It’s guest post day here at Duct Tape Marketing, and today’s guest post is from Nicole Kohler – Enjoy!

As a business owner, you probably say the phrase “thank you” multiple times a day without thinking about it. You thank your employees for their hard work, your customers or clients for working with you, or potential leads for getting in touch with you.

Saying “thank you” is probably automatic for you at this point. But what if expressing your gratitude could grow your social media following, boost your website conversions, or even attract new customers and leads?

A few months ago, I noticed that when I thanked people for sharing the content I’d written on Twitter, they seemed more likely to follow me than if I’d simply favorited their tweet. After doing an in-depth study of this trend, based on my last 50 tweets of gratitude, I discovered that around 26% of the people that I thanked for sharing my content followed me, just because I said “thank you.”

Gratitude can be a very powerful tactic for growing your customer base and increasing conversions on your website. When you express genuine emotion (including gratitude) to others online, you’re humanizing your brand – and making it easier for others to connect with you.

Here are three ways you can harness the incredible power of gratitude in your marketing.

Create Actionable “Thank You” Pages

A customer’s journey on your website doesn’t end when they click the “place order” or “submit form” button – or at least it shouldn’t. By creating a more actionable “thank you” page at the end of a transaction or form submission, you can strengthen your relationship with that visitor and have them take additional desirable actions.

Along with a genuine note of thanks with a photo or other personal touch, you should consider adding any of the following to your page:

• An explanation of what happens next (ex. when will they get their order? When will they hear from you? How can they contact you with questions?
• Links to your social media pages
• A call to action for a survey or questionnaire
• Something fun, humorous, or touching that will make your customer smile!

Say “Thank You” When You Hit Important Milestones

Did your Facebook page reach 15,000 Likes? Is your Instagram account up to 1,000 followers? Now isn’t the time to be patting yourself on the back (well, okay, maybe just a little). Don’t forget: without your fans, none of this would be possible!

When you reach important business milestones, try to find a way to thank your fans, followers, and customers. It could be as simple as posting a message of thanks, or sending a personalized “we appreciate your support” email. Or, if you operate an ecommerce store, you could celebrate by sending out a coupon or special discount code.

As a small business, it’s important not to let the dedication of your fans go unnoticed, even as you continue to grow. Your customers will expect your acknowledgement and gratitude if you celebrate your early victories, so don’t forget about them as your wins get bigger!

Go Above and Beyond

Sometimes writing an email or tweet to a customer just isn’t enough to express your thanks. If a customer does something really incredible for you – like writes a glowing blog post about you – you should respond in kind.

In cases where your customers have been especially kind, you should have a plan to go above and beyond for them. This may involve something like:

• Sending a handwritten note or card
• Shipping them a free T-shirt, sticker, or piece of merchandise
• Surprising them with a free shipping upgrade or addition to their latest order
• Meeting them in person to treat them to lunch
• Giving them your time – listening to their suggestions and acting on them where appropriate

Customers don’t always expect these “above and beyond” reactions – so by surprising them, you may delight them enough to strengthen your relationship with them, or convert them into a paying customer (if they aren’t one already).

Get Ahead With Gratitude

The next time you’re looking for a way to improve your marketing, think about using gratitude in one of the ways I’ve listed above. Saying “thank you” can have some unexpectedly powerful results!

Nicole Kohler is the Web Content Strategist for WebpageFX, a full-service Internet marketing agency. When she’s not blogging, tweeting, or writing about marketing, she can be found playing video games, hanging out with her husband and pets, or enjoying a good piece of classic literature. Follow her on Twitter @nicoleckohler.