Most businesses know they need to grow – but many unknowingly cut off the very activities that make growth possible. If your marketing strategy focuses only on customers who already know you, you may be optimizing yourself into a slow decline. Here’s what that looks like in practice, and how to avoid it.
Several years ago, I had an acquaintance who had been recently promoted from CFO to CEO. He was excited about his new role and the changes he could make to the business. One of the first things he did was to reduce marketing spend dramatically. For years, in his role as CFO, he had reviewed marketing spend and was confident that much of it was “wasted.”
Upon being promoted, he directed the marketing team to eliminate any channels, tactics, or keywords that did not deliver an immediate high return on investment. Unwittingly, by issuing this mandate, the new CEO had actually instructed his team to stop marketing to new customers. To meet his goals, the marketing team could only afford to show ads to customers who were either current/former customers or already familiar with the company’s brand.
Initially, his strategy worked well. The first month after his decision, the new CEO was ecstatic. He told me, “We are doing great! We cut out all that wasted spending and have maintained our growth. Profits have never been higher!”
Three months later, he called me and said, “We are still profitable, but our growth is down. I think it could be the economy or something.”
Three months after that, I received a panicked email, “Our business is shrinking, and I can’t figure out why. We remain profitable on our marketing efforts, but no one on the team can figure out how to grow. Maybe we should turn on some more marketing channels.”
Three months later, he was no longer the CEO.
Simply stated: Your company will not grow unless you introduce your brand to new customers. Your current customers and those already familiar with your brand will always be your most cost-effective source of new business. However, they will never be your growth engine as markets evolve, customer behavior shifts, and the competitive landscape changes.
Why New Customer Introduction Matters
Relying primarily on existing customers can feel efficient and predictable, and it should be pursued. However, over time, this approach can limit growth and increase risk if it is all your company is doing.
Introducing your brand to new customers helps:
- Maintain long-term stability. No customer base is static. Accounts change, budgets tighten, and priorities shift. A steady flow of new customers reduces dependency on a limited group and creates a healthier, more balanced pipeline.
- Build awareness before demand peaks. Most buyers do not make immediate purchasing decisions. Brand familiarity developed early often influences whom they contact when a need arises—being visible ahead of time matters.
- Support sustained growth rather than short-term gains. New customer acquisition creates opportunities for expansion beyond your current customer base.
How to Find “Strangers”
In the pre-digital “Mad Men” days of marketing, segmenting audiences and targeting new customers was difficult. You would make a big bet and hope your hunch was correct. If it was, you might find a pocket of potential customers who responded to your ads.
In today’s digital world, targeting new customers is easy. For example, it can be done by choosing the keywords you use for paid search. Advertising on a generic search term such as “storage container rental in Phoenix” is much more likely to match your ad with a customer unfamiliar with your brand, versus targeting your brand name as a keyword.
Display advertising is another example. You can use “retargeting” to match your ads with people who are either current customers or are familiar with your brand. “Similar audiences,” on the other hand, let you display your ads to potential customers who are like your current customers but may not be familiar with who you are.
360Connect is another way to put your brand in front of new customers. As a shared lead platform, 360Connect connects storage container suppliers with buyers who are actively searching for solutions—but haven’t chosen a provider yet. Because these buyers are still early in the decision-making process, it’s an efficient way to introduce your brand to high-intent prospects who don’t already know you.
The Cost of Waiting Too Long
Another mistake I see companies make is to treat marketing and outreach as reactive efforts. They wait until lead volume is down or inquiries are slow and then scramble to increase their marketing presence. This is like cramming the night before the final exam.
Brand awareness and trust take time to build. Pausing outreach during strong periods often leads to gaps later, particularly during seasonal slowdowns or market shifts.
Suppliers that consistently introduce their brand to new customers, regardless of current performance, are better positioned to weather change without disruption.
Conclusion: Don’t Starve Your Future
Remember the CEO I mentioned earlier? His mistake wasn’t that he cared about profitability; it was that he prioritized efficiency over existence. He stopped planting new seeds and was surprised when his company stopped growing.
Don’t let the allure of short-term ROI blind you to the necessity of long-term growth. By all means, nurture your existing relationships—they are the bedrock of your business. But you must also continually invest in introducing your brand to the strangers who will become your best customers tomorrow. In the storage container industry, if you aren’t visible to the market when the need arises, your competition certainly will be.
Ready to start reaching new customers? Learn how 360Connect connects storage container suppliers with buyers who are actively looking for solutions. See how it works →
About the Author
Jim McKinley is the co-founder of 360Connect, a company that helps portable storage suppliers grow by connecting them with new customers through its lead generation platform. Jim is also a professor at Baylor University, where he has taught digital marketing to undergraduate and graduate students.