Marketing to customers does not end when they have completed their experience. You might have heard the saying that it is cheaper to sell to an existing customer than a new one. This is certainly true. Here are a few ways to keep customers engaged with your offering, and to ensure that they return:
1. Give them rewards for repeat purchases
Since you know you’re customer’s preferences, you can tailor offers they can take advantage of when they return. You can send these via email, instant messages, DMs (direct messages) through social media pages, your website, or app. The key is to tailor the offers to each customer, so that they feel valued and seen as individuals.
2. Turn customers into advocates
The way you can use digital marketing to turn customers into brand advocates is to actively ask them to do one of the following:
With these simple techniques you not only turn your customers into advocates, but also reinforce their positive experience, which is likely to make them more loyal to the brand.
To help build a sense of community you could also call out your best customers, so they feel acknowledged, and are encouraged to make the business grow.
3. Grow your audience
There are two key steps to growing your audience on social media. Let’s take a look:
Step 1: Build your audience
Once you have identified the type of platform that you are going to use, you need to build your audience. The first thing is getting your business profile right.
Create a profile page
Set up a business page on social media. Facebook for Business, for example, will help establish your credibility, and also help with brand awareness. This is the single most important thing you can do, as it serves as a hub for people to keep returning to.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
Cultivate your audience
Regularly connect with people relevant to your business. Inviting people to your page is another great way to build connections and grow your following. Here is a simple few steps to consider to build your connections:
The first is to connect with everyone that you know, including family and friends. The second is to ask people close to you to recommend your page to others they know. The third is to follow other influential people in your industry, who you don’t yet know. Over time, you can ask them to join your page.
Post regularly
Post engaging content daily, across your social channels to grow your audience. Do this on both the ‘stories’ section as well as the ‘newsfeed’, to maximise the impact. Here are ways to increase the exposure your message receives:
Step 2: Engage your audience
One of the most important aspects of growing your following is missed by most people: You need to constantly engage with people on social media. Comment on their posts, share their views, give them exposure to your audience and spark direct conversations with them. Being seen as supportive and keen to help others grow their networks, makes it more likely that others will reciprocate and help you increase your following, as well. Remember that by engaging with their posts you are opening yourself up to their network, which could help you gain more followers as well.
Nurture Your Customers Using Digital Marketing
An area that digital marketing can play a helpful role in nurturing customers is customer service. It has the ability to not only help deliver quality service, but also to save you money. This is achieved by using a variety of digital tools. We will cover two areas: auto response, and social media and messaging services.
Auto-response tools
These tools allow you to pre-set answers to common questions or FAQs customers might have about your product or service. For instance, you might be asked often about opening times, or specific aspects of a particular product. These tools help identify questions that customers are likely to ask, and provide an instant response to overcome potential barriers to completing the sale. Drift and Intercom are two examples of tools that can help with this.
Auto-response tools also allow you to have 24/7 customer support, which is particularly useful when catering to customers in different time zones. It means that you do not need to have a person present at all times, which can offer the opportunity to cut back on costs.
Social media and messaging services
Another way to nurture customers is through social media posts and messages, as well as communicating with them through an instant messaging service like WhatsApp. For instance, you could post about certain products and services and then tag your best customers, inviting them to send a DM. You can then send a more personalised message, and recommend certain products and features that might meet their specific needs, which will likely make them feel appreciated. Personalised messages help increase customer satisfaction — it’s a simple way of building strong customer relationships and offering great service.
You can also send broadcast messages through WhatsApp with your latest news, updates, and product lines, share pictures, videos, and other information. As most people spend a lot of time on their mobiles, it’s a good way to grab their attention. Another way to make them feel taken care of is by sending links to your website or payment portal, via message. This will help them complete the end-to-end transaction with only a few clicks.
