In the retail industry, it’s important to nuture each customer experience because one positive experience leads to many more visits and positive word of mouth. Many customers say they would pay more money on products in order to have a better customer experience. As they search to find the best deals they can, all they are really searching for is a positive customer experience and a personal touch added to their experience.

Do you have worries that your customers are feeling unnurtured, or that there’s more that you could be doing to encourage a positive sentiment towards your store or brand? Don’t fret. We’ve come up with four simple tactics that can help you grow more meaningful relationships with your consumers within the retail industry. By following these four tactics, you will eventually turn them into guaranteed revenue generators. 

Use Analytics to Create Your Desired Personas

The more information you are able to gather about your potential consumers, the better. Having more information about them will allow you to develop a deeper and more meaningful relationship with each of them. It will also enable you to develop a more comprehensive profile. This profile can include all of your consumers’ needs, preferences and key characteristics to name a few.

Due to online channels, the ‘balance of power’ has shifted greatly between businesses and buyers. Consumers have become more empowered and independent when it comes to turning to social media and search engines. They are more inclined to do their own product research. This also makes them less vulnerable to any hard sells from brands that appear to be more interruptive than informational.

Having your consumers’ analytics in reach can provide you with a greater knowledge of their buying habits and lifestyle choices. This will, in turn, allow you to be able to predict their buying behaviors in the future and assist you in catering to them accordingly with a more strategic sales plan and marketing approach.

All insights that you derive from your consumers’ analytics will help you facilitate campaign costs at a reduced price. This happens as you begin to target your marketing messages more effectively. Research different tactics and choose what best suits your needs to start leveraging greater insights.

Send Personalized Emails

Email is easily the most powerful channel one can use in order to communicate with and engage with consumers. It’s not only a clear, direct and personal channel that enables you to promote a sense of customer loyalty, it also is a way to nurture relationships faster than most other digital channels.

If a customer has already given you their email address, this could mean a few things. They either have already had some exposure to your brand and are willing to receive written communication from your brand and/or have maybe even purchased something you. This is very important and crucial because your business needs to encourage repeat purchases in order to sustain profitability. It’s not only about six-seven times less expensive to sell to a customer who already exists than it is to obtain a brand new customer, repeating customers spend 31% more than new customers on average.

Personalized emails allow you to demonstrate the investment you have with each of your customers and their needs and interests. For instance, if you have customers who have left their shopping carts, you can send them a warm, welcoming reminder. In the reminder, ask them if they need any assistance in completing their purchase.

With email and marketing automation now at our disposal, you are now able to create a more proactive approach to consolidating your relationships with your consumers. This can also be done without a strenuous amount of effort or time. Be sure you use your personalized marketing emails in order to provide informative, valuable and genuine content. This shows that you care about each of your consumers.

Be Social and Engaging

Social media is a crucial aspect of anyone’s brand – especially in retail – because it has become the most preferred channel of communication and a way to keep everyone connected. It’s now even being used widely as a means of customer service. With instant updates and quick responses conducted on social media, there is a lot of pressure for brands to reply to their consumers just as quickly.

There are many businesses today that often make the mistake of thinking they can use their social media platforms merely for building brand visibility and also extending their reach. But, the second that brands begin to establish a presence online and begin to interact with their consumers, they have the obligation to use their social platforms to deliver customer service as and when it’s required. This will ensure your consumers have a better customer experience.

The more you are able to do to promote a positive social customer experience, the better. Consumers will be more likely to recommend your brand to friends and family if they experience a positive, customer experience.

Aim to Keep Your Customers 

Many times, retail businesses have a well-established strategy for marketing. However, they don’t have a well-documented plan in order to keep consumers coming back. Is the goal for your retail brand is to retain consumers? It should be. So, ensure you make more of an effort to keep your customer relationships well-kept.

Aside from being able to offer your consumers great products and a competitive price range, there are multiple approaches you can move forward with in order to help improve your brand’s retention rates. Your customer service and your targeted, personal emails will help your retention rates. However, the real retention lies within your execution.

It doesn’t matter the type of business you have or who your target audience is. Content marketing is a useful way to get your customers coming back. It’s a more personalized form of marketing, so consumers feel a genuine connection. Sending emails with discounts tailored to an individual’s persona will help them be more enticed to come back.

Incentives in Retail

Incentivizing is huge in the retail industry. If you’ve noticed that they haven’t opened their emails, you can offer an incentive to come back with a special offer stated in the subject line of your email. You can also run competitions based on ‘user-generated’ content through your social media platforms. Have people enter to win a 50% off coupon or a free low-cost top. It’s a very simple, yet effective form of stimulating engagement within your audience.

The final way that you can help incentivize your customers to stay around is by rewarding them for doing so. If you have customers who are constantly buying from your store, send them a small gift or a discount code that is personalized for them. No matter the amount, the thoughtful gifts are a definite reason to keep your customers come back.

We know all about content marketing and customer retention at Burkhart. Are you having trouble getting your customers coming back to you? Stop by our website and contact us today to see how we can help you.