It may sound simple, but no business can thrive without a loyal customer base.
While you should always follow your passions and ensure your brand is a result of hard work and dedication, it’s also important not to lose sight of your audience. Let’s face it – without them, you have no business, despite how much blood, sweat and tears you’ve put into creating your company.
While cultivating a customer base is crucial for start-ups, keeping those same customers coming back is often even more challenging. Below, we’ll look at some steps you can take to ensure you create a stable relationship with your audience.
Make it personal
If you receive repeat orders from specific clientele, this is a great opportunity to show them just how important their custom is to you.
By taking certain steps to personalise their online shopping experience, you can reinforce the connection they feel towards your brand by making them feel valued. By using the data you have collected on their past purchases, you can tailor your communications with them to give them a more personal experience. This could include exclusive discounts around products they enjoy, pointers towards blog posts centered around topics they may find useful or sneak-peak previews of upcoming products not yet available to the general public.
Get to know your clients
While it may be difficult to get to know each individual customer, there are ways you can get a general feel for your audience, and what their expectations of you may be.
A good way to do this is by frequently taking to social media. By making regular posts, your brand is kept fresh in the minds of your subscribers, as well as being a good way to spark up conversation.
Comments and direct messages allow your audience to connect with you directly, so try to reply as quickly as time allows in order to demonstrate your willingness to listen to what your customers have to say.
Similarly, regular blog posts and articles on your main site can provide your audience with valuable insight into your company and its values. If your brand runs on specific beliefs that align with your clients’, such as sustainability for example, this will be a fantastic motivator for your audience to convert from casual viewers to loyal customers.
Lastly, sending out regular surveys is a great opportunity for your audience to have their say, and can provide valuable insight you may have overlooked.
Consistency is key
When looking to build trust with your customers, you’ll want to implement steps to ensure they are receiving a consistent and reliable service.
If your business is delivering customer service to varying degrees of satisfaction, then over time you will likely lose the loyalty of repeat patrons.
On the other hand, if you have methods in place to make sure your customers receive a high standard of support and service each time they shop with you, this will enforce their beliefs that you are a reputable business, meaning they are likely to remain with your brand.
Customer service can be offered through various outlets – over email, through social media, over the phone or in person – and you should ensure that both parties reach mutual understanding and satisfaction with every encounter.
If you’re starting up a business and need advice on how to reach your customers online, speak to our professional team at Engage Web today. We look forward to your call.
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