The fan who bought your shirt last spring is the easiest sale you’ll make this year. They already trust your store.
Selling to that fan again comes down to what you send them and what you offer them. Then you use what they’ve shown you to find more fans like them.
Stop sending everyone the same thing
Putting a fan’s first name in an email is the minimum. Group fans by purchase history, location or behavior, and give each group its own offer. The fan who only buys vinyl shouldn’t get the same email as the fan who bought one tee.
Your store can make suggestions too. Use algorithms or AI tools to recommend products based on what each fan browses or buys.
Give fans a reason to come back on a schedule
Magazines and software run on subscriptions, and a merch store can too. Offer a discount to fans who sign up for regular product deliveries, or put members-only content behind a subscription. That’s steady money instead of one-off sales.
If a subscription doesn’t fit what you sell, start with a loyalty program. Repeat buyers earn points they can redeem in your store.
Write the emails that follow a purchase
A newsletter goes out when you have news. A sequence goes out on a trigger: something a fan did, or stopped doing. Two are worth setting up first. The abandoned cart email nudges a fan who left something in their cart. The re-engagement email goes to fans who’ve gone quiet, with a strong offer or news about a new product.
Make each order a little bigger
Bundle products that go together, and suggest a related item once the order is in. A fan who just bought the record is a good person to show the poster to.
Use your fans to find more like them
Performance Max runs your ads across Google’s channels: Search, Display, YouTube and more. Help it by telling it who your fans are. Google calls those hints audience signals. Build them from:
- people who visit your website, or the websites of similar artists
- people who’ve searched for your merch or your genre
- people who engage with music like yours on YouTube
- custom audiences built from your top-converting Search terms and engagement data
Put your song in the merch ad, so a YouTube spot promotes both. Then check the Insights tab regularly to see which categories and segments perform best, and adjust.
This week, pull the list of everyone who has bought from you and send them one email with something only they get: an exclusive deal or early access to the next drop.
Next: Part 8, a brand fans pay for.
