When the new year arrives and the stress of the holiday season begins to subside, it can be tempting to take a rest. However, the beginning of the year is the perfect time to engage shoppers who recently had their first encounter with your brand. To ensure these new customers return, consider some of these retail engagement tactics.
Manage your brand reputation
After the rush of the holiday shopping season cools down, you'll have more time to focus on maintaining a positive brand reputation. The beginning of the new year is a good time to scroll through review sites like Yelp and Google Maps to see if customers have had any recent complaints. These should be addressed as soon as possible to mitigate any damage to your brand.
According to a survey from CustomerThermometer, 93 percent of shoppers say a company's reputation is important to them. You should check in with all of your brand's social media profiles on a regular basis to collect feedback, answer customer questions and smooth over any issues that arise. Make a plan to perform this type of reputation maintenance throughout the year.
Make personal connections with customers
Whether you're interacting with shoppers online or in person, look for opportunities to establish relationships. It's one thing if your brand can provide shoppers with desirable merchandise, but it's another to offer great products and a wonderful shopping experience.
When you engage shoppers in conversation, ask questions about what they'd like to see from future interactions with your brand. What appeals to them most – the breadth of your product offerings, ancillary services, prices? The more information you can gather about customer needs, the better positioned you will be to make a positive impact on shopper opinions of your brand.
Thank your loyal customers
It's important to remember not to forget about your loyal customers as you seek to engage new shoppers. Building new relationships is essential, but so is the maintenance of your existing relationships. Don't take any of your customers for granted, whether it's their first time shopping with you, or they are familiar faces in your shop.
Taking the time to say thanks reminds shoppers that, at the end of the day, they are engaging in a human transaction. Ecommerce has eliminated many of the personal touches that were once inherent in the retail experience. By showing your customers how much you appreciate them, you remind everyone of the human element that is behind every sale. You can hop on twitter and give a shout out to some of your loyal customers, send discount codes to shoppers or offer in-store freebies for qualifying purchases.
Building familiarity with your customer base takes time and constant maintenance. For more tips on how to engage your shoppers on a personal level, check out our resource center today.
