Don’t Lose Your Holiday Customers

Can you turn a one night stand with a customer into a long-term relationship?

I talked to a crafter at a local event about what she thought was her big break – getting featured on Etsy.

My biggest turning point was being Featured Shop on Etsy last year. The feature was a big boost to my confidence and something I never really expected. The timing was great because it was during the holiday season. My sales and views went up substantially for a while.

Now, I am struggling with how to keep the momentum going.

It’s so tempting to feel like if you could just get that one mention, or if people would finally hear about you, then you will have made it and you won’t have to spend so much time promoting your business. In reality, in most cases there won’t be one magic moment that rockets you to success.

You will have times where you get a great feature or where sales pick up, but without regular work to keep people interested, your stats and sales will quickly drop back to usual.

Today we’re talking about your holiday shoppers, but this applies to any time you get a great press mention as well (what to do to keep press mention momentum going was covered expertly by Melissa Cassera on Design*Sponge recently).

How to Hang On To Your Holiday Shoppers

If you’re expecting some a lot of holiday traffic this year, rather than focusing just on the sales themselves, see what you can do to stay on those customers’ minds and continue a relationship with them beyond the holidays.

Some ideas:

Make your newsletter subscription prominent on the site and offer a discount or gift of some kind for subscribing. Include your newsletter deal in your order status emails to customers.
Give coupons out with orders – either packaged with the order itself, or in an email sent out to the customer at a later date.
Make sure you impress! During your busiest season you still need to have time for excellent customer service, and extras like complementary gift wrapping will make them remember you when it’s time to shop again.
Make it easy to share your products on social media. Your flurry of shoppers can tell their friends and expand your reach.
Offer gift certificates. These are great for last-minute shoppers or people who aren’t sure what to get, and they have the bonus of the recipient coming back to your site to shop (and potentially spend more or become a repeat customer).

What Has Worked For You?

What makes your customers keep in contact after the holidays? I’d love you to share your tips in the comments about keeping customer relationships going at any time of the year!

P.S. if you would like some help getting those big press mentions or holiday shoppers in the first place, give me a holler! I’d love to lend you my ear and offer advice on your particular situation. We have a lot of information, and we also do one-on-one consultations about how best to grow your business.