Many business owners make the mistake of chasing after new leads and creating new opportunities without first making the most of the resources and opportunities they already have.
If you have a website and you’re focusing all of your energy on getting new people to visit, then you are likely missing out on a lot of potential business from your current visitors. It’s much easier to get someone to buy from you who has already done business with you in the past, so that’s actually the smartest place to focus your efforts.
Likewise, you’re much less likely to get a sale from someone who is visiting your site for the first time versus someone who has been visiting for a while and who you have established trust with.
Read on and we will look at how you can turn your visitors into customers and your existing customers into repeat customers.
Make it Easy
This is where your branding becomes incredibly important. If someone lands on your website and is impressed by the way you present yourself and what you offer, then you need to make sure that they are able to get back to you again when they decide to bite. This means you need to have a clear and obvious banner/design that is memorable enough that they can track you down in the future. Likewise, an easy and memorable URL can go a long way. You can even encourage them to bookmark your page through a popup or the like.
A Mailing List
Better yet is to get them to join a mailing list or newsletter of some kind. This will then ensure they get frequent updates from you which will keep you at the forefront of their minds. What’s more, it will allow you to reach out to them with specific offers and deals that might interest them based on your previous interactions. Lead capture is one of the most crucial aspects of your online presence, so don’t neglect it!
91% of Consumers Check Their Email Once a Day or More
Email Marketing Has an ROI of 4,300%
Social Media
Similar to a mailing list is a social media account – by using a Twitter or Facebook account you can keep your customers up-to-date and provide yourself with a means of staying in touch long after they’ve left your site.
67% of Twitter Users Are More Likely to Buy From Brands They Are Following on Twitter
Providing Value
Another good strategy is to ensure that your website itself provides value which most companies try to achieve through a blog. Give your site a blog and that way there will be useful content for your visitors to come back and read. If your website is literally just an advert, then there’s really no need for them to return to your site unless they are looking to buy something.
Deals and Special Offers
Running some kind of deal or a special offer is a great way to increase your turnover for a period and potentially gain some free marketing. At the same time though, it’s also effective at demonstrating to your visitors a good reason to check in from time to time. If you mention your promotion in a Tweet then you’ll find it’s a good way to attract a lot of previous visitors back to your site who maybe were interested in some of your products but didn’t have the money at the time. Make sure to get involved in larger deals and promotions too like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Black Friday 2017 Online Sales Reached $5 Billion
Tell Them to Come Back
Sometimes the best techniques are the obvious ones: why not just literally instruct your visitors to come back to your site? This could literally just be a case of including a message at the end of your content saying ‘be sure to come back soon’, or telling them how often your content is updated or how you occasionally have deals and offers. Of course, they might just ignore your request but at least you’ve planted the idea and you’ve made your case for why they should keep you in mind.
Use a Loyalty Program
A loyalty program is a fantastic way to get your customers to come back time and again. Here you offer discounts and other bonuses to customers who use your services or shop with you regularly which gives them an additional reason to use you over your competition. At the same time, many people find it somewhat addictive to see their points rack up and will often go to lengths to keep them growing!
Create a Social Element
At the time of writing, Facebook has 2 billion daily active users. What makes it so popular? That would be the social aspect which lets people check in on friends and have conversations on topics they find interesting.
Basically, social interactions keep people coming back because they want to see the responses to things they’ve written/continue their discussions. Simply adding a comments section on your site then can be a great way to create a community around your business that builds loyalty in a big way.
Make Them Feel a Part of Your Business
Using the web is a great way to get people involved in your business and to help them feel like a part of it. This in turn gives them a stake in your success and they’ll be much more likely to come back as a result, as well as to spread the word.
What does this mean? Well, it could mean outsourcing an idea. It might mean running some kind of contest. Or it could just mean answering a question and engaging with the audience. Even giving away t-shirts can make people feel like they’re a part of your ‘movement’ and really get behind you as a result. This is also another very good reason to be on social media and to leverage other social elements.
63% of People Follow Small Businesses to Show Their Support on Twitter
Leave an Impression
Most important of all though is simply to ensure you leave the right impression on your visitors and your customers. At a basic level this means creating a website that runs well, loads quickly, looks great, and maybe has a few nice touches that stand out.
Going deeper though means ensuring that the entire experience of dealing with you is memorable in all the right ways. This entails thinking about your packaging. Maybe it could mean under-promising and over-delivering in terms of shipping. Or how about packaging a freebie in with their order/sending a personalized message? These small touches are what set amazing companies apart from the crowd and build real loyalty. Show you care about your business and about your customers and you will find they reciprocate!
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