Every business owner is always looking for new and innovative ways to find and attract new customers. If your business is doing well, then new customers can help you to advance your business plan. If your business is struggling, the new customers could be the financial lifeline that you need.

There are thousands of different ideas for attracting new customers to your business. Some of them are good; some of them, not so much. Below, we’ll evaluate some of the most common methods that business owners use to drive new customers to their company, and see which ones are most likely to deliver your desired results.

BAD IDEA: Spamming people

If you want to generate new customers, it makes sense to begin with those on your email list, or social media followers, who have yet to make a purchase. So, you send an email or two, post a few Tweets, and offer new deals and discount codes to encourage them to try your company. What could be the harm?

Well, you could find your emails are marked as “spam” if they suddenly become too frequent, and your social media channels will be unfollowed if they become relentless calls to action.

What should you do instead? Marketing and advertising are great ways to bring in new customers, but these campaigns have to be conducted subtly. To ensure you don’t tip the balance in the direction of spam, look to marketing experts that can help put together a cohesive campaign based on their professional experience of what most customers will tolerate.

BAD IDEA: Looking for negative attention

There is perhaps no thought process quite as incorrect as “all press is good press,” yet many companies still try to achieve negative press as a marketing boost to help them appeal to new customers. Companies send controversial Tweets or pull a stunt they know is likely to cause a Twitter outrage, all for the sake of press coverage.

This tactic generally does not work; the backlash could be so severe that you damage your business now and in the future.

What should you do instead? Negative press is bad for your business, but positive press is fantastic. Why not do something worthwhile, such as supporting an awareness campaign or running a charity drive that will generate press coverage for all the right reasons?

BAD IDEA: Offer huge discounts

The fact that I include this as a “bad idea” might sound bizarre, given it’s such a tried and tested marketing tactic. The idea is simple: offer huge discounts to new customers, in the hopes that they will remain a customer in the future.

This tactic sounds like a no-brainer, but how are your existing customers going to feel about being denied discounts and bargains? They’re going to be angry, and justifiably so, after all, it’s their loyalty that has allowed you to build your business to where it is today.

What should you do instead? If you want to run promotions or discounts, they should apply to existing customers too. This might mean that you’re not able to discount as deeply as you might have intended, but ultimately, staying on the right side of your existing customer base justifies this change of strategy.

Identifying ways to find and attract new customers should always be a priority for your business. It behooves you to implement strategies that will accomplish this goal while maintaining excellent relationships with your current customer base. Innovation is great as long as it is designed to protect your brand’s reputation developed to date and for the future.

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