Customer Retention through the lens of practice marketing.

In a few short weeks, the holiday shopping season will begin, which should result in more people than ever learning about your company. You should make the most of this opportunity to increase sales while also connecting deeply with your clients and forging potential lifelong alliances.

One method to develop these connections is to sell amazing products, but consumers may also pay special attention to those seemingly little interactions with your company, such as how easy the shopping process was, how they felt after making a purchase, or how you handled customer service support.

Here are our top 4 suggestions for ensuring that casual consumers have a positive experience that encourages them to return.

Tip 1: Be sure to welcome them

Certain customer service encounters take place naturally at brick and mortar establishments, such as welcome customers and thanking them for their purchases. A well-planned email campaign can help e-commerce enterprises accomplish this goal as well.

For instance, send an automated follow-up email to greet someone who visits your site for the first time and chooses to give you their information. You might even add a special promotion to encourage them to make a purchase.

What happens next if they decide to buy? Try presenting it as a "thank you" email with their order confirmation and shipping information inside rather than just sending a confirmation email.

Tip 2 Make it simple for customers to stay with you

Make it simple for customers to stay engaged with your brand. Including links to your social media accounts in your emails is one way to achieve this. Your social media handles should always be linked at the footer of your emails, but you could also think about including a bigger link or even integrating your feed to entice readers to follow. To help make your email more dynamic and engaging, Mailchimp includes connectors with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and hundreds of other apps.

Subscribers should have a motivation to follow after reading your welcome letters. Less emphasis should be placed on products while creating them and more on your brand as a whole.

Customers need to know what makes you different from your rivals and why they should follow you. To encourage subscribers to open and read your post-purchase emails, think about sneaking a promotion into them.

3. Save the dates

There are a few quick automations you can set up right immediately to assist keep the consumer on your mind if they choose to receive emails from your business. Who doesn't enjoy receiving birthday cards, for instance? Set up an automated email to send on the customer's special day with a message of thanks or a link to redeem a free gift from your site if you have acquired the customer's birthday information.

Another justification for you to reappear in their email is a major holiday. But to gain a good start on cultivating your brand's relationships with new customers, set up these automations today when they are only learning about your company and website.

4. Never be reluctant to upsell.

Recommending goods that go well with the things your consumers have already bought is a terrific method to get them interested in your other offerings. It all depends on how you phrase it. For instance, if they purchased a winter coat from you, send them a customized product email recommending a chic scarf and pair of mittens to go with their new coat.

Or, remind them to replenish their 30-day supply of your product with a message scheduled for one month from now. By demonstrating to customers that you are aware of their previous purchases, you may close a deal without coming across as "salesy" and maybe leave a good impression.

Conclusion

Don't forget that customers could recall more than just your product when they think back on their interactions with you. Small, seemingly trivial things often have a lasting effect on whether or not a consumer chooses to return to your establishment. Going above and above to establish that connection might result in more devoted clients and, ideally, more long-term sales.