
• [00:16:22] How do you find the messages that really resonate with the ideal customer? – Businesses need to use words that their target market can relate to and understand online trends. It is crucial to put themselves in their audience's shoes to have a clearer understanding of what problems they need to help solve.
• [00:20:53] Competing with larger competitors? – Tim suggests small businesses keep away from the high-volume searches because they are highly competitive and expensive. He recommends businesses to purchase more specific keywords that are relatable to their target customers and industries. 
• [00:24:00] How do you organize your marketing team – Tim encourages startups to try a different approach when finding employees, freelancers, or agencies to work with the business. When building a team, businesses should consider existing skill sets along with a willingness to learn and take risks. 
• [00:30:05] Maximizing your influencer campaign – Collaborating with influencers and subject matter experts can be great tactics to enhance a company's  marketing campaign. Finding influencers who are both reputable and share a similar audience can be a great way to elevate brand awareness in a product or service.