How to Keep Old Customers

By Adam  |  12 Aug 2015 15:00:00

I've written quite a few posts which talk about ways for you to reach new customers and all over the internet you'll find people promising to bring you new customers (and most of them are scammers!) so you would think that that was the most important thing when it comes to marketing. However, this is not true; making sure that your existing customers keep coming back is just as important as reaching new customers, especially for an eCommerce website.

So what can you do to make sure that existing customers keep coming back? Well, there are lots of things you could do. Maybe, if somebody spends £20, you give them a £5 voucher as a reward; this then gives them a definite reason to return! But that just ensures one return trip and may not be something you can afford to offer all the time. So what else can you do? Well, other than rewarding people for shopping with you, there are a couple of methods which are commonly used by businesses.

One very common way to give your customers reminders that you're still around and would still appreciate their business could be through periodical newsletters. Once you've done business with someone, you have access to their email account. You could ask them, at some point in the transaction process, or even in the confirmation email, whether they would like to receive your newsletter. You could even have the default choice in that question be 'yes' so that people who hurry through put themselves down for it. In the newsletter you can tell them lots of interesting things about the industry, bring sales and reductions to their attention and talk about future plans for the business. These should keep you in people's minds and then, when they next need the product that you provide, you'll be the first person they think of!

Then, of course, there is social media marketing. If somebody follows you on any of your social media outlets, then when they go onto social media for a general browse, they'll always see posts by you amongst the posts of all other things in their life. If you keep active on social media, especially if you're sharing good and interesting content, then you will remain in the minds of these customers. You can put social media buttons on your main website and hope that people will spot them, or you can include them in your confirmation emails. Drawing attention to social media through newsletters is a good way to bring people over to your social media as well.

So keep in mind that you should be trying to keep your existing customers just as much as you are trying to find new ones. If you have somebody who will regularly come back to you, you've got a good source of regular sales. But if you don't even have an eCommerce website yet, sign up for Sellr now! It is completely free.