Retail software startup Vend’s secret sauce to reeling in and keeping happy users is surprisingly simple.

At this week’s Content Marketing Conference, Francois Bondiguel – Vend’s online marketing specialist – shared three weapons in the company’s marketing arsenal.

Social proof

People tend to follow the crowd. That’s why social proof is a powerful thing.

In order to hook people and encourage them to sign up, Vend makes use of compelling content at different stages of the signup process to increase conversion rates.

Vend’s introductory video, originally envisioned as a lead generation tool, has instead turned out to be a key ingredient in convincing visitors to sign up. It’s featured on the homepage and Bondiguel says those who watch the video are 50 percent more likely to then sign up.

At the next step, case studies are displayed to share the success stories of customers who already use Vend.

On the pricing page, another key phase of the process, independent third-party reviews are used to further establish trust.

Reciprocation

So you’ve got them in the door with a free trial – now how do you turn them into paying customers?

Look after your customers and they’ll be your best evangelists, Bondiguel says.

Give them what they want now – be responsive on social media, around the clock,  create useful content to help them do business better – and they will be happy to pay you.

“Spontaneous acts of promotion” go an extra step toward recognising individual customers, unprompted, such as with the Vender of the Week series. 

“We delight our retailers by promoting them so they in turn promote us.”

Authority

Create amazing content for your audience and they will subscribe to your updates, Bondiguel says.

From a retail dictionary covering new concepts for retailers to the best retail apps and webinars with experts, Vend puts together resources for its customers and enables them to connect with each other.

There’s no shortage of content out there and it’s a competition to rise to the top. Bondiguel says you don’t have to produce a lot but the content you do create must be well-researched and look great. The effort will pay off – Vend’s retail trends page brings in 500 visits a day in organic traffic.

“Anyone can write a blog post or tweet,” he says.

“We spend the extra 20 percent to get the edge, spend hours designing the page, the extra money and time making the content amazing.”