How to build and maintain a loyal WooCommerce user base
Let’s face it. You have a far better chance of selling to an existing customer than to a new prospect. Yet, the fact remains that e-commerce website owners and marketers sometimes recklessly neglect the power of retaining customers. You might be so busy acquiring new customers that you can not see your current customers. If growth hacking means anything, it’s the art of making more money on the tightest budget. And that’s why you should channel your resources toward your current customers rather than new ones. The goal is to build a loyal WooCommerce user base who keeps buying from you no matter what. In this article, we explore the ways how to make your customers loyal to your brand.
Segment your loyal customers
The first thing you need is a list of your best customers to interact with. With Growmatik, there are two methods to segment your loyal customers.
Simple on-way conditions
This is the easiest and fastest method to target loyal customers. Go to the Automate page, and create a new rule by clicking on the plus button on top of the Customers column. In the condition field, choose User behavior > Orders placed and set a number that qualifies as a loyal customer. Remember to choose this number wisely. For example, a customer for a smoothie shop is loyal when they’ve ordered more than 20 items while a customer for a bed store might be considered to be loyal after placing 2-3 orders.
Once you set the condition, you can set an action such as email, personalization, show page or show popup.
Advanced filtering
When it comes to building a loyal WooCommerce user base, this is a more elaborate method of targeting your best customers to deliver more accurate results. Go to the People page and from the customer user type, filter for Shopping activity > Number of orders. Now add more filters to narrow down your list. For example, you can add the Total order value and First purchase date.
Remember to save the segment once you are done with filtering. Now, whenever you want to associate this segment to an action such as sending emails, all you need to do is to go to the Automate page, and as a condition, choose Segment > [Your segment].
No matter which method you prefer to use, we’ll use this segment to designate different marketing campaigns in this article. Let’s get to it.
Build trust with security
Trust is critical to e-commerce success. This plays a major role when acquiring new customers while it is also an integral part of maintaining the current customer base. The first step to build a trustful relationship with your customers is to make them feel that they are secure and that their data is in the right hand.
3D secure authentication
Anyone who is highly protective of their credit card information will be reluctant to share it with entities they don’t yet know very well. Show them that you’re trustworthy by implementing a secure payment method such as 3D secure authentication. There are dozens of methods to do this in WooCommerce. It depends on the payment gateway service you are using. For example, if it is Stripe that you’re using, you can use filters to make that happen.
Make your website secure and show it off
Are you confident that you’ve done the best you could to make your website secure? These are the most common things that you can do to make your WooCommerce website secure to vulnerabilities.
- Choose a reputable host
- Use a password strength meter to force users to use strong passwords
- Use a two-factor authentication system
- Limit brute force login attempts
- Use security plugins for WordPress and WooCommerce
- Make sure to keep WordPress and WooCommerce updated at all times
Now that you have taken all the security steps, make sure to let your customers know that you care. This could be done in a variety of ways. For example, create a dedicated page about the security measures you have taken on your website or mention it as part of the About page. You can also use safety trust badges on the checkout page or on your website footer. There are plenty of plugins that offer these kinds of badges.
Care for customers privacy
This could be just as important as security for most people. They won’t trust you if they aren’t sure of what you’re doing with their data. Of course, logically there is no way for customers to make sure that a website is 100% protective of their privacy but still, you can make them feel much safer by showing that you care. A simple cookie consent notice and a page detailing your privacy policy will do the job.
Extra perks for loyal customers
Be sure to be swift on appreciating segments of your loyal WooCommerce user base for their business. This helps you build a long-standing relationship with your customers. But sometimes a simple “thank you” doesn’t quite cut it. Be creative and discover new methods to show your appreciation that are convenient for your customer persona and your business. Here are some common ways that could help inspire you.
Branded swags
There’s a reason that this is probably the most tried way of thanking customers. Swag items such as t-shirts, water bottles, mugs, portable chargers, pens, pins, stickers, etc. not only make your customers happy but also make them your brand ambassador. Whatever you are offering just make sure to don’t go for cheap ones. The more durable and higher quality your swag items are, the better. You want your customers to actually use them and do it for a long time.
Special discounts
Your best customers who keep buying from you deserve special treatment. Offering special discounts is a proven method of retaining customers and encouraging them to buy more. With Growmatik, this is easily done using a fully automated process. For example, let’s say we’d like to send a personalized email to our loyal customers and, after thanking them, we could offer a discount coupon as a token of our appreciation. Go to the Automate page, and create a new rule from the customer column and set the condition as Segment > [your loyal customer segment] and choose Send email as the action. Once the email builder is open, address the customer by the name using Dynamic tags. To do this, add a new Text element on top of the email body and double click the text block to edit it. Now, insert your cursor where you want their name to appear, click on the Dynamic tag button from the text options panel and choose an appropriate tag. In this case, the First name is what we need.
Write a friendly message and make sure to provide a clear reason as to why you’re offering this discount. Now use the Coupon element to automatically generate a coupon for each user. Use Coupon element options to adjust the discount and save it. You can also include some product items related to the customer’s purchase history using the Product element.
Provide great customer service
Based on American Express, 78% of customers did not make an intended purchase due to poor customer service. It’s crucial that you offer fast and reliable customer service to maintain a long-term relationship with customers. Make sure to share your contact details and social media links with customers and provide a live chat experience if possible. More importantly, try to make yourself available for those customer feedback and requests. The less waiting time, the better.
Here’s a comparison between different customer relations channels and their impact on customer satisfaction. As you see in the figure below, the live chat experience is the most popular, while email communication sits in second place, followed by the phone call experience.
Run a point reward program
The point system or point reward program uses gamification mechanics to increase sales and customer loyalty. Customers receive a certain amount of points depending on how much they spent. Later, they use these points to get discounts or buy items for free. For example, if you buy from The North Face, you earn 10 points for every $1 you spend. Then you can put these points towards future purchases.
To make it even more exciting, you can offer a head start when customers sign up. Even an initial bonus in addition to the regular amount of points they receive per purchase could motivate them towards the second purchase.
When it comes to point systems, there are plenty of WordPress and WooCommerce plugins available. See if your business type is suitable for such programs and try them out.
Personalize customer journey
According to Monetate, 93% of businesses that had an advanced personalization strategy experienced revenue growth in 2018. A Harris Poll survey found that 37% of consumers said that they will stop buying from a company that fails to offer a personalized experience. Here are some common methods that marketers can use to deliver more personalization to their customers.
Personalized emails
Considering the fact that emails are still quite popular in the realm of online marketing and perhaps one of your major customer relations channels, you should make sure that they are as personalized as possible. There are a variety of ways to personalize the emails you send to your customers in Growmatik as part of nurturing a loyal WooCommerce user base. Here are some tips.
Highly targeted emails
With Growmatik, you can use filters for advanced customer segmentation by using their infographic and behavioral data. There are more than 50 filters in place that you can combine and group to tailor to build an accurate and highly targeted user list. You can segment your audience with their personal details, referrals, site activity, subscription and shopping activity.
Call customers by their name
Another way to personalize your emails is by using dynamic tags in Growmatik. Think of Dynamic tags as placeholders for variables such as customer’s first name, last name, username, etc. You can find a list of allowed Dynamic tags in the text options panel.
Promote related products
If you want your customers to interact with your email and receive a reasonable number of click-throughs, make sure to provide content that is actually relevant. With Growmatik, you can use the Products element for this purpose. Once it is inserted, click the gear icon to access its options panel and select the Related option. You can also adjust the settings whether it is related to the last purchase or purchase history.
Send emails at the right time
For years, we all have received newsletters and promotional emails on a time-based schedule. And honestly, we’ve ignored most of them. Why? Because we don’t want to be treated like a flock of sheep. Instead, we reward content that is relevant to us right when we need it. So make sure to design and plan out your customer experience. Send emails when they matter. For example, sending a welcome email for first-time customers will make a good first impression. Or in case they have left items in their cart without checking out, you can reach out to remind them. There are numerous other examples too. We have explored some methods to send engaging emails previously. You can instruct Growmatik to send automated emails exactly when you want them to be sent using the advanced customer segments it offers.
[In this example, we have created a rule in the Automate page which sends a reminder email to customers who abandoned their shopping cart.]
Personalized popups
Popups are also a good way of attracting customers’ attention but only as long as they offer something that customers might be interested in. Otherwise, you won’t be able to build up that loyal WooCommerce user base you’re after if these annoying elements distract and displease your customers. Unfortunately, the internet is full of annoying unrelated popups these days. However, you can create personalized popups for WordPress using Growmatik. The ones that are displayed are done so when it matters based on customer’s behavior. Here are some examples.
Display popups once a product category page is visited
Think of a popup promoting a discount or particular product based on the page the customer has visited a while ago. Let’s say you want to display a popup to customers who have just visited the shoe collection of your online store. Simply go to the Automate page, create a new rule in the Customers column using the plus icon and choose Page Visit as the condition. Select the shoe category page and save. For the action, choose Show popup and save. In the popup builder, create content that is relevant to the shoe category page and save. From now on, customers will see a promotional popup related to a category they’re interested in.
Display popup to first-time customers
You can welcome your new customers by a popup asking them to opt-in to your email list or follow you on social media in return for a treat. For example, in this instance, we can display a popup to customers who just made their first purchase. The content of the popup is also personalized as it addresses the customer by name. You would need three elements to create this popup in Growmatik. First, add a new text element and from its options panel, click on Dynamic tags to include the customer’s name. To collect customer’s email, add a new form element and adjust its style if you need to. Then, save the popup and create the rule.
Personalized homepage
Your best customers demand the best treatment. One good way to do this is through an automated personalized homepage. With Growmatik, you can customize your homepage for each and every customer. How great is that?
Let’s say we want to greet loyal customers when they land on the homepage and reward them with a special discount. Go to the Automate page, and as a condition, select your desired segment and as an action, choose the Personalize page and select the page you’d like to personalize. This is usually the homepage, and after selecting it, your website homepage will open with all the tools you need to personalize it. You can add a welcome message calling the customer by their first name, telling them how happy you are doing business with them and finally place a coupon underneath as a token of appreciation. And while you’re at it, perhaps include some of the newest products or the ones related to the customer’s last purchase to make a better more personalized shopping experience.
Just click on where you want to display your text message, and click on the plus button to add a new element.
Choose the text element and write your message inside the text block by double-clicking on it. Make sure to add a more personalized tone to your message using Dynamic tags. You can see a complete list of them by placing your cursor anywhere inside the text block and clicking on the Dynamic tags button in the text settings panel.
Launch an informative blog
You can sell a product to a customer if you’re just a seller. To keep them buying and to build up a loyal WooCommerce user base, you need to be more than just a seller. Yes, they might stop by again because your latest discounts look irresistible, but there is a way that you can keep a loyal customer base without even narrowing your profit margins by running constant promotions. This is called “content marketing.”
Is there any useful content you can share with your customers? If the answer is “yes” – which in most cases it is – prepare to start a blog. You can deliver content in various formats such as articles, videos, podcasts, etc. Just figure out which works best for you and your market. Remember that you actually have to deliver value to people’s life through your content. For example, if you’re running a candle store, you can teach them how to create simple cute candles at home.
Keeping your blog active is also just as important. This means that you should post content on a regular basis and as frequently as possible. Keep in mind that your subscribers will stay only if you feed them content that is both relevant and frequent.
You can use Growmatik to increase your subscribers and keep them active along the way. For example, you can send emails to your subscribers to remind them of the posts published recently. To do this, create a new email template from the Workshop. Use the Blogs element and choose Recent.
User experience matters
Yes, it does, and if you think about it, almost any kind of loyalty comes after a desired experience. Think back to when Apple iPhones became a hit years ago. What was the reason behind their phenomenal success? There are plenty. Simplicity, multi-touch screens, better software, better body material, etc. All of this was to improve only one thing. User experience. People who bought the first iPhones must have had a pleasant experience holding it in their hands. So they recommended it to their family and friends and kept buying the future versions no matter what.
When was the last time you tried to make a fake sale from your own online store to see “how it feels”? Your WooCommerce store is highly dependent on the WordPress platform and the WooCommerce plugin. There might be other plugins and APIs that help you run your store smoothly. With the constant changes and updates to these technologies, your online store is quite vulnerable to unexpected bugs and issues. So keep the whole shopping experience – from exploring the products to payments – in check and address even the smallest issues right away. Also, run regular performance checkups to make sure your website’s speed is always up to the standard.
Wrap up
In this article, we’ve reviewed some proven strategies and marketing campaigns to build and maintain a loyal WooCommerce user base – but these are far from enough. Customer loyalty is not going to happen overnight. To build and maintain loyalty in your WooCommerce business, you need to be patient and focus on the long run. You cannot earn your customer’s trust by running a few customer loyalty programs either if what you’re offering – either a product or a service – is flawed or your website’s shopping experience is not satisfying to the customer. So it may be better to first make sure that you can live up to your core values as a business and then practice these growth hacking techniques.
Sometimes, it’s also a matter of shifting your mindset as a marketer or business owner to embrace the fact that you must “stay relevant” to earn customer’s trust and loyalty. Never cease to seek out who your customers are and how they behave and designate goals to deliver what is best for them. Growmatik is a tool designed to help you with that strategy. It helps in constantly monitoring user’s behavior and executing marketing campaigns – from emails to website personalization for WooCommerce and smart popups – based on those attributes.
What do you do to increase customer loyalty in your WooCommerce business? Any growth hacking tips got you excited about recently that you want to share? Write below in the comments and raise the bar!