Often the “Customer Appreciation Day/Week/Month” can come across as a corny way to get people inside your store to buy more stuff. If done right, though, even if they think that’s what you’re doing, they’ll still feel like you’re not taking them for granted. They feel special whether they want to or not. 

However, wouldn’t it be nice if your favorite company did this for you all the time rather than once a year? While this seems impossible, little things can add up quickly. This way you can keep your customers and fans happy year-round even when you’re not throwing some big in-house bash to show how much you care. Even better, these efforts can sometimes come off as even more genuine.

Twitter Feeds 

Imagine you’re having kind of a crummy Monday  – you spilled coffee on your favorite tie, traffic was awful, you forgot to download new episodes of your favorite podcast, and there was only one-half of a boring pancake donut at the weekly meeting. You tweet about it to vent then go about your day.

Suddenly, you get a response from your favorite coffee place – Espresso Explosion. They offer their condolences for your crummy day and give you a coupon – 50% off your next order. They call it the “Monday Blues Killer” discount. Suddenly, your day just got that much better.

These are the little touches I mean. Espresso Explosion didn’t have to go out of their way like that – you were already following them, so they didn’t really have to do much more. However, to bring you into the store, they made you feel special by actually looking at your tweets. Just watch for that fine line between being caring and… well, NSA-like.

Email Marketing and Pitching 

How much do you personalize your emails in your PR pitches or email marketing campaigns? Change the name and the company at least, or just have a flat form you send off?

The more personal you make your emails, whether they’re first time “come join us” messages or the 100^th message you’ve sent to a business owner across the state, the more likely the recipient will read them. Not only that, they’ll respond better if they feel like they didn’t just get a form letter from a robot.

Right off the bat switching things up is important because again they’ll think you’re just a robot sending messages, even if you switch up the name in the email. It’s also important to do it later in the relationship as it will keep them interested in the messages they’re getting. Include stuff about their business, their life, and even their families if you get comfortable enough (“How’s Emily liking college?”).

Remembering Important Dates

You write down when you have a birthday coming up, or a doctor’s appointment, or any number of important dates. But why not also keep a running record of your fans’ important dates?

The more you get to know them the more you’ll know when they have big events coming up like a product release, a big move, or an anniversary. This way you can send them a discount or just a good word when the date rolls by.

One great way to collect this info is to ask about it on your Facebook page. Ask your fans what they have going on this month. Then during the month you can celebrate one lucky fan’s accomplishment with a freebie or something else they’ll enjoy.

What ways do you show your customers you appreciate them?

This article is written by Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases (http://www.ereleases.com), the online leader in affordable press release distribution. Grab three free ebooks, including the Big Press Release Book and Twitter Tactics, here: http://www.ereleases.com/insider/freebooks.html