If customers have a good experience with your brand, they will be ready to try new products or services. Here lies the opportunity for businesses to convert their customers into brand promoters. In today's world of internet and social media networks, it's the customers who hold the cards for creating a favorable brand image. Your drop shipping service can thrive or fail on the basis of customer experience. According to a recent study, 70% of buying experiences depend on how firms treat their customers, and their willingness to help them.

As a print-on-demand store owner, do you wish to increase your brand awareness and build your reputation? Every e-commerce owner lives the same dream but turning it into a reality is not child's play. E-commerce owners need to find new leads and work towards a purchase conversation. However, many businesses are guilty of focusing just on the sales funnel's and forget about the aftersales care. It takes more than just quality products to keep your customers happy.

Do you know traditional marketing channels have less influence on customers? Customers trust the reviews of fellow customers and feedback more when making a purchase. To earn huge returns on their investments, firms must shift from traditional marketing to micro-influencer marketing.

What are micro-influencers and can they promote your brand?

Have you heard the term micro-influencers for the first time? Micro-influencers are your day-to-day customers who can promote your brand to friends and family. E-commerce success depends on more than just acquiring new customers. According to experts, the best way to acquire new customers is to convert existing customers into micro-influencers. They become the greatest brand promoters and encourage new audiences to purchase your products. But how can you identify such customers and use them to advocate your brand? Here are some channels that will help you in identifying micro-influencers:

• Social media.
• Personal referrals to friends and family members.
• Product reviews.

If existing customers are active on these channels, you can conduct a campaign and motivate them to promote your brand.

Effective ways of turning your customers into brand promoters

There are two reasons why e-commerce owners should convert their customers into micro-influencers or brand promoters:

• Traditional advertisements are expensive and give unsatisfactory results.
• Customers provide more authentic promotion.

Whenever you see an ad while browsing the internet, your first response is to skip the ad. We all do that; some customers install ad blockers to get rid of those annoying ads. This means traditional ads will only increase your expenditure and do nothing in return. Firms are now shifting to micro-influencer marketing. But the question is, how you can convert your customers into brand promoters? Let's find out!

• Participate in social media: Without any doubt, social media is one platform where you can start a conversation with your customers. Build a social media platform for your on-demand printing service which not only showcases your expertise, but also allows you to talk to your customers. Post questions on your social media handle and respond to your audience tweets. Run contests, which is an interactive way of engaging with your customers. By doing this, you will build loyalty among customers and motivate them to tell others about your brand.

• Ask customers for their feedback: To gain an insight into your customers, ask them to share their feedback. Customers will tell you what you are doing right and where you are going wrong.  By asking for their feedback, you show them that you value their views. This is one of the most important steps in creating brand advocates. 

• Run a referral program: Through referral programs, customers have the opportunity to earn referral points which they can use for future purchases. With referral programs, you can also reward social media promotions. They create a win-win situation for both parties. Customers will get reward points and e-commerce owners will, in turn, get brand advocates. You can also create a loyalty program, which work like magic. If customers earn a bonus whenever they go for a repeated purchase, they remain loyal to your brand.

• Continue interactions after the sale: If you think your relationship with customers ends once they purchase the product, you are wrong. The purchase is just the beginning of the customer journey with your brand. Interacting with your customers after the purchase will improve your relationship with them. E-mail a survey to your customers, convey exclusive deals and offers, ask for testimonials and let your customers know that you value them. Once they feel you value them, they will promote your brand without giving it a second thought.

• Remarkable customer service: Want to turn your customers into brand evangelists? If so, don’t stop at meeting their expectations, go beyond their expectations. Follow a courteous approach when interacting with your customers. They all deserve respect and loyal customers will value this treatment by making repeated purchases. Provide your customers with special offers, loyalty programs and appreciation events. These programs are rewards for a customer's loyalty.

• Personalized user interface: Deliver a personalized experience if you want to create a positive word of mouth communication for your printed t-shirts men's fashion store. Not only your products but the user interface and customer experience plays a crucial role in creating personalized interactions. A personalized UI helps in converting customers into micro-influencers. A personalized store will receive positive feedback from customers, which is good for e-commerce brands.

Yes, it may take some extra effort to turn your customers into promoter’s but once you do, there will be huge returns in the long run. Cater for great opportunities to leverage happy customers and strengthen the perception of your brand.