Attracting more customers to your business isn’t the only way to increase your revenue. What if you could boost your sales while spending less on marketing? Pouring money into marketing campaigns will not create loyal, long-term shoppers. Instead of spending your budget on acquiring new customers, focus on retaining your existing shoppers. Encouraging repeat purchasing is a great way to get the most out of every customer. Here are some tips from Global Threads LLC to help you turn those first-time buyers into lifelong customers!
Make a Great First Impression
By creating a positive experience for every first-time customer, you’ll increase the likelihood that customers will return to buy from you again. Aim to make the shopping experience as effortless as possible! Start by hiring a professional web developer to put together an attractive, easy-to-navigate website. Make sure customers can find what they’re looking for as quickly as possible, even if they’re browsing from a mobile device. Keep your checkout process as simple as possible and minimize the amount of information people need to input in order to make a purchase. Finally, keep your customers updated about the progress of their orders via email!
Hire Customer Support Staff
Customer service plays a critical role in your ability to retain customers. Consider hiring a few staff members to round out your customer service team and ensure you have enough people available to handle all of your customer inquiries promptly. According to Arise, over 80% of customers expect a response within 24 hours!
Before hiring staff, implement a payroll system to simplify employee pay. Look for a payroll service that includes the benefits of time tracking: costs down, billing up. Some other useful payroll features include business-wide software integration and real-time insights, so you can stay on top of all your payroll needs.
Create a Customer Loyalty Program
Customer loyalty programs are designed to incentivize repeat business by offering special benefits to loyalty program members. LOCALiQ explains that customer loyalty programs come in a few different forms. Free loyalty programs, like punch cards and app-based point systems, give customers a free item or discount after a certain number of previous purchases. Paid loyalty programs require customers to pay a start-up fee, like buying a gift card or downloading a paid app, to start earning rewards. Research your options and come up with a loyalty program that makes the most sense for your business model.
Launch a Customer Engagement Campaign
Another effective way to encourage repeat business is to produce a customer re-engagement email campaign. A re-engagement campaign can turn inactive email subscribers into engaged, paying customers! Start by using your email marketing tool to identify people who haven’t interacted with your emails for a couple of months. Once you’ve found your inactive subscribers, write a re-engagement email giving your contacts a reason to stay engaged with your business. Share product updates, exclusive subscriber offers, or promotions on new products. You could even ask your subscribers for feedback so you can better understand what they need.
Build a Community Around Your Brand
Keeping customers engaged is easier when they feel a sense of belonging to your business. Try to build a community around your brand so you can encourage this valuable connection. Thanks to social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, community-conscious branding has become incredibly easy. Use your social media platforms to produce consistent brand messaging that will resonate with your target audience. Get involved in the conversation and respond to your followers as much as possible. Most importantly, let your personality shine! Your customers want to see you as a human, not an impersonal business entity.
Increasing the lifetime value of each customer will help you extract the most value out of your marketing campaigns. Focus on encouraging repeat business instead of directing all your attention toward landing new customers. While new customers are still valuable, they’re even more valuable if you can turn them into lifelong shoppers!
Established in 2013, Global Threads LLC is a Dallas-based apparel business specializing in custom t-shirt and hat designs. It is a company of t-shirt enthusiasts, designers, innovators and problem solvers that goes beyond creative designs to give life to customers’ visions. Founded during a study abroad trip in Florence, Global Threads keeps an emphasis on travel with its authentic “Travel the World” apparel and series. The Global Threads team puts a relentless focus on quality products with an endless devotion for their customers. Let’s go beyond the threads. To learn more about Global Threads, visit www.globalthreadsllc.com.