2. Analyse the data
Now that you’ve collected the data, you need to analyse it. In this case, you can take a look at the final results of this year’s Holiday Season. Questions to ask yourself are: Who are your potential customers, and how would you describe their behaviour? When do people purchase (is it during the morning or the evening, and what time)? How many people abandon their carts after mulling over whether to buy or not?
So now, instead of data, we’ll be talking about insights. These insights will allow us to discover their needs so that we know exactly how, when, and where we will approach them.
3. Segment your new customers for re-targeting
Alright, so now you know how your customers behave. Considering that, you need to create sets of audiences that match these insights. For example, if you know that the main customers have been young adults, take advantage of this and prepare specific audiences to match their needs. If you feel adults could turn into loyal customers as well, segment them into another audience. Don’t mix them up.
Bearing this in mind, creating personalised content that fits your customers’ needs will also be of great importance. If we take the previous example into account, you’re probably going to adjust your content so that it fits with youngsters from 18 to 25 years old. This includes specific language, particular images that will catch their attention, or addressing topics you know they’ll be likely to engage with.
4. Launch campaigns to encourage customers to come back
Your audiences are set now, which means it’s time to launch campaigns to bring your customers back. These audiences you’ve built already know you, so not only do you need to encourage them to consider your company but also to purchase a product again.
And that’s where the cycle begins.
Post-holiday engagement is crucial now, and the only way to get it is to reach your 1-time customers with the personalised content you’ve built, and by deciding on specific strategies that will inevitably lead them to the shopping trolley again.
Examples of these strategies involve:
- Up-selling: encouraging customers to purchase a higher number of, or even more expensive, products.
- Cross-selling campaigns: encouraging customers to purchase different products. Typical catchy phrases are ‘also frequently bought with this product’ and ‘other similar products’.
- Personalised multi-channel campaigns: appeal to different placements when launching campaigns. This means that you shouldn’t merely go to Facebook, but also turn to Instagram and Google, and as many channels you wish, really. In this way, your customers will find it more difficult to ignore your ads.
- Offer discounts and deals: by giving the customers the chance to purchase in your company again with a specific benefit, they’ll be more likely to drop by. 10% off in their purchase, perhaps? Free delivery? 15% off in their next purchase? A free small gift?
5. Encourage loyal customers to continue engaging
Engagement comes to us in many forms, but one of the most crucial is feedback. Nowadays, feedback is of the utmost importance in platforms like Google or specific sites related to your products. For example, when going on holidays, you’ll probably find yourself looking at other customers’ reviews of that specific hotel on TripAdvisor. Encourage your customers to leave these reviews and rate your business (you know they’ll give you a high score because they’re loyal), resulting in a high company image boost! Some companies even have rewards for those who rate their businesses, such as a free drink the next time if they’re a cafe, or a 5% discount voucher. It’s incredible how these little things make such a difference.
And finally, don’t quit the engagement yourself. Don’t abandon your loyal customers; instead, keep targeting them and even rewarding them for being loyal. What’s the point in having customer loyalty if you’re going to lose it? Try and give them a loyalty card, or a permanent discount on a specific category of products.