In its essence, a marketplace matches a buyer and a seller allowing for a frictionless transaction experience for all parties involved. The key purpose of a peer-to-peer marketplace is to connect individuals for the purpose of exchanging a product or service, eliminating the middleman that are products of a big corporate model. In our article, “The ‘Peer-to-Peer’ what?!”, we outlined the following three characteristics of a peer-to-peer marketplace:

To truly represent a peer-to-peer marketplace, you:

1. Must remove the middleman
2. Must exchange a real-life asset (product or service)
3. Must be available online for users to access

So, how do these primary activities of the peer-to-peer marketplace affect your customer growth? Peer-to-peer marketplaces are seizing up customers and market share daily. Customers are, despite any initial concerns, gravitating towards the hassle free, “frictionless”, transaction experience.

Your marketplace must be ready to draw in the low hanging fruit of potential customers who are ready to make the switch. The Near Me team provides you with the time and resources to engage with and draw in these potential customers. By ensuring that the back-end processes are established, your website will be ready to handle the traffic, prepare the analytics and focus your customers on your product through social media capabilities and your blog.  With a 25% industry growth rate projected, it is better to be on the forefront of this movement and not be left in the dust.

Knowing this, how can you begin to acquire new customers and cultivate your existing consumer base?

1. Take the time. We know that your business is close to your heart and you likely don’t want to let go. But we are here to free you from website management and internal coding errors. So take the time to connect with new customers with a personal touch, developing an email marketing campaign or build a social media presence. Kickstart your SEO and Google Adwords. Consider advertising in new and innovative ways, such as Instagram ads.
2. Present your product’s value. We know that the infrastructure is a huge piece of any online business but more importantly is showing people the value. Be an evangelist and take any newfound opportunities to share your product even if the situation seems odd or misplaced. Attend networking events and practice your pitch. (You may not know the impact that that person at the party, hair salon, grocery store, etc. could have in your future.)
3. Invest in the numbers. Near Me provides you with comprehensive analytics reporting. Invest in this information because it is often as telling (or maybe more) than your customers themselves. You may realize that your customers don’t know what they want when asked but they show you in their interactions with your business. Respond to the data.
4. Appreciate your loyal customers. Customer acquisition is critical for every business. But it should not come at the loss of investment in current customers. Those individuals who hopped on board right away deserve as much time and attention. Whether this is a public practice or something more internal, you should always be searching for ways to enhance the customer experience, not just manage it. Consider referral incentives or acts of appreciation for a customer who’s used your marketplace three times or more. Appreciate and empower your loyal customers.