Highly engaged customers buy more, promote more and are more loyal. It makes sense why businesses would want to engage frequently with their customers. Who doesn’t want customers who buy more, promote their business more and are more loyal? So, what exactly is a “highly engaged customer?” 

A customer who is highly engaged by your business is a customer who:

• Hears from your business on a regular basis, through text or email.
• Can easily contact your business at any time, through whichever communication method they prefer. 
• Receives messages from your business that are relevant to them and their previous purchases or services from you. 
• Feels that their communication with your business is personalized and that they are a known and valued customer of yours.

In other words, a highly engaged customer is a loyal and valued customer. Loyal customers are 5x more financially valuable to a business than new customers, so keeping them highly engaged with your business is one of the most important things a business owner can do. 

Some ways to effectively engage with your customers to keep them loyal to your business are:

• Let customers know of any upcoming deals or special offers on services that they have used in the past so they can book their next appointment. 
• Ask customers for feedback after each service so you can improve or continue with practices that are working well.
• Remind customers how to contact you. Leaving a card or magnet with a QR code that leads to a conversation with your business is a great way to make future communication as easy as can be. 
• Contact customers when they are due for a service with you and make scheduling easy through the use of a QR code to text conversation or link to schedule quickly online.

Engaging with your customers through social media, text messages and emails is the most effective way to build strong relationships with your customers to keep them loyal to your business. 

For more insights on marketing strategy that actually works for small business, connect with Jay Bean, Founder of FreshLime and Small Business Marketing Expert on LinkedIn and Twitter. If any of these tips have helped you or if you have anything to add, please comment below. We’d love to hear from you!