If you have killer customer service, a bonafide rewards program and great offerings, chances are you don’t need to work too hard at keeping your customers happy and engaged when they’re at your business.

That said, keeping your customers engaged while they’re off living their lives outside of your four walls is tougher. Out of sight, out of mind can lead to drops in retention, repeat visits and overall customer loyalty.

Keeping yourself in the minds of your customers through your online presence is key to boosting your retention and customer engagement.

Get more out of Your social media

Your social media accounts are more powerful than you think. Gone are the days where social pages were only for announcements or responding to customer service inquiries. Now, you can use your social pages to keep your customers interested in you as a brand and a business.

For example, say you want to keep your customers thinking of you during a time when you know business might be slower – like the holidays. By running a completely social contest – sharing specific posts every day for a week, commenting about their favorite product of yours on a post every Friday, running a Facebook photo campaign complete with prizes – you can make sure that your customers are coming to your page daily and interacting with your brand even when they aren’t around to stop by your business.

You can also prompt them to post on social media about you by offering points in your rewards program for social media posts. Perkville even has a Facebook photo campaign feature that allows your customers to post photos that align with your business for points, and tagging them with a hashtag you specify.

It’s also helpful to use your social media as a surveying device, asking questions about things specific to your business. Should you start carrying this product? Should you offer a workshop in this area? By asking your customers directly what they want from your business, you’re inviting them to take part in the conversation of your business’s future, and they feel more committed to continuing with you and helping you grow. Plus, it’s real-time feedback from your most honest customers.

Make your email marketing or text system work for you

If you have ways of contacting your customers outside of social, don’t be afraid to use them.

Email newsletters often come with fears of unsubscribes, low click-through rates and spam filters, but as long as you’re being concise, offering some sort of value and entertaining your customers, there’s nothing to worry about.

If you have a blog that covers complementary subjects that align with your business’s ethos, send some interesting articles to your customers every now and then. Remind them about special happenings at your business, and any new offerings that you have available. Mention any contests you’re running and show off one of the prizes to get people excited.

Cross-promote with your community

There are a number of ways that you can partner with local businesses to both expand your potential customer reach and to solidify your relationship with your community.

If you’re in the health and fitness space, try reaching out to businesses that are complementary to your own, such as healthy eating establishments, juice shops, acupuncturist offices, cafes and other like businesses for pop-up opportunities, co-hosted events or joint sales. Even having flyers or discount cards that you can leave at their business can help you advertise without spending too much money.

If you have a customer rewards program, you can also offer up third-party rewards to your customers from these local businesses. Ask businesses around your area if they’re willing to offer gift cards of free offerings that you can use in your rewards program. This helps offset the costs of loyalty rewards for you while also giving your partner business a host of new customers.

You can also participate in community events, such as art walks, street festivals, races and more. Any opportunity where you can position yourself as a thriving component of the community is also an opportunity to re-engage with your current customers while also spreading the word about your business to new, potential customers in your local area.

Whether you have a huge online presence or not, there are plenty of ways that you can reach your customers when they’re not actively spending money with you. Think of customer service as less about fixing problems and more about increasing customer loyalty, and you’ll see engagement skyrocket.

Want to learn more about making a rewards program part of your engagement strategy? Click below.