Retention Strategy: SMBs Can Do More To Nurture Holiday Shoppers (New Report)

Hoping your SMB finds some Cyber Monday success today? Don’t forget to follow-up with those new customers!

(Maybe carving out a Thanks-Again Thursday would serve as a good reminder. Or, better yet, Follow-up Friday!)

Constant Contact surveyed 500 consumers and found that 81% were open to receiving marketing messages from a SMB following a visit or purchase during the holidays. But less than half (49%) receive an email after making a purchase, with 27% never hearing from the business again.

“Most SMBs are heavily focused on reaching new customers and growing their lists during the holiday season, but equally important is how those customers are nurtured once the calendar turns to January,” writes Constant Contact’s Michael Wood. “The key to making the most of the holiday season is having a good customer retention strategy in place.”

In surveying 500 SMBs, the study found the most popular tactics used to grow the SMBs’ customer base during the holidays are personalized emails and texts (52%), social media ads (42%), and sales / discounts (40%). The research recommends loyalty programs, events, and contests as helpful tactics to adopt in the new year to “activate [an] audience and turn holiday customers into repeat buyers in the following year.”

Just more marketing considerations to ponder come Workflow Wednesday.