How Small Businesses Can Re-Engage Past Customers
- Tap Into Email Power: Use personalized offers, follow-ups, and rewards programs to re-ignite relationships with past buyers.
- Stay Visible on Social Media: Share before-and-after projects, seasonal tips, and run retargeting ads to remain top-of-mind.
- Leverage SMS Marketing: Send reminders, flash sales, and thank-you texts to reach customers instantly with a 98% open rate.
Think your next big sale is hiding somewhere in a stack of business cards or an expensive new ad campaign? Think again! Your best customers may not be strangers at all. They’re sitting in your contact list. And they would probably love to hear from you!
How to re-engage past customers is a lot like watering a garden you already planted. They know you, trust you, and, if you play your cards right, they will happily work with you again. You just need the right mix of email, social media, and SMS marketing tips for remodeling contractors, all working in tandem. That’s how you get those customers back.
But here’s the best part…
You can run it all from one place with the Surefire Local Marketing Platform. It’s the ultimate affordable marketing platform designed to keep you in front of the people who matter most.
Why Past Customers Are Your Easiest Wins
Your past customers are right there at your fingertips, ready and waiting to hear from you.
They already:
- Know your brand.
- Have experienced your service quality.
- Trust you with their money.
Plus, these folks are your best referral sources, too. They’ve seen your work firsthand and can vouch for you to their friends, neighbors, and online followers. And don’t think they won’t.
The short of it is, customer retention strategies aren’t just about making a quick sale. They’re about building a network of repeat buyers and loyal advocates for your remodeling business.
Interesting Statistics about Customer Behavior
Forbes compiled some interesting statistics about customer behavior.
- Your loyal existing customers have a 67% higher average order value than new customers.
- The chance of converting an existing customer is 60%-70% as opposed to the 5%-20% chance with new customers.
- In the United States, over 80% of customers are loyal to one brand.
- 81% of customers will consider purchasing again if they get great service from day one.
Channel 1 – Email Marketing for Past Customers
Why Email Still Works
Despite all the shiny new marketing tools, email marketing is still the workhorse for how to increase repeat customers. Why? Because it’s direct, personal, and measurable. It’s like having a coffee meeting with each customer, without ever leaving your desk. It doesn’t get much better than that!
Campaign Ideas to Win Them Back
Give some of these ideas a try.
- We Miss You Offers – Send a friendly note with a small perk, like a discount or free add-on.
- Project Follow-Ups – Share maintenance tips or seasonal reminders relevant to their past purchase.
- Anniversary Messages – Happy one year since your new windows (or whatever your product is)! Small genuine gestures go a long way.
- Review and Referral Requests – Turn happy past customers into your marketing team.
- Start a Rewards Program – Apply points for each purchase that, at some point, add up to a discount or free item, like restaurants do.
Best Practices
Follow these best practices for better outcomes.
- Segment Your List – Don’t blast the same message to everyone. You need to personalize it.
- Use Compelling Subject Lines – Keep them fun and curiosity-driven. Humans are curious by nature and will open your curiosity email just to find out what you’re up to. This is your opportunity to shine!
- Make It Visual – Include photos or videos that match their past service. Just like friends do. They share pics and videos!
- Always Include a Clear CTA – Whether it’s scheduling, reviewing, or claiming an offer, you have to tell your customer what you want them to do, or chances are they won’t!
Pro Tip:
With the Surefire Local Marketing Platform, you can automate these campaigns, track open rates, and actually see which past customers are most likely to rebook.
Channel 2 – Social Media Re-Engagement
The Social Advantage
Social media marketing for remodelers isn’t just for new customers. It’s a powerhouse for staying visible to your past customers. They might not be actively shopping for your services at the moment. But if you’re in their feed regularly, you’ll be top-of-mind when they are.
Content Ideas to Spark Interaction
Here are a few ideas for reminding your customers about you.
- Before and After Projects – Remind them what you’re capable of.
- Customer Spotlights – Share their story (with permission, of course).
- Seasonal Tips – Position yourself as an authority and an expert they already know and trust.
- Exclusive Giveaways – Reward loyal followers with past-client-only perks. Everyone loves to feel special! Don’t you? Not to mention, who doesn’t love being rewarded for their patronage?
Engagement Tactics That Work
You need to engage with your customers if you want them to engage with you.
- Run interactive polls or Q&A sessions.
- Interact with your customers on social media. Comment on new and even old posts to help reignite a conversation.
- Use Facebook and Instagram retargeting ads to show past customers special offers.
Surefire Local can help with this, too! Our platform makes it super easy to schedule your social posts. It can also handle all the analytics and ad targeting. And it can all be done from an all-in-one dashboard. You don’t need five different apps to do it.
Channel 3 – Text (SMS) Marketing
Why SMS Packs a Punch
When you need instant attention, the best SMS marketing tips for remodelers apply here. In fact, SMS messages are your secret weapon. With a 98% open rate and most messages read within minutes, it’s about as close as you can get to tapping your customer on the shoulder.
Need more proof?
What’s the first thing you do when you get that “text ding” on your phone?
Enough said!
Quick Campaign Ideas
These campaign ideas are great for getting a response.
- Service Reminders – “Time to get those gutters cleaned?”
- Flash Sales – Perfect for end-of-season offers.
- Simple Thank You – Sometimes gratitude is the most powerful hook.
Best Practices
Don’t forget. Always follow SMS best practices.
- Always get opt-in consent.
- Keep it short, friendly, and personal.
- Add a booking link or special code so they can take action immediately (this is extremely important).
Surefire Local can help you manage texts right alongside your email and social campaigns. So nothing gets lost, ever. And, every conversation stays in context. Nothing is confusing or falls through the cracks.
Building an Integrated Re-Engagement Plan
The secret sauce is when you use multi-channel marketing for local businesses and have them all work together.
Imagine this…
You send a personalized “We Miss You” email. A few days later, your past customer sees a targeted Facebook ad. Then, the next week, they get a short text with a special offer.
That’s not being pushy. It’s being consistent and helpful. And you will definitely remain top-of-mind if you continue. You can automate the entire process (well, most of it anyway) on the Surefire Local Platform. The best part is you don’t have to juggle multiple tools. Those days are over!
Quick Wins You Can Try This Week
Do all four of the following, and you’ll start to see old names popping back into your booking calendar.
- Pull a list of past customers from your CRM.
- Send one personalized re-engagement email.
- Post a before-and-after project photo on social media.
- Schedule one SMS reminder for a seasonal service.
Baby steps. It only takes one step to get you moving forward.
Let’s Recap
Your past customers aren’t just part of your history. They are the future of your business. With the right mix of integrated marketing tools for remodeling businesses, along with email marketing, social media, and SMS marketing, you can turn old relationships into new revenue streams.
And here’s the kicker. You don’t have to manage three separate tools to do it. The Surefire Local Marketing Platform will make it easy to connect, re-engage, and re-sell without all the chaos.
What Is the Surefire Local Marketing Platform?
The Surefire Local Marketing Platform is an all-in-one local marketing software that puts all the marketing tools for your remodeling business in one place. That means you can create and manage email marketing strategies. It will help you grow your online presence. It will also help you manage and track campaigns across email, social media, text ads, reviews, and so much more. This will save you loads of time every single day. It will also give you extra time to reach more customers and grow your local business with less hassle and better results.
What’s Next?
Don’t let your past customers fade away. Bring them back and turn them into lifelong fans.
Book a Surefire Local Demo Today!
We’d love to show you how quick and easy it can be to run your re-engagement campaigns from one powerful platform.