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Getting a customer is one thing, but keeping that customer for a long time is another story entirely. Many entrepreneurs believe the “once a customer, forever a customer” mantra. But in reality, that isn’t always the case.
The truth, however, is that if your brand is impeccable, customers who have already purchased your product or service will come back for more. Your Instagram business will generate warm leads and convert customers if you have a solid customer base. And that’s the dream, isn’t it?
Making your brand deserving of a return client visit depends on a variety of things. And if you’re like most Instagram brands, you probably have no clue what these factors are and how to make them work in your favor. Lucky you, we’re here to open your eyes. Continue reading to learn 8 keys that will help you ensure your customers keep coming back.
How To Ensure Return Customers For Your Instagram
These tips can help you become proactive if you are just about to start a business. Meanwhile, If you have already started, it’s never too late to make a positive change.
1. Hold on to your brand personality and values
Your daily business operations with your customers should be hinged on the core values of your brand. Never compromise on your brand’s value as it’s a huge stepping stone to connecting with and keeping your customers.
When people see how authentic your brand is, they’ll come back and even spread the word about your business. The quality of your products and services should be exactly as you have promised or even better.
For instance, if you run a pastry shop promising that you make the tastiest pastries in the neighborhood, your customers should get nutritious and exceptionally tasty pastries when they visit. Don’t fall into the temptation of trying to make more profit by jeopardizing the quality of your pastries.
2. Be open and responsive
Any business that wants to thrive, especially in the o line world, should be open and responsive to their customers. Customers should find it easy to give feedback on your products and services. Show that you love and appreciate interacting with them.
Always check your DMs and comment section for any customer’s message. Failing to respond to your customer’s messages will give your brand an unrelatable face. You’ll have much fewer sales than you should and miss plenty of opportunities.
If you are unable to keep up with the many DMs, you can hire a social media manager who will maintain dialogues with your customers.
You can also use automated replies, especially if you can’t afford an extra hand. However, try not to rely too much on this as people can quickly tell when they’re interacting with a bot.
3. Showcase your 5-star customer reviews
Sharing your 5-star reviews from your previous customers is a huge way to make a good impression on your followers, whether they’ve bought from you before or not. Your customers are likely to stick with you when they’re reassured of your consistency in delivery.
Also, It’s easy to promote and praise your product but it’s not as effective as when there’s a positive review from other users. Positive reviews are more convincing to people who are still indecisive about whether or not to make a purchase.
Encourage your customers to give you feedback after using your products and services. If they make a post recommending your products, you should share it on your page.
Even if the reviews are not good, use whatever information you get to improve and scale your business.
Also, feel free to share your positive reviews on your website if you have one.
4. Give Incentives to your customers
Many businesses have used the power of incentives to drive sales. Why not do the same?
Discounts, special offers, giveaways and promos have been used by successful brands. And more customers were seen to make purchases whenever special offers were involved. How so?
You need to keep your audience informed about upcoming events, IG live, product releases, contests etc. It keeps them aware and increases their expectations for new things from your brand.
For example, letting your audience know that a new product is on the way will make them anticipate. And they might even preorder.
You don’t have to tell them explicitly that you’re about to launch something. You can show them the behind-the-scenes moments of your creativity. Your brand updates show that there’s always something new, and your followers will look forward to it.
This also helps to form a connection between you and your customers because they’ll feel like you’re taking them along through your journey.
6. Team up with trustworthy brands and Influencers
Most customers will return if they see that you are affiliated with a tested and trusted brand or influencer. There are many fraudulent Instagram pages out there. So, people are wary of trusting just any brand.
Through a collaboration with authentic brands and influencers, you can hold down your customer base. You get a better chance to reach more people and make conversions.
With discounts and giveaways, there’s always urgency. And because people fear that they’ll miss out if they don’t take the great offer now, they rush and buy.
Now here’s the deal, ensure that your products are high-quality. As people jump on the limited offers, they’ll be back for more products even when there’s no discount on the product. It’s like buying a box of pizza just because it’s discounted and then going back for more because you enjoyed it.
Bonus Tip: Incentives, especially with giveaways, can also build your following and engagements. If you find this too stressful, it’ll be so easy to simply purchase instant Instagram followers from megafamous to grow your follower count.
5. Frequently inform your audience about your brand’s updates
You need to keep your audience informed about upcoming events, IG live, product releases, contests etc. It keeps them aware and increases their expectations for new things from your brand.
For example, letting your audience know that a new product is on the way will make them anticipate. And they might even preorder.
You don’t have to tell them explicitly that you’re about to launch something. You can show them the behind-the-scenes moments of your creativity. Your brand updates show that there’s always something new, and your followers will look forward to it.
This also helps to form a connection between you and your customers because they’ll feel like you’re taking them along through your journey.
6. Team up with trustworthy brands and Influencers
Most customers will return if they see that you are affiliated with a tested and trusted brand or influencer. There are many fraudulent Instagram pages out there. So, people are wary of trusting just any brand.
Through a collaboration with authentic brands and influencers, you can hold down your customer base. You get a better chance to reach more people and make conversions.
The influencers could share reviews of your products and properly describe the product. It’s not compulsory to partner with a huge influencer. You can work with nano-influencers. With nano-influencers, you get a better chance of reaching a more engaged audience.
7. Compile and publish answers to FAQs
Business owners receive tons of questions from customers quite often. If the DMs are too many, it can be very tasking replying to these questions.
Therefore, a good.solution is to go through the questions you get from customers and sieve out the most frequently asked ones. Compile them, answer them and make the FAQs available to your audience.
You can create an Instagram highlight solely for FAQs. It makes it easy for your customers to get the necessary information and relieves you of the stress of replying to tons of similar questions. Many travel brands will especially find this useful. Why? Travelers, especially people visiting a place for the first time, always have questions.
When people find answers to their questions, they can go on with their transactions seamlessly. A stress-free purchase may bring a customer back.
8. Improve Your Customer Care Service
Without great customer service, your business will be nothing to write home about. Your customers should be your priority because they’re the ones you serve.
If you already have a customer service section for your brand, then you should work towards improving it. Below are important tips to consider for your customer service on Instagram:
- Include your customer service contact details such as phone number or email in your bio. It tells your audience that you are ready and available to hear from them about any complaint.
- Take public customer service conversations to the DMs. The DMs are more private for personal complaints.
- Try out a customer support tool to help you respond to all customer’s enquiries.
- Use social listening tools to track your mentions across Instagram. It will also keep you updated on relevant hashtags in your industry.
- Activate Instagram quick replies feature to assist you in answering FAQs in your DM.
- Use Instagram stories to ask for your audience’s opinions. The poll sticker can come in handy here.
Final Words
Your customers keep your business thriving and you must do everything (legal, of course) to ensure that they return. The aforementioned 8 keys will do justice to your customer base if you heed them. Don’t relent, but exercise patience and watch your customers come back for more.
