Business Tips

3 customer re-engagement tips for small businesses

Your customers are the reason you get to do what you love day in and day out. But are you letting them know you appreciate them for that? Customer re-engagement can be simply periodically calling, texting, and emailing to show them some love. When people feel appreciated and engaged with your business, they are more likely to remain loyal, and even recommend you to others, which helps your business grow.

How to get started:

All of this might sound like a lot of work if you are a small business owner with a lot on your plate, but it doesn’t have to be. With some thought, careful planning, and the right tools, re-engaging your customers can be simple. Here are some tips to help you get started:

send the right message on the right channel, at the right right time

1. Right message, right channel, right time

Emailing, calling, texting. There are a number of channels you can use to re-engage your customers. However, if you are going to invest the time and effort, make sure you take the time to consider the following:

  • What you are saying?
    Are you delivering a short, time-sensitive message or a longer one that requires more than just a few seconds to digest? If it is a message that needs to be conveyed immediately, a text might be the best option. Or if you are delivering a longer message, that doesn’t require a customer’s immediate attention, an email might be the best method of communication.
  • Who you are saying it to?
    Are your customers young tech-savvy millennials or older individuals? Your audience and their preferred methods of communication will have an impact on the channel you use to reach them. Try to keep their preferences in mind. If they call you, call them. If they text, text them.
  • When you are saying it?
    Are you sharing this message right after someone interacted with you? Or is it days, weeks (even months) later? The length of time that has passed since your last interaction can have an impact on the way you get in touch with them. For instance, customers you have interacted with recently, a text might be appropriate since you are already top of mind.

Being mindful of all of these elements is key to successful customer re-engagement. If you are just starting to ramp up your customer re-engagement strategy, it can be beneficial to do some experimenting to see which channels and messages your customers respond to and prefer. Try a mix of calling, texting, emailing, even regular mailing. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and try new things.

If customers have a strong preference for one method of communication, they will let you know. And who knows, you might just stumble across something game-changing. You never know until you try.

2. Show some personality

As a small business owner, you are passionate about what you do. Let your passion and personality shine through in the messages you send customers. Don’t just send boring, generic messages.

One of the easiest ways to do this is by sending messages that actually sound like a person talking to another person. Personal interaction like this is why many people choose small businesses like yours, rather than large faceless corporations. So remind them of that.

Rather than saying “Get 20% off your next purchase with promo code, SHOPTODAY.” Try something a bit more conversational “Hi there! We’ve missed you around the shop. Come see us and use the code SHOPTODAY to get 20% off!”

Personal interaction is why many people choose small businesses like yours, rather than large faceless corporations.

3. Choose a customer re-engagement tool that works for you

For many small business owners, the most challenging part of re-engaging with customers, is finding the time to actually do it. However, with the right tools, it can be an easy part of your day-to-day business activities.

If you are interested in using email as a part of your customer re-engagement, there are a number of simple, easy-to-use tools geared specifically to the needs of small businesses, like Constant Contact or MailChimp.

If you are more interested in re-engaging your customers via call or text, a 2nd number or small business phone system like Sideline, might be a good option for you. With features like Team Number and Auto-Reply, customer communications are easy and efficient. We are also working on building and beta testing a new generation of features that will make re-engaging your customers even easier.

To learn more about Sideline’s features and how they can make your life easier and grow your business, take a look at some of the blog posts listed below.

Get Featured!

We’re always looking for new professionals to feature throughout our website and blog.
If you are a Sideline user and want to share your story with the community,
fill out the form below for a chance to have your business featured!

As always, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to keep up
with everything that’s happening in the Sideline community.