Summertime is a great chance to reach new customers who visit your store while traveling through your location. But after the sale, how do you keep them coming back?
Public relations and marketing expert Tara Trask shares three ways to strengthen new customer loyalty throughout the year, even when far from your brick-and-mortar store.
1. Engage on social media. With a well-placed sign near your cash register, you can attract new customers to your social media accounts. Trask recommends mentioning your social media accounts to the customer as you place a flyer or card in their bag with the social media handles.
Once connected online, Trask says to interact with them through promotions and call-to-action posts. Encourage fans to post a photo of them wearing your product, for example. Or run an online promotion from April to August with a gift certificate drawing at the end of the summer; or run a “like our Facebook page and get a chance to win” promotion.
2. Grow your email list. In addition to offering an email sign-up at your register, Trask recommends including an easy-to-find form on your website to capture email addresses. Using programs like Constant Contact or MailChimp will help you send notes to your group of subscribers. You can reach out to them all year with promotions, news and other updates.
“Make sure that customers have opted-in to your list—don’t just add them to an email list without asking,” Trask says.
3. Make personal contact. A boutique shop can make the most of establishing a connection by sending a note or email thanking them for their purchase, Trask suggests. Also include a coupon toward a purchase from your online store.
“A personal message from the owner or the person that helped the customer in the store with a mention of their purchase—that will make the customer feel like their time in your store was a very personal experience,” Trask says. “Continuing customer service beyond the checkout is important, and will help people remember you and come back to you beyond their visit.”
By Abigail Boatwright
