As a small business, gaining loyal customers is essential to your success. After all, loyalty and repeat customers are the backbone of thriving small businesses. These customers are more likely to recommend your business to their friends, and they are more likely to return multiple times in the future. Here are some tactics you can use to create customer loyalty and keep your customers coming back for more.

Customer loyalty is the tendency of a customer to continue doing business with a company or brand. It is important because it allows businesses to keep their customers and grow their customer base. Loyal customers are also more likely to recommend a business to their friends, which can lead to even more customers.

Whatever type of business you’re in, customer loyalty is important. If you run a physical store or boutique, you want your customers to keep coming back. If you’re an online retailer, you want your customers to remember you and come back when they need something you sell. If you’re a service provider, you want your customers to be happy with your service and recommend you to their friends. Even for B2B companies, loyal customers are important, and can bring a lot of security to your business, as you are helping these other businesses to thrive too.

There are many ways to help generate customer loyalty, and here are a few of the best tactics you could use as a small business.

Offer Incentives For Loyalty

One way to create customer loyalty is by offering incentives for customers who continue to do business with you. This could be in the form of discounts, coupons, or even freebies. For example, you could offer a discount to customers who purchase more than one item from your store, or you could give a coupon to customers who refer a friend to your business. Using a customer loyalty platform can really help you with this. Some small business owners think customer loyalty programs are just for larger stores, but businesses of all sizes really do benefit from this.

Make It Easy To Do Business With You

Another way to create customer loyalty is by making it easy for customers to do business with you. This means having a user-friendly website, providing clear and concise information, and offering excellent customer service. Make sure your online check-out process is quick and easy too – customers don’t like having to input their details too many times. If your customers have a positive experience doing business with you, they are more likely to come back in the future.

Keep Your Promises

When you make a promise to your customers, make sure you keep it. This could be a delivery promise, a guarantee, or even just a simple statement about your product or service. If you say your product is the best, make sure it is. Customers will remember if you don’t deliver on what you’ve promised, and they are less likely to do business with you again in the future.

Be Personal

In a world where we are constantly bombarded with marketing messages, it can be refreshing to receive something that is personal. This is especially true when it comes to small businesses, as customers feel like they are supporting a real person, rather than a faceless corporation. You can make your business more personal by using your customer’s name when you talk to them, sending handwritten thank-you notes, and even just remembering details about your customers and their interests. Also do a little work on the ‘about’ page on your website, sharing the story behind your brand, and including the people behind the business.

Use Multiple Channels

Also make sure you are using multiple channels to reach your customers. This means having a presence on social media, as well as having a website and maybe even a brick-and-mortar store. Customers like knowing they can reach you in multiple ways, and it makes your business seem more accessible. You could also use email marketing or even direct mail to reach your customers, depending on your business and what would work best for you. If you’re available on multiple channels, this means you’re more likely to reach your customers wherever they spend time.

Create Personalized Offers

The technology that is available these days means you have opportunities to create more personalized offers for your customers than ever before. Use the data you have available to craft a range of offers. This could mean sending customer a great discount code on their birthday, or a special offer when they have been signed up to your mailing list for a certain length of time. You could also send them an email a certain length of time after they made a purchase, with recommendations of products other customers bought after buying that same product. Be creative with your ideas using the tech you have available – it’s the best way to delight your customers with a fresh marketing approach.

Share Customer Feedback

Finally, make sure you are sharing customer feedback with your team and via your website and other channels. This could be positive feedback that you receive online, or even after just talking to customers in person and letting them know how much you appreciate their business. Customer feedback is a valuable resource, as it can help you understand what your customers like and don’t like about your business. People are also heavily influenced by other people, so if they read positive customer feedback, they are more likely to buy into your brand too.