How to Keep Customers Engaged During the Holidays

The holidays are an important time for your business — and that’s true whether or not your customers buy gifts from you. During this season, you have lots of opportunities to engage your customers and keep them coming back to you in 2018. Here's how to work some holiday magic.

Build Loyalty — and Repeat Business

If your customers are buying gifts from you now, we know you have some busy weeks ahead. So we're not going to overwhelm you with a bunch of extra work to do. But we do want you to remember that this is a crucial opportunity to earn customer loyalty — especially from people who are shopping with you for the first time. Here are a few easy ways to engage your customers and encourage repeat business.

• Include a surprise free sample with each order you ship.
• Create email receipts that feel branded and special and that speak to customers in your brand voice. (Memorable brands take advantage of every touch point to deepen their connection with customers.)
• Send an automated follow-up email with a coupon code that customers can use or pass along to others.
• Create a hashtag to encourage customers to share images of your product on social media. Then be sure to comment when they do.

Serve Customers' Other Needs

If your customers aren't coming to you for holiday shopping, you might be tempted to fall out of touch with them this time of year. After all, they're busy with the activities of the season — and so are you. Will they even hear what you're saying?

Whether you serve consumers or other businesses, your customers have goals and aspirations for the upcoming year. Actually, you'd be surprised. We urge you not to neglect your blog, newsletter and social media in the coming weeks. Yes, your customers do have a lot on their minds right now. But besides shopping, traveling and family gatherings, they are also still thinking about areas where you could help. Ask yourself these questions about your customers:

‍What do they need as they wrap up 2017?

The answer to this question will depend a lot on what your business does and whom you serve. We're willing to bet, though, that there's an authentic way to engage your customers and forge a deeper connection during the holidays. For example, you could write some blog posts with tips to help them with their end-of-year tasks. Maybe you even have existing resources on your website that you could point them toward.

‍What do they need as they look toward 2018?

Wouldn't you love it if someone told you that your New Year's resolution was very attainable — and told you exactly how to achieve it? Whether you serve consumers or other businesses, your customers have goals and aspirations for the upcoming year. How can you encourage them to pursue those goals — with the help of your business, of course? Do you have existing content that you could repurpose into a gift to help them reach their goals? For example, you could compile all of your blog posts on a particular topic. You could also send an email, or even a series of emails, to get them thinking about their 2018 goals. This helps make sure you’re on their minds when it comes time to hire or purchase!

Ready to Get Started?

You've probably noticed that these tips share a few themes:

• They all involve making the most of your email list. If your list could use a boost, put creating a lead magnet at the top of your 2018 goals. A lead magnet is a free tool or guide that visitors to your website receive in return for sharing their email address with you.
• Engaging your customers flows from a desire to authentically serve them. Focus on what they need and how you can be generous with them.
• To do that, you first have to know your customers. Our past blog posts on business clarity and on attracting customers can help.

We wish you much success and joy this holiday season. If you have any questions about the strategies we talked about here, or if you'd like to start building your 2018 success with us, please don't hesitate to get in touch.