Once you’ve gone through all of the work of successfully acquiring new customers, the last thing you want to do is lose them. That’s why all brands must re-engage customers to make sure they come back again. An engaged customer is more likely to be a loyal one, after all.

Let’s take look at why customer re-engagement is so important and the steps your brand can take to keep customers coming back for more.

Why You Need to Re-Engage Customers

Re-engaging customers is the process of getting customers interested in your brand again. When you re-engage a customer, you may be trying to:

  • Get them to come back after they’ve done business with you. Sometimes this is also called “remarketing.”
  • Get them to come back once they’ve canceled their service or account. These customers may be referred to as “lapsed” or “inactive” customers.

Brands should prioritize re-engaging existing customers in addition to their new customer acquisition plans because customer churn is expensive. It costs more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing customer. It is also easier to sell to existing customers. They are more likely to buy and spend more when they do.

Existing customers are already primed to buy from your brand, so don’t let them slip through the cracks. Use re-engagement marketing plans to bring them back.

The Key to Re-engagement: Customer Contact Capture

Before we look at the specific tactics you can use to re-engage customers, there’s something important to note. Customer re-engagement is much easier and more effective when your brand is regularly collecting customer contact information.

Customer contact information is essential to re-engagement plans because it allows you to have a communication line with your existing customers. Without an email address or phone number, it’s difficult to get your messaging back in front of your past customers. So always start your re-engagement strategy with a plan to collect customer contact information. You can do that by:

  • Creating a customer database.
  • Creating customer loyalty program.
  • Offering access to Interactive Kiosks where they can input their information.
  • Collecting phone numbers or email addresses at check-out.
  • Using free in-store WiFi to collect contact info.

Recommended Reading: How to Collect Customer Contact Information from In-Store Shoppers

7 Ways to Re-engage Customers

Now that you know why re-engaging customers and collecting contact information is so important, let’s look at a few tactics you can use to bring consumers back to your brand.

1. Think about why the customer become disinterested in the first place.

Before you develop individual strategies for your re-engagement plan, take some time to look at what brought your brand here in the first place. Consider what has disengaged your customers.

  • Were they unsatisfied? If so, why?
  • Did they start using a competitor?
  • Do they not have a need for your product anymore?
  • Did the pricing turn them away?
  • Have they moved away from your business?

2. Send out customer surveys.

One of the best ways to get the answers to your questions is by surveying your customers. Create a survey and send it to customers based on the time that they have been away from your business. For example, you don’t want to send a re-engagement survey to customers who haven’t been to your business for a few days. But, you may want to send a survey to a customer who hasn’t visited in six months and one who hasn’t returned for a year.

3. Utilize a regular email marketing newsletter.

Don’t let customers stray from you in the first place by creating a newsletter that goes out weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. By regularly getting in front of your existing customers, your brand can stay top-of-mind and prevent shoppers from drifting in the first place.

Recommended Reading: 6 Steps to Launch an Email Marketing Plan for Your Brick-and-Mortar Business

4. Send targeted emails and text marketing campaigns.

In addition to sending a general email newsletter, targeted email campaigns are a great tactic that re-engage customers based on their past behaviors and actions. Design promotional emails and marketing messages tied to a customer’s:

  • Past purchases
  • Last interaction with your brand
  • Location
  • Birthday
  • Pages visited on your website
  • Links clicked on in previous emails

5. Create a community for customers to join.

Another way to keep your brand top-of-mind with existing customers is creating a community for them to be a part of. A community can be defined in a lot of ways. For example, joining your email list can be marketed as joining a community of like-minded people. You can also make it more tangible by creating a Facebook group, online forum, or on-site membership.

6. Utilize digital retargeting.

There is one powerful way to re-engage customers that doesn’t require you to have their contact information: digital retargeting. Digital retargeting is the process of placing cookies on or tagging people when they visit your website or social media profiles and grouping them into categories based on which pages they visit and how they engage with your site. Then, you can display ads to those audiences using Google display and social media PPC ads.

This process allows you to get back in front of interested prospects as well as old customers, and you don’t need contact information to make the connection.

7. Run fun and enticing return promotions.

Past customers already know your brand and are interested in what you do and what you offer. They may just need a nudge to bring them back again. Give them the small push they need by putting on a fun and enticing return promotion that drives them back to your business.

  • Sponsor a contest.
  • Host a giveaway.
  • Introduce new features, products, or services.
  • Offer a deal for the customer and a friend.

Start Impressing and Re-Engaging Customers Today

Existing customers who have already chosen to do business with your brand in the past are extremely valuable. Don’t let them fall to the wayside. Work on re-engagement plans to keep past customers coming back.

To ensure that customers come back again and again, offer exceptional experiences during their initial  interactions.