If you want your brand to achieve a high level of business success, you must focus on customer retention in your marketing strategy. But how do you do that? There’s no better way to increase customer retention than by building a strong customer base of loyal fans.
Big brands like Ben and Jerry’s, Nike, and JetBlue do this well, and it shows in the way their customers respond to their messaging.
These brands are winners in the BrandKeys 2019 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index. A spot in the index shows how well their customer engagement strategies are working.
Building a list of loyal customers is easy with the right email marketing campaign. Using autoresponders is a key way to build a robust digital strategy that promotes loyalty.
Autoresponders help companies provide lightning-fast, responsive customer service. Good customer service is a crucial part of strengthening relationships with customers and leads.
So, let’s look at some ways your company can use the power of autoresponders to improve customer loyalty. A few of these strategies include providing world-class customer service, rewarding repeat business, and making customers feel respected and valued.
Autoresponder email examples that boost loyalty fast
There’s no better place to start building a strong customer relationship than right at the beginning of your relationship. Strong welcome emails explain to customers what they can expect from your brand, so your welcome emails should be carefully planned.
After you’ve welcomed customers aboard, you can easily design future autoresponders. Simply assign automatic emails to specific buyer journey actions. This way, your company is prepared to send an email no matter what action your customers take.
Let’s look at a variety of outstanding autoresponder email templates that illustrate the process of building customer loyalty.
1. Welcome customers to the family
Your potential customers’ first contact with you should showcase your company’s vibe. It should also let them know what they can expect from your customer support, as well as other interactions with your brand.
Also, welcome emails often attract more opens—up to 10x more—than traditional emails, so they’re a good way to put your brand front and center.
Another great way to welcome your customer is by providing them with valuable content from the start. You can easily do this with your initial email.
Placing benefits into an email tells potential customers a relationship with your brand will be rewarding.
2. Re-engagement emails with a twist
In today’s crowded marketplace, customer service isn’t about helping customers with problems. Customer service is about going the extra mile to make customers feel needed and wanted.
Autoresponders go straight to a customer’s reward-loving heart when they tackle emails that re-engage. Adding bells and whistles to a traditional “come back to us” offer can put you ahead of the competition.
Segmenting is also critical for re-engagement and for making your customers feel important. First, divide your customer base into categories according to gender, age, or other criteria. Then, personalize your autoresponder emails accordingly to increase loyalty.
Look at the way YouTube gets up close and personal by celebrating a milestone with their customers:
Source: Really Good Emails
Marking milestones is a great way to present your brand as an advocate—and friend—to customers.
3. Have a conversation
We have digital experiences all day, every day, but that doesn’t mean human appeal isn’t important. In fact, trends in consumer behavior show the importance of using a personal touch, even in digital marketing.
The email, below, is being sent to a vendor when a customer leaves a review online. This allows their customer support team to respond to the customer, thanking them for their input.
Source: Really Good Emails
If the feedback is positive, a response adds another layer of loyalty to their positive feeling about the brand. However, the real boost to your bottom line loyalty-wise occurs in the case of negative feedback.
When you’re aware of a negative response, it gives you the chance to make things right—and keep your customers coming back to you.
Of course, you don’t have to wait for customers to act. Getting reviews is vital for brand visibility. Why not use an autoresponder email template to give your customers a gentle nudge?
4. Recognize loyalty
Want to keep customers coming back for more? Recognize—and reward—your loyal fans and watch the magic happen.
Rewards can come in all shapes and sizes. Some companies offer free shipping, two-for-one deals, or family discounts while others, like Tom’s, get creative with rewards.
Source: Shopify
As you can see, Tom’s doesn’t give hard-and-fast rewards to loyal customers, instead offering the good feeling that comes from a selfless act.
Purchasing one of Tom’s products provides needed items for people in low-resource areas. This, in turn, provides customers with a way to be charitable while also getting a product they want and need.
Whatever you choose for your rewards program, make sure it’s spelled out clearly to potential customers, so they know what they’ll be getting.
You can even “tease” non-members with an email that goes out to all customers—not just rewards members. Big and bold positioning means members and non-members alike see available loyalty benefits.
Non-members might get the opportunity to join in with a click-through option, and members can simply take advantage of sales and special offers using their loyalty rewards number or the supplied coupon code.
If you’re having trouble getting customers jazzed about your rewards plan—try a little gamification to spice things up a bit.
Wrap up
In business, growing customer loyalty is essential for customer retention—and increased revenue. It costs more to get a new customer than it does to keep an old one, so launching a customer loyalty campaign as part of your marketing strategy is a no-brainer.
One of the easiest ways to get close to your customers and get the benefits of a loyal fan base is to leverage the power of autoresponders in your email plan.
Autoresponders help organize personalized welcome and re-engagement emails as well as fast, on-target responses from customer support. This can offer a powerful boost to your brand in the form of die-hard fans and repeat customers.
Are you ready to add loyal customers to your fan base using autoresponders? Check out our customizable templates and craft strategy that’s specific to your customers’ journey.