Using Appreciation Marketing in Your Business

Building relationships and customer loyalty by showing how grateful you are for your customer's business is the foundation of appreciation marketing. It is about expressing genuine gratitude for their patronage of your products and services.

Appreciation marketing combines great customer service with marketing that is designed to build strong, ongoing relationships. In practice, appreciation marketing extends from loyalty discounts and VIP-only deals to simple thank you notes or messages, but the goal is to make your customers feel valued.

With appreciation marketing, not only will your customers feel that their business is valued, but they'll likely remember your business when they're ready to buy again.

10 Ways to Employ Appreciation Marketing in Your Business:

•A simple thank you. The very act of saying thank you goes a long way-thanking the audience who choose to follow your RSS blog feed or offering a simple thank you as part of your receipt or invoicing process.
•Loyalty programs. Loyalty programs are a strong element of appreciation marketing, recognising the customers who stick with you. Whether it's a discount after a number of purchases or a gift when purchases reach a certain value, they recognise the customers and audience who stick with you.
•VIP deals. Deals and incentives for the specific audience or clientele who are your regulars allow them to feel special. You can apply VIP deals to your higher paying members or your long-standing customers, but they are about offering something a little extra in recognition of the important place they take in your business.
•Early-bird discounts. This may not sound like appreciation marketing but it's an effective way of recognising the customers who get behind an initiative in its early days. For a business, early-bird discounts help build sales momentum, but for the client they allow them to feel valued and special while also offering a very real financial incentive.
•Thank you gifts. Whether it's at Christmas or when a customer indulges in a big spend with your business, a little thank you gift tucked into their order or an extra service on top of what they have bought is another great way of showing your appreciation for their patronage.
•Celebrating your milestones. An engaged client or audience is with you for the business ride, so when you celebrate a milestone in business like an anniversary, a major achievement or expansion, share the love with a bonus offer, gift or discount.
•Bring a friend reward. If you're looking to build membership or patronage, incentives that offer clients a discount, free item or recognition for "bringing a friend" work particularly well. They also recognise those clients who positively speak of you.
•Simple social media. Don't forget simple social media in your appreciation marketing strategy. A nice meme on Facebook or Instagram that says thanks for sticking with us, thanks for your feedback, thanks to all our valued clientele, or even thanks to all our great staff is a simple yet effective way of expressing your gratitude.
•Thanks for the referral. This just makes good business sense, but if someone provides a positive review, writes a testimonial or refers other clients to you, don't forget to reach out and thank them in a personal way. It can be by reciprocating the favour in business, or a simple, yet personalised email or card that says you appreciate what they have done.
•Celebrating their moments. If you happen to know your customers have reached a personal milestone, like a birthday or an anniversary of their patronage with you, reach out with a deal or a personalised card to recognise their moment.

There's a great old saying-give and you shall...