Small Businesses: Show Customer Appreciation by Recognizing Your Customers Online

Showing appreciation for clients and customers comes in many forms.  Some industries have it figured out, and instead of getting creative, they just follow trends. 

For example, large retail outlets have, “Customer Appreciation Days” that give customers up to 20 percent or 30 percent off their purchases.  Restaurants have customer loyalty cards that give you a free sandwich (after you have already bought say 10).  To most people, these seem like great deals, and in many cases, they are.  If you are a regular at a certain restaurant, then the free sandwich is fun to work towards.  Or if you have had your eye on a specific product that you can now purchase thanks to a double-digit discount, then it is truly helpful.

But what about small to mid-size companies that don’t have the funds to give away free product, or are working on such small margins that a reasonable percentage discount would leave them with almost no profit at all? 

These are the companies that need to take advantage of the network they have built online.

What it means to recognize your customers online.

You can recognize your customers any number of ways online.  These methods include the Twitter “shout out“, an interview that you post on your blog, or even a link on your Facebook Fan Page.  If you are in the B-to-B world, you can write a short note or post about what the client does and link to their site.

They will appreciate it.

Being acknowledged online is an important part of any social media strategy.  The more mentions you get, the more links that go to your blog, Facebook page, or Twitter account, the more followers you will get and the bigger your network becomes.

Give and thou shall receive.

Ever heard of #FollowFriday or #FF?  If not, then check out the top-trending topics on Twitter any Friday, and those will be right near the top.  It’s a lot of people giving shout outs to others that they think are interesting or to repay them because they got a shout out first.  Acknowledging your clients will have a similar result.  They will appreciate that you recognized them, and they will let their network know where to look and find their name.

Recognize your customers online regularly- not just when you are trying to push a product or launch a new campaign.  Build relationships with your customers and your fans online, watch how much your engagement increases, and you will begin to realize how beneficial social media really is.