How to Drive Killer Repeat Business with Minimal Cost and Effort Using Social Media

How to Drive Killer Repeat Business with Minimal Cost and Effort Using Social Media:

Did you know that Twitter and/or Facebook can be used as a platform to market to existing customers in a killer new way?

Most traditional businesses waste the time their customers spend in the store by not giving them “sexy” options to engage in repeat business. It’s insane.

In the online world, every moment that someone spends looking at your webpages is an opportunity to convert in one way or another. The same should go for traditional businesses.

But you don’t want to be too pushy and aggressive. Customers shouldn’t feel harassed every time they come into your store. Trying to get them to fill out opt-in forms makes for a tiring shopping experience and an ineffective mailing list building campaign.

So what’s the alternative?

Use social to engage with customers outside the physical store

The chances are your customers have used Facebook or Twitter. It’s not going to be difficult for them to access content you add to these networks.

Social media is everywhere – on the Internet, mobile phones, tablets, wherever your customers are. There is almost no barrier to entry into social networks – customers are already either signed up to one or more network, or they can do so very easily.

Integrating traditional business with social

Here’s a step by step process that you might follow to capture customers socially before they leave your store:

1. Think of some super cool specials or discounts you are prepared to offer
2. Create a Twitter and/or Facebook account and fill out your profiles, branding, etc
3. Create some in-store posters showcasing your new specials and also…
4. encourage customers to follow you on twitter or FaceBook
5. Make it clear that the specials are only available to your social community
6. Provide special discount codes in tweets and posts

Customers can then show you the tweet or post on their mobile phone, or quote the relevant code to redeem their discount. You could also enforce the “must-follow” rule, if you really wanted, by checking that their FaceBook or Twitter handle is a follower.

Why is offering discounts via social media a good idea?

The benefits of gathering a social following (social influence) are huge. Sure, you have to take some pain by offering discounts and deals that you wouldn’t otherwise offer, but it will be worth it in the long run. Here’s why:

1. Customers are exposed to your content wherever they go
2. Customers can share your content with friends giving you instant, free marketing
3. There is almost no barrier to entry for customers to follow you via social networks (far better than trying to get them to fill in hard copy forms in-store)
4. Marketing is free to social media (other than your in-store posters, the rest of your marketing is gratis)
5. Socially shared content can go viral
6. Lasting effects because your reach is no longer limited to the time a customer is physically in store
7. There are no technical barriers for you – posting to social networks is child’s play
8. Content creation requirements are minimal

Social integration doesn’t take a lot of effort

The last two points in the above list are actually very important. Business owners often balk at the idea of setting up fancy digital marketing systems because they require technical expertise and on-going effort.

For example, most business owners know that creating a blog is a great way to build social influence online, but many are stretched for resources and find it hard to dedicate the time and effort it requires to do properly.

But using social networks takes almost no effort at all. You can tweet single sentences on a whim. You don’t have to contribute regularly. Your content doesn’t have to be innovative and original. It only has to tell customers that there’s a great deal on offer.

Think of the potential of social integration

Consider the following scenario:

1. You have built up a following of around a thousand local customers over the past year on Twitter
2. It’s one of the busiest shopping days of the year. The mall is packed – many of these people have been your customer in the past.
3. You tweet a special that is available for the next hour only.
4. Customers rush to your store to take advantage of this time sensitive offer because they’re already in the store shopping
5. Customers at home or elsewhere get the message and decide to swing by the mall to take advantage
6. Repeat with a new offer a few hours later

There are tonnes of different ways you can use your social engagement once you’ve got it. I envisage a future where people at malls keep their mobile phones on twitter and basically tweet-shop their way around the mall following the best deals.

In effect, the mall becomes a real-virtual world, hyper local social network for retailers and customers.

I hope you’ve learned, from this article, that social integration:

• Is easy to implement
• Is inexpensive
• Does not take a lot of time and effort
• Has far reaching effects
• Provides additional free marketing
• Encourages customer loyalty and lock-in