Holiday shoppers spent more than ever before in 2018. Estimates show that people spent 128 billion dollars online between November and the end of December. Most business owners and marketers focus on obtaining new customers during this period of frequent, high-volume spending.
But do these people have a strategy for consumers after the holiday season comes to close? Most marketers agree that retaining customers results in more engagement, increased sales, and positive reviews when compared to a company that churns through new customers weekly.
We are going to take a look at five ways you can keep your holiday shoppers interested in your business. These tricks will help you retain existing customers long after Christmas trees and lights are stored back in the attic.
Create a Loyalty Program
Loyalty programs are standard among big businesses and small online retailers alike. Companies like Starbucks implement mobile apps that keep track of purchases, with rewards being given out regularly.
Here’s an example of this type of reward program through the McDonald’s application:
Let’s say someone bought their loved one a McDonald’s gift card for Christmas. If that family member downloads the McDonald’s app, they will earn punchouts on their loyalty card. The idea here is after that person has exhausted their gift card, they might need to buy one more coffee to score their free drink. The loved one ends up going back to McDonald’s, which scores the fast-food giant countless dollars every year.
Additionally, you can create a simple points system for your business. Points systems give consumers back a fraction of every dollar spent as store credit. Think of this practice as similar to how credit cards offer reward points to customers. The goal is to make redeeming loyalty points easy and rewarding, which encourages consumers to come back for repeat purchases.
Fine-Tune Your Customer Service Team
During the holiday season, it’s likely that you’ll have to expand your customer service team. This time of the year is great for sales but also features the most returns and customer complaints. It makes sense that you would want to stay on top of your customer service team during the holidays, but do you have any plans after?
You must go over training with your service team regularly, especially during transitional periods around the start of the new year. You’ll still encounter customers that want to make exchanges or returns, people that were gifted asking more about your products, and a general increase in support tickets.
Always review training procedures and hire top-notch customer support for your business if you want to retain customers. One bad experience could cause someone to leave your business and never look back. Always go above and beyond for the people who make your business possible happy.
Build Rapport Using Email Marketing
We all know that email marketing is one of the best ways to reach out to our leads and drive consumers down the sales funnel, but did you know that 80 percent of professionals use email marketing to retain existing customers? Business owners and marketers understand that over half of the population uses email to some degree, and building rapport through this channel is easier than ever before.
As a general rule, you should get email addresses from people when they buy a product from your website. After the holiday season dies down, start sending out a friendly, helpful, information-rich drip campaign or email newsletter to your holiday shoppers. If consumers were satisfied with their experience, they will likely shop with your business again, especially if you offer them an exclusive email discount, like the one below.
You can get some bonus points by implementing personalization in your email marketing campaign. When you want to make your email list personal, it’s a good idea to segment your leads. It’s possible to segment your leads by an astronomical number of metrics. Normally, business owners segment their leads by interests or demographics. Research shows that this technique can boost your open rate by a hefty 14.31 percent.
Interact on Social Media
Social media is one of the best tools marketers have for talking to their target audience, only falling second to email. If you want to retain customers after the holiday, you have to continue engaging with the people who were interested in your business. Try to update your business social media account with fresh new posts, polls, or retweets featuring glowing reviews from customers.
You may want to consider sharing different types of content on your profile. For example, customers love reading blog posts that are interesting and engaging. However, video content sees around 1,200 percent more shares when compared to blog or text content. Diversifying your content helps you reach everyone interested in your brand. The more types of content you offer your audience, the more likely they are to stay invested in your business.
Back to You
The holiday season is always a little more stressful than the rest of the year. This additional stress usually leads to a great payoff in the form of sales, exposure, and lead generation. It’s your job to capitalize on these opportunities to grow your business. Now you know how to retain customers after everyone finishes their Black Friday and Christmas Shopping.