One of the ways my first apparel business, LVD Fitness, became such a tight-knit community with loyal fans, was because of how intimate we were with our customers:
We knew their names, their faces, and even what upcoming competitions they had. We always made sure it felt like a mutual relationship, in more ways than a typical “money for tshirt” transaction.
I always like to think of new ways to show the people I love most that I appreciate them, and I figured…why not sneak you some of my favourite ways to reward brand loyalty & show gratitude for your customers as a business owner.
1. Run a promotion exclusively for your email list (or better yet, even smaller)
Your email list is your best friend as a business (am I yelling this enough yet?!). Creating promotions that are exclusively available to those on your email list, like early access releases, exclusive product options, or even entire massive sales, creates an environment where:
1. People actually want to stick around, and
2. You can reward loyalty while simultaneously creating it.
Try running a promotion that’s just for your email list or figure out your top 10-20 customers and send a special offer just for them. They’ll love it! And it’ll result in a nice revenue boost for you. A total win-win.
2. Send a personalized video in the DMs
I love creating a back and forth cross-over from customer to email list to social media. Finding and connecting with your customers in the DM creates a more casual, intimate environment because of the innate personal touch to social media, and 1:1 nature of direct messaging.
Surprise your customers with a real-life video of you, thanking them for being a customer. Say their name, speak to something specific about them or their past orders, and talk to them like the pal they are!
You can mix up how you want to do it but some options for picking the customers include:
– All-time highest spend
– Most frequent purchasers
– Highest number of orders
– Most recent
– Oldest
– Those who haven’t made a purchase in 90 days
Ps Did you ever receive one of these from Josh and I for LVD?! It was so fun to film but we kept the video list super small. It was a real cherry on top of the rest of the experience.
3. Make them feel like a mini celebrity
Featuring your customers is beneficial in so many ways:
– It makes them feel appreciated and seen
– It’s an experience they’ll share with others
– It encourages others to post about your company in hopes they’ll also featured
– It can be the tipping point for someone else to buy because they see it in action or as a credible social proof point
– It gives you material to post!
Whether you want to feature them in a newsletter, a full-on post on social media, or reposting them in your stories and saving it to a highlight, that moment where it surprises them is something that gives all the warm and fuzzies and they truly won’t forget it.
4. Surprise & delight with a small gift or token of appreciation
Who doesn’t love presents?! Okay, maybe my love language is showing but there’s nothing like a surprise gift you weren’t expecting.
Whether you have a product business or run a service, think of what kind of gift you could throw in from time to time. It could be access to one of your courses or resources, tickets to a live event, a gift card for another business they love, or something no one else can purchase.
Get creative with it even if you don’t have much to offer besides 1:1 services. You’ve probably noticed in my emails, I like to do a giveaway for a small business gift card! It’s not specific to receiving one of my products, but it really is on brand because I’m always talking about supporting businesses and shining a light on others!
5. Run a collaborative contest or giveaway
This is a less direct reward, but a super fun one and great for your own exposure and reach!
Partner up with a like-minded brand and run a joint giveaway or contest. It’s a way for you to both reward someone from your joint audiences while reaching new faces. Your customers get a chance to win something from a brand they love or discover new brands they’re bound to be obsessed with!
You can creep @lvdfitness on Instagram to see some of the ways we did ours! It’s way more fun if you can get yourselves or the product together for photos!
6. Leverage a loyalty program infrastructure
Love automating these kind of things? There are loads of loyalty programs online that quite literally do this for a living. Sign up for one, set your points system and rewards, and let the AI do it for you.
7. Invite them to participate in the process
Last, but certainly not least: make your top customers part of your process. Whether it’s voting on colours for a new collection item or asking people what resources they’d love to see from you, bringing your customers into the process helps you deliver what they want while also making them feel special.
You can do this through Zoom-style group brainstorms, sending out a survey, or simply having them vote via Instagram Stories.
What’s the coolest way a company has ever rewarded you for your loyalty? I’d love to hear any that stuck out for you!
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