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When analyzing your data for your online business, you’d be happy to find newcomers, converts, and of course, returning customers. So now the question is: how do you keep the returning customers, well, returning, and persuade the converts that they, too, should keep coming back?

Increasing customer loyalty can be a challenging feat, but one that leaves plenty of room for some creative ideas – and better yet, opportunity to pass along some savings to your clients.

We often hear about incentives like rewards points, special discounts, and information about flash sales sent out via email. The whole point of these tactics is not just hardcore marketing; it’s meant to reward customer loyalty. After all, the returning customers are usually your number one cheerleaders when it comes to recommending your online business to others.

So consider some unique practices in rewarding your frequent shoppers.

The Time Honored Thank You Note

This isn’t just a lovely email or hard copy card that is sent to the customer who visits (and purchases) often. This note can be combined with a request for ideas of how enhance a customer’s experience when shopping on your online business.

Furthermore, the customer can answer the email directly with however many (or few) suggestions as he or she likes – as opposed to the generic “do not reply” message with the link that the client can click on to get a survey that takes forever to go from one question to the next.

The Sincere Follow-Through

Customer feedback is not meant to just collect cyber dust in the inbox. Yes, it takes time to read through everyone’s comments, but there is valuable information to be gleaned from these suggestions or complaints.

Also, you might want to pay attention to what the customer says you’re doing right, such as a user-friendly check-out or an accessible shopping cart if the customer changes his or her mind about making a purchase.

The Social Outreach

A strong social media presence is vital to marketing your product or service. That’s pretty much a given in today’s world, but did you ever consider your loyal customers who faithfully share your promotions through Facebook or Instagram or some other platform?

Why not reward this display of customer loyalty with some exclusive promotions or rewards points? Another show of appreciation is simply maintaining your own presence on social media by responding quickly to comments or questions.

Let’s face it. Folks would sooner contact you via their Messenger app before calling the “1-800” customer line. This is where a web check-in might come in handy.

Easy Access to Customer Loyalty Rewards

Above all, creating a rewards program for customer loyalty that’s easy to access and redeem points will not only guarantee the return of frequent shoppers but also serve well to gain new prospects.

How can this be? When loyal customers tell their peers about how easy it is to sign up and redeem points, they might pay your site a visit.

Also, by using geo fencing technology, similar to that of Marriott, for instance, you can personalize your customer’s experience to better meet their needs. Again, this opens the door for more sharing on the part of your regulars.

At the end of the day, rewarding customer loyalty also means applying the best practices in customer service such as:

• Consistent communication
• Personalized experience
• Availability to answer questions and address issues

Building a relationship with your customers and consistently improving their experience with your business will solidify your client base while bringing in more prospects.