One important aspect of being a retailer is gaining new customers. In order to grow a business, one has to find a way to get more people to visit and buy from their online store. Of course, that can’t happen without new customers.
However, many people forget another equally important aspect of running a successful business – customer retention. Some entrepreneurs get so lost trying to find new people who will buy from them that they completely ignore their current customers.
Let’s see what you, as a business owner, can do to both attract and manage to keep your current customers. The goal is to have a steady number of newcomers every month or two while maintaining the current customer base.
This way, you will have new people raking in revenue along with the loyal ones who are there as repeat customers.
E-commerce mobile app by Afterglow
Focus on your existing customers
Let’s start with your current customers. Before you begin looking for new customers, you should put in some effort into your retention strategy.
This may sound strange seeing that many people still believe that the only reason why their businesses are not growing is the lack of new customers.
They aren’t aware of the fact that loyal customers are, essentially, the lifeline of their eCommerce business. Compared to newcomers, repeat customers often buy more items at once, they almost never bounce from your website, and they generate more revenue each time they visit your store.
It’s fairly easy to understand this. Why would someone who has been buying from you for some time already come to your website unless they have the intention of buying something from you again?
On top of that, targeting your current customers is cheaper than going after new ones. It’s cost-efficient because these individuals know how to use your products, they are already familiar with your brand. Hence, place focus on ways to improve their experience first.
One good thing that you could do is establish a customer loyalty program that awards people an incentive to spend more money each time they shop.
Every buck they spend should translate to a reward point or something of that kind. As soon as a customer collects a certain number of points, they should be able to redeem them for discounts or even free items.
Shoot from multiple marketing ‘guns’
You will agree that it is really difficult to get out there nowadays and become visible to your market. The eCommerce industry is growing, the competition is getting bigger and bigger, and all of this means that you will have to go above and beyond to stand out from the crowd.
And since your website is the face of your brand, you have to make sure it’s a good-looking face.
However, apart from effective website design, there are other ways to promote your store.
Start writing a blog
Blogging has been with us for a long time. There is no denying that having a blog is one of the most effective ways to share information with your audience and build content on your website.
But, before you start typing away, you need to know that the content you are about to post needs to be of high value. To be precise, every post you write has to bring something useful to your audience. That way, you will always have readers who are eager to read more from you.
On top of that, the better you write and the more people you engage, the higher your website will rank in Google’s search results pages.
Interact on social media
Having a social media page for your business is a must nowadays. If you still don’t have at least one, make it as soon as possible.
It’s common knowledge that millions of people around the globe have social media accounts, which only shows how great these networks can be for customer acquisition. In addition to that, you can also interact with your current customers on social media platforms.
Obviously, this is a great channel to attract new people to your store while also keeping your existing customers happy and engaged, thus increasing website traffic.
Of course, just like your blog posts, your social media posts need to be interesting and engaging. But, bear in mind that you should figure out the form for your posts on different platforms. For example, Facebook and Twitter are different and therefore don’t share the same form of posts.
Introduce a new marketing tool – SMS
Yes, you read that right. Another great way to attract new customers and get in touch with your current ones every now and then is via SMS.
You have probably got used to hearing how SMS marketing only serves the purpose of driving foot traffic. And it still serves that purpose.
However, with the power of SMS API services, you could reach new customers globally. You will never have to limit yourself to one area again. On top of that, the open rate for texts is amazing. It stands around 98%!
Finally, this marketing ‘weapon’ is still underutilized. So, you will have a clear advantage over many of your rivals if you start shooting from this marketing gun as soon as possible.
Great customer support
When you take good care of your customers, you are showing everyone that your brand can be trusted.
So, do your best to assist customers whenever they need assistance. Even if it means hiring a small department for customer support. Do it and you will be rewarded eventually.
Having great customer support agents that are always there for your customers means that you will not only keep the current customer base, but you will also acquire new ones.
You may be wondering how that is possible. Well, there is this great thing called word-of-mouth marketing.
And, when your current customers start sharing the experiences they had with your customer support, their friends will realize your business goes the extra mile.
Of course, when it comes to customer support, you can always make use of software like Zendesk or a Zendesk alternative. These apps help greatly with customer communication, so you should definitely consider investing in them.
A secure site is a trustworthy site
E-Commerce Illustrations by Rytis Jonikas
It is important for you to display icons that show your site is trustworthy. Nowadays people pay extra attention to cybersecurity.
Therefore, nobody will want to shop on your eCommerce site if it appears sketchy or otherwise unsafe. And, one of the first things people see, even before they take a good look at your website, is the website security badge standing at the beginning of the address bar.
This lock indicates whether a given site is secure or not. Of course, if it is secure, the lock will be green and Google won’t warn people against visiting the site.
In order to always have a green badge and a secure website, you should invest in antivirus options such as Norton, McAfee, or Comodo.
Also, pay extra attention that your customers’ information is safe. If you fail at keeping their details secure and a leak occurs, your online store will be virtually dead in a matter of days.
At the end of the day, it is rather simple. No one wants to share their credit card details or social security number and other sensitive information with an unsafe website. Therefore, make sure you take all the necessary steps to protect your online store.
After all, website security is one of the key elements that will help you maximize website conversions.
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