Customer service comes in many different forms. The strategy you implement and steps you take to carry it out can make or break your business.

It’s critical to personalize relationships with your customers, as doing so increases engagement while allowing you to form a more solid bond.

So, this leads to an important question: what’s the best way to personalize relationships with your customers?

There is no right or wrong answer to this question, as it depends largely on your type of business, relationship with customers, and how you generally interact with them.

However, there are some basic personalization strategies almost every business can use:

• Segment your email subscribers: Don’t treat everyone on your email list the same. For example, if half your list is current customers and half your list is inactive customers, communicate with them in a different manner.
• Implement geo-targeting: Even if you’re a local business, there’s a good chance geo-targeting will allow you to better personalize relationships with your customers. For instance, Chicago is divided into 77 community areas, so it’s likely that local businesses have customers in more than one. It’s common to have different messages for your audience, based on where they live.
• Create a customer loyalty program: This isn’t just for big brands. Any company – regardless of size, location, and revenue – can use a customer loyalty program to personalize relationships, maintain contact, and generate business.

Don’t treat all customers the same. Find ways to personalize the experience and take full advantage of doing so. The results don’t always come fast, but over time this approach will pay off by way of customer loyalty, sales, and profit.

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!