Appreciation that Goes a Long Way

We’ve talked before about the importance of making new people on your mailing list and social networks feel welcome. However, it’s equally important that all of your customers or subscribers know you’re grateful for their participation, business, or support. Everyone likes to know they’re being valued, after all.

So, with the New Year as a blank slate in front of us, let’s look at the places where you can tweak things to add your gratitude — with minimal effort!

• Your social media pages.
  Whether you use Simple Share to share an email that specifically thanks your customers or you simply post a few lines on your own, your fans and followers are a group you don’t want to miss when you're thanking folks. Use shared milestones or special times of year as your trigger to express yourself.
  
  
• On a survey closing page.
  Time is valuable, not only for you but for your customers, clients, donors, and supporters as well. When you send out a survey, take the extra step of having the closing page either thank survey-takers or redirect them to a webpage with a coupon. It’s a good way to leave ‘em feeling warm and happy.
  
  
• In a follow-up to event attendees.
  You don’t want your event attendees to forget you as soon as the event is over. Send them a quick thank-you email as a way to both close the loop and leave doors open.
  
  
• Through a welcome email.
  Remember how we mentioned that giving a coupon to anyone taking your survey was a good idea? Well, giving coupons or extras to new subscribers is just as good an idea. Plus, it’s easy. The welcome email template already includes the option to add a coupon block.
  
  
• In transactional emails.
  Any time you acknowledge a request, purchase, or donation, or you're sending out shipping information, take the time to add a thank you message. If you're using Constant Contact for your transactional emails, make sure you use contact details and custom fields to really personalize it.
  
  
  
  

In the end, just think about the sort of thanks you’d like to receive as a customer, client, or donor. A little appreciation can easily translate to a second trip to your store or an additional donation down the road.

For more information on editing and adding details to your emails, surveys, or other communications, check out these FAQs and blog post:

FAQ 1381: Modifying my email's layout
FAQ 4063: Help Overview: Using Constant Contact with Social Media Tools (Facebook, Twitter, etc)
FAQ 2923: Reminding contacts to take a survey
FAQ 4037: Email registered attendees
FAQ 1831: About the Welcome email
Support Blog: Emails: What are Transactional Emails?

Contributed by: Jaime McCall, Knowledge Base, Constant Contact