Active marketing isn’t always about bringing in new customers. In fact, you should be devoting a good portion of your marketing energy toward retaining those customers you’ve already won. Repeat business is as important to keeping a business afloat as new business, and if your inflow pipe isn’t steadier and more robust than your outflow, your business is sinking fast.
More Social Media?
That’s right small business owners, social media has yet another use, retaining your existing customers! Just as you interact with potential customers through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. so too should you be actively engaging and entertaining your current customers! It’s not as hard as it sounds. Really, there’s very little, if anything, you need to be doing outside your normal marketing routine. Occasionally interact with followers directly and carry on.
Target Your Email Marketing
Your email marketing should be targeted based on the base you are attempting to contact. Certain emails go to prospective customers, certain emails go to existing customers. There may be some crossover, but you should be isolating as much as possible. After all, your goal for the two groups is not the same. Therefore, your emails should reflect what you want to see happen. For more information on targeted email marketing, click here.
“Snail” Mail
Don’t forget about the U.S. Postal Service! Email marketing is great, but direct mail is also cheap and effective. You may and probably do, have clients that don’t use email or perhaps only rarely do so (yes, these people still exist), but they are just as valuable as your other customers and deserve attention as well. Don’t neglect the technologically uninitiated! Marketing to customers is not the time to be a techno-snob.
Offer Some Rewards
Nothing says, “Thank you for shopping with us,” like a shiny new discount! Customers, like all of us, want to feel important, and the best way to do that is offer them a reward for being a valued customer. These types of promotions work best when offered in a one-on-one setting such as email, but a coupon offered on social media to followers only is also a valid method.
As you can see, there are numerous ways to retain your existing customers. In addition to the active methods above, don’t forget about the most effective method of all, your daily customer service. Don’t spend all your energy on funneling people through your front door while neglecting the steady stream headed out the back. Give your current customers the attention they deserve!
Come back next Friday for another Marketing Tip of the Week!
Leave a Reply