The type of program you create will depend on your business model and niche. “Tailor it to your customers and make sure the incentives add value for them,” says Sonaly. “Some groups might like perks such as free 2-day shipping, while others may crave early access to seasonal products.”
Communicate frequently to bolster customer satisfaction
To stay top of mind and be there when people are ready to buy again, you need to stay in touch with personalized communications. Email messages that show your customers you understand what they care about and need is one of the most effective ways to foster this engagement.
Marketing automation can help you create and send email messages that are triggered based on customer habits and behaviors. Use automation to ensure your website is the destination on your customer's journey to purchase.
- Promote popular products. Draw attention to your bestsellers and new arrivals with emails highlighting products customers might enjoy.
- Welcome new customers. A welcome email series can help connect your followers to your business and direct them back to your website to read more.
- Always thank new and repeat customers. Follow-up emails after purchases show people that you appreciate their business. They're also an easy way to request reviews or recommend other products.
- Send reminders. Abandoned cart emails can help you nudge customers to complete their purchases.
- Celebrate special occasions. Birthday or anniversary messages—possibly including a discount or offer—can make people feel special and encourage them to shop again.
- Motivate your repeat customers. Re-engagement emails can bring back customers who haven't shopped recently. Include new products or a welcome-back offer or discount.
Offer incentives to drive repeat customers
Encourage repeat purchases with special offers or promotions. These could be based on spending level or type of product previously purchased. “Consider what will make your audience more inclined to buy again,” says Sonaly.
Many types of incentives can prompt your customers to purchase.
Items offered as incentives don't have to break the bank. “It could be an appealing low-to-mid-priced item that you have a surplus of in your inventory,” says Deana. “And you can encourage customers to share their surprise with a special hashtag, boosting your social presence as well as your sales.”
Ask for customer feedback from loyal customers
Customers are more inclined to buy from you again and remain loyal if they feel you understand their needs and value their business. While you can always use your own internal customer data from repeat customers, another way is to ask for their opinion.
Surveys can engage customers with your brand and help you find out what they like about your products or services, what they think about your competition, and where they think you can do better.
Creating a survey is easy, and the data you get back can help you shape future marketing campaigns.
- Ask what people want. Customers might share ideas for new products or services they'd like to see you offer.
- Get to know your customers. Use your own repeat customer data as well as details they share about themselves to define new audience segments.
- Gain competitive insight. You can learn which competitors they also shop from and why you're not getting that business.
“Surveys help you take a pulse on what is and isn't working—this is important because unless your product is unique, you have competition,” says Deana. “A survey can help you find out what makes you stand out and how you can keep your best customers loyal to your brand, which will encourage repeat sales.”
Enhance product offerings to create repeat customers
The only constant in the world of e-commerce is change. And if you're offering the same products you offered several years ago, you're missing out on a massive opportunity.
Instead, your product offerings must continue to evolve to meet the changing needs of your repeat customers.
Whether it's offering multiple variants of a particular product with different price ranges or introducing entirely new products, enhancing your product offerings can keep your brand fresh to capture repeat customers and increase customer retention. It can also help you capture fresh dollars from fresh customers: it's a win-win!
Keeping up with market trends can help attract loyal customers
One way to enhance your product is by monitoring market and industry trends. This involves tracking current trends and identifying when your products can be improved and enhanced to meet the evolving needs of your customers. Here are a few ways you can do just that:
- Conduct market research. Whether you use surveys, focus groups, industry reports, or other methods to gather feedback from your target audience, the data can be invaluable in evolving your product.
- Identify new customer needs. You can use your own internal customer data or external customer data as a guidepost for your product development and evolution.
- Check out your competitor's offerings. Analyzing your competition's product offerings while identifying gaps in the market can help you devise new product strategies.
- Monitor and evaluate product performance. After products are live, monitor their performance, gather feedback, and evaluate their success. Use this information to make further improvements or to develop new products.
Offering a variety of products
Similar to your customers, it's important for your brand to grow and evolve with the times. One way to do that is to expand your lineup by offering a variety of products. Doing so can achieve two key goals:
- Improve customer retention by deepening the relationship with existing customers, and
- Help attract new loyal customers.
And offering product variations can be a lot easier than you think. Consider diversifying your product lineup by these parameters:
- Sizes
- Colors
- Shapes
- Flavors
- And more
Obtaining repeat customer feedback and implementing changes
While you may think a product is amazing, your opinion doesn't always align with your target audience. You can either assume or simply ask for feedback. Here are a few core questions you can ask to garner your customer's honest feedback about your product or service:
- What was your overall experience with the product?
- What did you like most about the product?
- What did you dislike about the product?
- Was the product easy to use?
- Was the product effective in solving your problem or meeting your needs?
- Was the product priced fairly?
- How would you rate the quality of the product?
- Did you have any issues or problems with the product?
- What features would you like to see added to the product?
- How likely are you to recommend the product to others?
- How does the product compare to other similar products you have used?
- How can we improve the product or experience?
- What was the most significant benefit you received from using the product?
- Was the product delivered on time and in good condition?
- How was your experience with the customer service and support related to the product?
Many business owners assume social media is just for customer acquisition. Although social media can be an extremely powerful tool for engaging and winning new or repeat business, it's an equally powerful way to engage existing customers.
When it's done properly, you can use social media to turn repeat customers into an amplifier for your brand that is irresistible to new customers. Here are a few ways to leverage social media to improve customer lifetime value and create more loyal, repeat customers.
Leveraging your social media channels to engage your existing customers can be a dynamic way to create raving fans.
To get started, encourage all buyers and customers to like or follow you on social media by offering a discount or incentive.
Once you've created a community, find creative ways to engage your audience to engage by creating polls, hosting contests, requesting feedback, and asking questions. Make sure to always respond to their comments, questions, or messages in a respectful and timely manner.
Posting engaging content to drive repeat customers
No matter the social media platform, content is king. Whether it's blog posts, videos, articles, infographics, or other mediums, share content that is relevant. The content should answer their questions, solve their problems, or provide useful information.
One dynamic but underutilized is social media live streaming. You can use social media live streaming to connect to your audience in real-time to provide product demonstrations, Q&A sessions, and more. Doing so can help let your loyal customers know you are tuned into their needs. Everyone appreciates being seen and understood.
Providing customer support to improve customer retention
No matter the industry or segment, you can use social media channels to improve customer retention and drive repeat customers. Here are a few tips to use social media channels to improve customer retention and drive repeat customers:
- Monitor your social media channels for inquiries, feedback, or complaints. You can even use social media listening tools to track brand mentions or relevant keywords.
- Respond quickly to inquiries or requests. Because social media channels are real-time communications, make sure you always respond to complaints and inquiries as quickly as possible to prevent a small tiff from becoming a major storm. It can help improve customer retention and possibly transform an upset customer into a repeat customer.
- Use a friendly and amiable tone to help make the experience pleasurable and create repeat customers.
- Resolve issues publicly —when you can— to demonstrate your commitment to customer retention and show potential customers how you solve problems and resolve complaints.
- Be ready to take conversations offline if it's a sensitive or complex issue.
Mastering customer service online can transform a problem into a repeat customer and even turn potential clients into loyal customers — when done properly.
Build relationships to develop loyal customers
Developing relationships with customers on social media is all about having a brand voice that is likable, relatable, and fun — based on your repeat customer persona. It's important your brand voice is consistent across all social channels.
Then, you can leverage social media groups in your niche or industry to demonstrate your expertise, answer questions, and provide helpful information.
Don’t settle for customers create raving fans
While it does take some work to encourage repeat sales and build customer loyalty, the benefits you reap in the long run will be worth it.
“When you encourage repeat business, you increase the lifetime value someone adds to your business,” says Deana. And Mailchimp offers an array of cutting-edge, easy-to-use tools to help you convert loyal customers into raving fans.
Ready to launch your online business? You can sell your products or book appointments directly from your own site with Mailchimp's e-commerce offerings. Our built-in marketing features give you full control over the success of your business.
