| | |

Past Customer Reactivation: 8 Tips to Get Those Clients Back

The search for new clients shouldn’t be your only business goal. Here are eight past customer reactivation techniques that will bring former customers back and make them ready to buy from you again.

  1. Identify your target segment: Decide on a time frame that defines “past customers,” whether they last bought from you one month ago or one year ago. Among those past customers, determine who you want to reach through your past customer reactivation efforts.
  2. Know what you want to accomplish: Besides additional sales, know what your goals are with your past customer reactivation program. You may want to introduce former customers to new products or services or give them the opportunity to buy an updated or upgraded version of previously purchased items.
  3. Know why these customers stopped buying from you: This will help you craft effective offers to get them back. Did they leave because of price, because they didn’t like what you offered or because you didn’t engage their interest?
  4. Determine what data you have on past customers: Use the data you already have on your customers, such as demographic information and purchasing interests, to craft relevant customized marketing messages.
  5. Emphasize content: Use specialized content to capture former customers’ interest and entice them to buy from you again. Make your content relevant. For example, discuss developments in your industry since the customer left. In all cases, provide valuable information that customers can use.
  6. Make returning easy: The easier it is for your customers to buy from you again, the more likely it is they’ll come back. Streamline the process of reactivating an existing account. Reduce or remove every possible area of customer frustration.
  7. Use all available communication channels: Expand your customer contact venues to current social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Don’t neglect classic methods of communication such as direct mail.
  8. Split-test offers to past customers: Test your marketing messages, new offers, loyalty discounts for returning clients and other incentives. A split test will help you determine what works best in bringing customers back.

How many former clients could be reintroduced to your products and services through an effective past customer reactivation program?

Image via Shutterstock.com