In business and marketing, it’s less about how many new customers you can bring to your digital front doors (unless you’re just getting started) and more about how many customers you can bring back.
To sustain, scale, and send your revenues higher year after year, you need to keep enticing your customer base to come back for more. Will you need some new customers? Yes, of course. But continuously “churning and burning” through new customers will only make your job even harder.
This is especially true in times like these.
As costs rise due to inflation and other economic factors, attracting a flood of new customers gets more complicated. But if you focus on those loyal (or soon-to-be loyal) customers that have already purchased from you, you are far more likely to get through the tough times and set your brand up for even greater success when the dust settles.
Here are some perfect ways to keep your customers coming back for more.
Your Email List
If you were to sell your business tomorrow, do you know where most of the value would come from? Your email list. (10 points and a gold star if you got that one right!)
Customers purchasing from your site, subscribing to your newsletter, or adding their email address on that promo pop-up you have on your site is a gold mine. Sending confirmation emails, shipping emails and newsletters are great, but this barely scratches the surface. The possibilities are (nearly) endless.
Here are some simple-ish ways to leverage your customer email list more effectively.
Plan for Anniversaries (All of Them)
We all want to feel special. When an old friend randomly texts us on our birthday, it gives us a little endorphin rush. We feel seen and remembered.
You can do the same thing for your customers with some creative email messaging sent at just the right time.
You have the basics: Your customer’s birthday (technically, it’s an anniversary…right?), first-purchase anniversary, and the seasonal emails most brands send their customers every year. But your brand is not most brands—and is always ready to celebrate.
Let’s pretend, for example, that you own a fashion brand. You can build lists based on customer purchases and buyer types, men, women, parents (and their kids), button-down shirts, blouses, pants, skirts, etc.
Now you can build more customer messaging for your various buyer types and what we like to call “product lifetime” anniversaries. Let’s say a guy (let’s call him Marcus) purchases a 5-pack of premium shirts for the first time, and then you make this happen:
Post-Delivery Email Message
Hey, Marcus! We saw that your order of our 5-pack of premium-fit shirts was delivered yesterday. This is your first order with us, and we want to make sure we got it right. If something doesn’t “feel right,” just let us know, and we will remedy the “shirt-uation.” Because we know that when you feel good, you look good!
One-Week Anniversary Message
Hi, Marcus! We hope you have enjoyed the fit (and feel) of your latest wardrobe additions. If you are digging how you feel and want to try something else, you can use the code #YOULOOKFLY for 30% off our Harvest Color 5-Pack anytime over the next 30 days.
Fall is coming soon, and these colors look great for a night at the beach or under a blazer for an autumn night on the town.
One-Month Anniversary Message
Hey, Marcus! Did you know that at Maxx Shirts, we just released our new line of shorts and joggers? When paired with your premium-fit shirts, they’re a perfect match! You can even mix and match to expand your ensemble.
I have already applied a discount code to your account that you can use anytime. Take care and stay comfortable!
You get the idea.
You don’t need to wait for “their” anniversaries to celebrate. Create your celebrations and make them part of it.
Spark Interest Again and Start a Fire
So, you have your email list of previous customers. By breaking that list down by purchase date, you can quickly find out who has fallen off your radar and try to bring them back.
Using the same idea in the previous section, draft a variety of “Hey, we miss you!” emails to reignite some interest. This can include everything from a promo code like #WelcomeBack for 20% off your next order, a free gift, or an offer for a complimentary product based on their previous purchase.
There are a million ways to approach this, especially with the holidays coming up. But if a customer has gone cold, now may be the perfect time to bring them back!
Don’t Be Clever—Be Clear
When you want to bring customers back, you need to get creative with your overall messaging, including social and website copy.
But don’t fall into the trap of trying to be overly clever with your messaging. This may actually confuse your customers and push them further away.
Using the previous fashion example, you may want to be creative and say:
“Our proprietary blend of breathable cotton microfibers gives you the perfect mix of fashionable and casual with optimal comfort.”
Um…what? Instead of trying to be clever—be clear.
“In our shirts, you will look good and feel even better—100,000 customers agree!”
You can finesse this out as you see fit.
But in the first example, customers won’t even know what product we are talking about. While in the second, we know what the product is (shirts), what it does (looks and feels good), and the proof (100,000 customers agree). There is no guessing required.
Remarketing To Your Facebook Audiences
If you are running Facebook ads, you are probably familiar with remarketing (or retargeting).
Most brands will simply use remarketing to stay in front of their customers, but many keep using the same ad. Why is this a problem? Because they are not telling their customers anything new.
A better strategy is to constantly change up this messaging by calling out the fact that this retargeted customer is already familiar with the brand while offering them something new to consider.
Going back to our fictional fashion brand, we can even rework a previous example we discussed in the “plan for anniversaries” section.
Rather than featuring the same set of shirts you have in your regular campaign, you remarket with something like, “You already know our shirts are the softest and buttery smooth. Now you can have that feeling all over thanks to our new matching stealth joggers…”
This is a double whammy because not only are you reminding them about your core product but letting them know that you have other products that might inspire them to return for more!
This is a prime example of how you can use remarketing—not just for new customers—but for previous customers also!
Try AdBeacon—It Works
National Positions has a partnership with an emerging technology that checks so many boxes it’s not even funny. At its core, AdBeacon is a Facebook ad optimization platform. But within this amazing platform, we can track customer journeys, tie together Shopify and Facebook data accurately, and even pinpoint your best-selling products.
We can also leverage your own first-party (CRM, sales, conversion) data to make your campaigns perform even better, which is perfect for bringing back customers. You can see what AdBeacon is all about at www.AdBeacon.com when you sign up for a 14-day free trial.
Our experts are applying AdBeacon to all new social media advertising campaigns through the end of the year—so if you want to try it out, just let us know. (And you should, just saying!)
Darkest Before the Dawn
The team here at National Positions knows that things are feeling a bit “cloudy,” but this is exactly why you need to think strategically. A couple of years ago, when the pandemic seemed to flip everything on its head—marketing didn’t stop. Instead, marketing had to adapt, pivot, and change with the times.
This is exactly why our team is here—to find opportunities other agencies cannot.
As they say, it is darkest before the dawn, and your saving grace may just be your current or past customers. Show them they matter, that you care about them, and it might just be enough to bring them back for a lifetime.
Our team is always available to lend a helping hand and guide you in the right direction. Visit our contact us page to drop us a line when you are ready to see the possibilities!