You’ve worked hard to establish your brand and create an optimized website, but now what? How do you gain traction and visibility in your market to make sales and grow your customer base? In this article, we’ll explore the importance of business traction, explain it, and gain it effectively.

What is Business Traction?

Business traction is the progress of a business and the momentum it gains as it grows. Essentially, it refers to a company’s actions to attract and retain customers, increase sales, and establish a competitive edge. It applies to nearly any kind of business, whether service or product-oriented, and no matter whom they are selling to.

Why Does Business Traction Matter?

Failure to distribute is the top cause of business failure (not a poor product despite frequent misconceptions). The only way to combat this is to build out traction outlets while you develop your product so that you can launch with a strong product and distribution stream. Most people try too many traction outlets and fail. The best approach is to test streams, determine the most optimal traction outlet for your business, and then focus.

But, without traction, a business is unlikely to succeed. Traction enables a company to attract customers, make sales, and grow. As a business owner, it’s essential to focus on building traction from the beginning to establish a solid foundation and a competitive edge.

How to Gain Business Traction

Now that we understand what business traction is and why it’s crucial let’s explore how to gain it effectively. We recommend utilizing the Bullseye Framework outlined in the book Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares.

Step 1

 The Bullseye Framework outlines 19 potential traction channels, including:

1. Viral Marketing
2. Public Relations (PR)
3. Unconventional PR
4. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
5. Social and Display Ads
6. Offline Ads
7. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
8. Content Marketing
9. Email Marketing
10. Engineering as Marketing
11. Targeting Blogs
12. Business Development
13. Sales
14. Affiliate Programs
15. Existing Platforms
16. Trade Shows
17. Offline Events
18. Speaking Engagements
19. Community Building

Evaluate these communication channels to figure out which ones are suitable for your business. Although concentrating on one track is crucial, having a backup option is wise if your primary choice falls through.

Step 2

Classify Your Experience with Traction Outlets

Fill out the lists below to the best of your ability, choosing from the 19 traction outlets above. Testing and optimizing channels is an essential step in the process. Although this exercise is overly simplified, it should give you an idea of potentially viable traction outlets based on your experience. Although each outlet is measured differently, results from a traction outlet should yield more customer traffic and revenue.

Step 3

Let’s Bulletproof Your Business 

Use the Bullseye Tool below to determine your viable traction outlets. You’re aiming for the bullseye: the one traction channel at the center of the target that will unlock your next growth stage.

The Outer Ring: What’s Possible

Brainstorm each traction channel, except any channels you deemed not producing results from Step #2. For example, if you advertise offline, where would be the best place to do it? Who would be the ideal audience if you were to give a speech? Imagine what success would look like in each!