Get customers to trust your brand and feel comfortable doing business with you when you perfect your onboarding strategies with customer gifts.
82% of companies rate their onboarding strategies as a pivotal driver of value. While on the other side of the equation, at least 63% of consumers consider an enterprise organization’s onboarding program prior to making a buying decision. Customer onboarding gifts can act as a catalyst in the consumer induction process and we’re going to help you make the most of this master plan. Read on to learn how!
Introduction
There’s no doubt that increasing acquisition costs, economic uncertainty and vast competitors are looming around every corner of the marketplace. With so many reasons for consumers to swiftly change their minds and move onto another brand, it is necessary to find ways to keep your customer base from being so easily tempted. Customer loyalty is the grand slam when it comes to sales and marketing; provided you deliver the kind of experiences and value that turn now-and-then shoppers into faithful brand ambassadors. But for customers to become loyal to you, you first need to leave the right impression. That’s where customer onboarding gifts bring in their magic!
What is Customer Onboarding?
This is a vital stage of any consumer’s purchasing journey. It is the effort you put into developing a process for your customer to help themselves learn about your brand and how to use your product/ service. Customer onboarding shows your customers you appreciate them and their business. Moreover, it assists them in understanding the experience they will have and the value they will gain from your product/ service so that they can begin using it successfully. How you go about creating an onboarding process depends on the type of product or service you offer. All in all, a one point increase in the onboarding satisfaction rate can generate a three point increase in customer revenue, on a ten point scale.
Making corporate gifts part of your customer onboarding process is a great way to get customers engaged and make your marketing strategies a success. A “welcome to the family” corporate gift is a perfect first touchpoint with a customer/ client and you can get people excited about joining your brand. When they’ve seen you have welcomed them with such enthusiasm. Word about your company is sure to get out and your customers are more likely to become brand advocates.
Creating Lasting Impressions
As humans, we are quick to size up each other based on first impressions. This is no less in the corporate world. First impressions play an essential role in the way customers and clients perceive your brand. If you fail to leverage a customer or client correctly, they may get the wrong impression of your business and this could be the only thing that remains with them.
Sending customers an onboarding gift can get them to see your brand in the right light. A well-curated gift can show your customers you know how to treat those in your corporate family and your brand values and standards are high. When you’ve made the right first impression, this will last longer than the initial stage of your business relationships. People will remember you for your brand’s ethics, morals and principles; and this can foster emotional connections in the long run.
Some Successful Onboarding Gift Strategies to Include In Your Marketing Plan:
- Be strategic: Choose a gift that portrays your organization’s culture. If you feel strongly about sustainability, an environmentally-friendly gift can be sure to portray that. Also, avoid selecting a gift that is less useful and likely to be discarded.
- Be inclusive: Ensure the customer onboarding gifts you choose are unpolitical and gender neutral. Remember to be sensitive to various ethnicities and cultures, as well as to make your gift culturally appropriate.
- Make it eye-catching: The entire idea is to get your brand remembered. Do this by using attractive packaging and investing in the unboxing experience. Again, keep in mind the message you are giving off.
- Use your business brand logo and/ or colors: Adding in your company logo and business colors on the gift/ gift packaging will help customers remember you whenever they see the gift or whenever they use it.
Personalization, Emotional Connections and Brand Affinity
Personalization can take generic customer onboarding gifts and make them meaningful. When you’ve gone the extra mile to customize a gift, your efforts will be duly noted by your customers and this will show you are vested in creating a mutually beneficial professional relationship with them. It’s not just another gift when it’s personalized as customization can foster deeper, lasting emotional connections with your brand.
Furthermore, choosing a gift that is tailored to your recipient will show them you are aware of their preferences and needs, thereby creating the emotional link. Oftentimes the emotional connection is appreciated more than customer satisfaction and this is how you build relationships with your customer base. In order to create an unforgettable customer experience, you need to evoke specific emotions. There are several ways to do just that through your company culture and gifting strategies:
- Amazement: Using a corporate gift to surprise a customer is a great way to put a smile on their face. A pleasant surprise will create delight and make for a memorable experience.
- Gratitude: Going the extra mile with a thoughtful gift often makes customers feel thankful, which in turn will help them return the favor by making a purchase, spreading awareness about your brand and so on.
- Belonging: Making customers feel as though they are a part of something bigger can foster feelings of belonging. This, in turn, may be repaid with loyalty.
According to an excerpt from CEO magazine, putting your brand on a personalized corporate gift can improve the popularity of said brand, thereby creating solid brand archetypes that rise 97% in value, as opposed to brands without well-defined identity. In addition, 63% of customers prefer personalization and dislike generic ads or brand messages. Consistent, personalized experiences are associated with successful customer engagement, which tends to breed familiarization and comfort. When customers feel familiar with your brand, there’s a natural affinity that goes along with it.
Nurturing Long-Term Loyalty
Everyone loves believing they’re getting a good deal and when you are able to make consumers feel like they’ve received value for their efforts, you are sure to gain a return customer in this respect. Remember at the end of the day, satisfied customers will more expectedly renew contracts and nurturing long-term loyalty beyond customer onboarding should be your end goal.
On-going gift-giving initiatives, such as customer loyalty programs, are long-term marketing strategies; providing incentives to those who are dedicated to your business and are demonstrating it through their buying behavior. For example, rewarding customers with personalized rewards or corporate gifts for making repeat or specific purchases can encourage them to do so more often and favor you over the competition. When developing customer loyalty programs there are two things to remember: keep it simple and keep it rewarding. If it’s too difficult to understand or to do, customers may move on and not engage. Likewise, if it’s not much of an incentive or not rewarding enough, the customer engagement may also be poor.
And like in any long-term relationship, there is the ever present possibility of taking things for granted. Always be aware to pay substantial attention to your existing customer base, as you are to creating a new one. Regardless of how long your customers have been with you, always place emphasis on and create meaningful gifting strategies to strengthen existing ties and you’ll see the benefits in your bottom line.
Let Giftsenda Help You
Great customer onboarding strategies need an experienced, international gifting platform, like Giftsenda. With a gifting platform, you are able to send corporate gifts to customers in over 200 countries, without having to pay for expensive customs fees. But the benefits don’t stop there. There are many reasons to choose this approach, instead of manually sending customer onboarding gifts. For one, as previously mentioned; your onboarding gift needs to be culturally appropriate and sensitive to all ethnicities, especially when your customer base is multinational. Giftsenda thrives in pre-curating, socially conscious corporate gifts. This means your customer onboarding gift will always be acceptable and adhere to the culture of your recipient or their country of residence.
Additionally, if you are not too familiar with the delivery details of your customers, you can always take advantage of the automated benefits when using Giftsenda by collecting their shipping details and letting them choose their own gifts.
