A strong marketing strategy consist of more than just attracting new visitors to your website, generating leads and closing sales to grow a customer base.  The key to a successful inbound marketing strategy includes using “delighting” techniques that wows your potential and existing customers, thus improving customer retention, brand loyalty, and increasing revenue.

In fact, 87% of customers share good experiences with others (Source: Zendesk). By going above and beyond in providing exceptional online content and experiences, you’re building an army of loyal fans who will gladly promote your brand to their networks. Fostering these relationship building tactics sets a solid foundation for a long-term sustainable business.

Here are simple proven tools you can leverage to build customer loyalty and boost retention.

#1 Publish Quick Online Surveys

Surveys are powerful marketing tools to gain direct feedback from your audience to meet ongoing demands.  The information gleaned from your survey questions can be used in several ways to delight your customers including creating content tailored to their interests, developing more buyer personas to expand your marketing reach, and to stimulate innovation in new ideas and products.

Even with a low customer base, surveying your customers is highly successful because you can give your people exactly what they want because they told you what they want…and they will love you for it, telling others about their experience with your new brand!

The following are a few tips for your online surveys:

• Limit open-ended questions so respondents can get through the survey quickly with multiple choice answers
• Survey people who still freshly remember their purchase and the friction they experienced in the buying process
• Keep the survey and the questions simple
• Send the survey to your email list and share it on your social networks like Facebook
• Use the comments from these surveys as part of your user-generated content
• Need question ideas? Here’s a cool source for survey questions to get the wheel rolling

#2 Use Email Segmentation to Customize Your Messages

Segmenting your email list, or dividing your subscribers into different categories, is often an overlooked practice in email marketing but extremely effective.  In fact, 77% of ROI comes from segmented, targeted, and triggered campaigns (Source: EmailExpert)!

You see, segmenting your email gives subscribers personal attention.  You are sending each individual customer the right email for them at the right time depending on where they are in the buyer’s journey.  Recipients will feel as if you’re speaking directly to them, making your email strategy more effective and boosting responsiveness.

There are several ways you can segment your list that gives your customers the special attention they deserve:

• Stages in the sales cycle – Each of your customers are at different stages in the buyer’s journey. Segmenting your list based on these stages positions you to share content that move your leads closer to the buying decision.
• Buyer Persona – Dividing your list according to your buyer personas allows you to tailor your email content to their needs.
• Past purchases – Use previous order history to send email content that cater to their interest. This also opens doors for upselling opportunities as you can offer services or products that complement their previous purchases
• Buying frequency – Knowing how often someone purchases allows you to put loyalty programs in place (like “preferred customer rewards”) which generates more revenue and encourages better relationships with your customers
• Content Topic and Format – Segmenting your list by the content they’ve expressed interest in is also another way of customizing your email content. Categorize your leads based on the topics they’re most engaged with and the types of formats that captures their attention (i.e. videos, infographics, etc.)

#3 Leverage Social Media Management Tools to Stay Connected

Social media management tools help you to manage and monitor your social campaigns, maintain an active presence, interact with followers and more using one system.  You see, consumers are regularly using their social networks to connect with brands to express their gratitude, receive guidance, share comments, or even give criticism. Your social media management tool positions you to respond quickly and stay in-tuned with the conversations that may be brewing around your brand.

How does this help in delighting your customers? First, being active on social media adds credibility to your brand and shows your followers that you are up-to-date in relating to consumers.

Secondly, it’s a great tool for customer service in answering common questions and solving general problems, all using social media.

Finally, you can personally inbox your customers to say “thank you”, extend a special discount, or simply to ask a question to initiate conversation. These special touches can go a long way in cultivating relationships with your customers.

Therefore, leverage social media management tools to stay connected and offer personalized experiences to your customers.

#4 Post Engaging, Quality-Rich Content

Simply stated, sharing valuable content that resonates with your customers will forever be the foundation to a strong inbound marketing strategy. Even after the purchase, customers want to continue to learn and gain from your brand that positively impacts their lives. Delivering remarkable content that empowers, educates, inspires and delights will keep your followers following you!

Here are a few ways to stay consistent in sharing quality content with your customers:

• Use an editorial calendar to help you organize, plan, and schedule (publish) content
• Build a content strategy around your survey results
• Always share your new blog content with your email list and social media networks
• Curating content is a strong strategy to filling in the gaps when you’re short on content to share
• Repurpose popular blog content by sharing the content using video, podcast audio, live-streaming platforms, tweets, and webinars to extend the life of your article

As you continue to publish and share quality content, you will quickly position your brand as the go-to source and influencer in your niche!

Conclusion

Delighting your customers is the final ingredient to a working inbound marketing plan.  Applying these tools will bolster your marketing strategy and easily convert your customers into loyal, raving fans of your business.

Much success,

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