Marketing research suggests that winning over new customers is five times more expensive than keeping existing ones. Thus, investing in your regular customers and making them more loyal to your brand is an important step to increasing your brand awareness and longevity.
The easiest way to ensure loyalty is to make your regular customers feel valued and appreciated. And no matter what demographic you are targeting, nothing makes people happier than promotional gifts.
From small tokens of appreciation to full-on extravagant presents, here is everything you can use to wow your customers time and time again.
Keep Track of Your Loyal Customers’ Milestones
If you own a small business and sell to your customers directly — be it over the phone or on social media — you should try to keep track of their milestones. Have they perhaps mentioned an upcoming birthday or anniversary? Have they posted about an important event in their life that warrants a gift?
If so, you have a chance to cement yourself as their all-time favourite brand. Send them a thoughtful package that includes a promo backpack, a travel mug, and custom earbuds. Alternatively, you can send them a nice card with good wishes along with a coupon for your products.
No matter what you end up going for, your customer will know how much you care about them. That will make them infinitely more loyal to your company. In other words, they likely won’t shop from any other business in your industry, no matter how appealing it might seem.
It is easy to see why people might react this way. After all, everyone wants to feel important to someone and like the details of their lives matter. Thus, you can make people feel special with only a simple gesture, and it doesn’t have to cost you a fortune at all.
Make Your Customers’ Purchases More Special
Another great way to ensure customer loyalty is to give them little presents when they buy something from you. You can do this both if you send your orders through the mail or if you have a brick-and-mortar store that people can visit.
Again, this gift doesn’t have to be anything big or expensive. For example, if you sell custom stationery, you can give customers a pretty pen or a complimentary notebook.
On the other hand, you can also add some cute freebies to the order, ranging from promotional sweets to scented candles or bookmarks. As long as the gift fits in with the rest of the order, you can choose just about anything you like.
Small gifts like these are a great incentive for customers to buy from you again. They will know that their purchase won’t be the only thing they’ll get, which will make them excited to visit you or your website once more.
Aside from little gifts, you can also invest in pretty thank-you notes, eco-friendly paper bags, and some stickers to tie it all together. These items are a nice alternative for those with a tight budget, as they are affordable but still effective.
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Make the Holidays Count
Although giving presents for Christmas and other holidays is a common gesture, you can still take advantage of it. Based on the products or services you offer, you can surprise your loyal customers with a few gifts for everything from St. Patrick’s Day to Easter.
These gifts can include promotional planners for the new year or something warm like a personalised hoodie. Alternatively, you can give away coupons for your products relevant to that particular holiday. Alongside the gift, you can also include a handwritten card. That way, your customers will know you have put in personal effort to ensure they receive something nice.
Besides holidays that most people celebrate, you can also surprise your customers on other special days. Of course, these days should pertain to your particular industry. Thus, it is always good to check out national holidays for teachers, healthcare workers, first responders, and other people that are closely connected to your line of business.
By giving back to the community, you will establish yourself as a reliable and generous brand. That will, in turn, make your existing customers more loyal and potential ones more likely to buy from you.
Your Employees Can Also Help You
If your business is bigger and you have staff who handle the customers, you can enlist their help as well. Namely, you can give your employees a monthly stipend they can gift to the most loyal customers in the store.
This move is smart, as your employees are the ones who communicate with customers every day. As such, they will know who deserves a reward and when giving it to them would be a good idea.
Aside from ensuring that your customers feel great, this trick will also help make your employees feel more loved. In addition, you will guarantee that your customers come to the store every month, as they can never know when their reward could come.
Use Your Socials Smartly
Last but not least, you can also make customers feel special on your social media. For example, you can choose a customer of the month and feature them on your Instagram, Facebook, or website.
You can post their picture and include a small story about them. In addition, you should give them some store credit or a discount on their next purchase. Do so, and everyone will try hard to be featured next, giving your brand even more exposure and profit in the process.
Give Back and Watch Your Brand Grow
Making sure your existing customers feel appreciated and valued is an important step to increasing your brand awareness. Loyal customers are much more likely to recommend your business to others, so keeping them happy is pivotal for success.
Thus, put in time and effort and come up with some gifts and reward programmes for your customers. Even if the gifts are small, they will go a long way to convince people that you are truly a company worth their time and money.
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If you have any more questions about promo products, you can contact GoPromotional. You may call us at 0800 0148 970 or simply email us today. We have been in the business for years and know the ins and outs of the industry better than anyone. Give us a call, and let’s talk about all things promotion!
