Welcome to the latest edition of my new weekly blog series, “Free Marketing Ideas”. Each week I will identify and explain a simple marketing idea that you can employ at low or no cost. Last week’s topic was Blogger Outreach.

This Week’s Topic = Create a Loyalty Plan

Is it more cost effective to sell to a new customer or an existing one? The answer is always sell to an existing one.

Why? Because they already know who you are, and are hopefully satisfied with their experience.

So one of the most effective free marketing ideas that you can institute is a loyalty plan designed to get your customers to come back and purchase from you time and time again.

How does it work? That’s up to you. The goal should be incentivizing customer loyalty. So, in the future, when a customer has a need that you can meet, they come to you instead of the competition.

There are a number of different ways to accomplish that goal. You can offer discounts to your customer base that you don’t offer to the general public. You can create a membership program that rewards people based on how much they spend with you, such as points redeemable as cash back or that they can put towards other experiences. You can create a customer newsletter that lets your most loyal customers get more insight into new products and plans for your company. You can create a VIP service center only available for “preferred members”.

Anything you can do that makes it easy for people to purchase from you, including upping the ante on product quality and customer service, puts you at an advantage. Because the hard part is already done, they are your customers. Your job is simply to keep them as customers. And it’s easier to do that then replace them with new customers.

Share your thoughts on this idea, and other free marketing ideas in the comments section below and keep the conversation going!