How to Attract Online Customers and Keep Them

No business can exist without the combined efforts of loyal customers. It doesn’t matter how strong your product, how effective your services are, or how chic your website looks; any digital business will crumble without a consistent customer base. Not every visitor to your site will leave a dedicated customer, but the groundwork can and should always be set for that possibility.

There are three kinds of business-customer relationships. All equally important. Like friendships, they vary from fairweather to devoted. Also, like friendships, they work best when you meet people where they’re at. If you can foster, manage, and maintain these tiers of customer relationships, you can trust that loyalty to buoy you through difficult times.

The great thing about a good friend group or house plant collection is that variety is celebrated. One could even call variety the spice of life. A successful customer base consists of many casual acquaintances, several good buddies, and an ever dependable set of best pals. We couldn’t exist with only acquaintances, but not every instance calls for your closest circle of friends. 

A home garden brimming with only succulents is less exciting than a tapestry of vines, blooms, and new growth. 

Once you’ve cultivated your garden, you want to be able to maintain it. If you’ve ever picked up a plant from the grocery store without reading the instructions, you know how easily horticulture maintenance can fall apart. 

To make these relationships and their care instructions easier to digest, we’ve split them into three categories. We will also use different houseplants to illustrate our examples better for a little extra fun. 

These categories are:

1. Casual acquaintances: You two know each other – maybe not well, but well enough to think and speak fondly of one another. When passing each other, you are inclined to chit-chat, share compliments, and go about your day. A customer like this might not shop with you more than a few times, but they will speak well of you to others (for some free promotion), check out your digital advertisements, open your email campaigns, and follow you on social media.
   
   If this relationship was a plant, it would be a succulent. You would only want to water it sparingly, but never neglect it completely. Always keep it in your mind. Paying it special and formulated attention will lead to success.
   

Casual acquaintances should be your most plentiful repeat customer in the digital business world. While their interactions might not be massive, their cumulative impact is clear. It can be easy to neglect these customers, as you can slip into the dangerous habit of expecting them to endure endlessly. But, as some gardeners know, a neglected succulent can choose, one day, to wither away.

2. Good buddies: More than acquaintances, this relationship is closer. You know one another well, share good memories, and check in with one another when you can. They would be among the first to hear about something exciting in your life. A customer relationship at this level is involved. Buyers likely visit your website semi-frequently, watch for digital discounts and codes, and interact with your social media content. Most importantly, they shop with you on a semi-regular basis.
   
   If this relationship was a plant, it would be a pothos. You would want to water it more regularly, but never drown the roots. Keep it in the sun and keep tabs on its health. You and the customer define the pace.
   
   This customer relationship should be reliable. You should be able to nurture it with regular care and, like the pothos, see lots of growth in return. It’s easy to get complacent with this dynamic, so try to create and establish a regular schedule for the best results.
3. Best pals: Your professional bestie for the restie. This dynamic is irreplaceable. Some customers come into your life and stay for good. Besties shop regularly; they engage with your ads and social media; they recommend you to friends and family; when it counts, they’re there for you. They celebrate your successes. They mourn your losses. Together, you build a business-customer relationship that is symbiotic and dedicated. This tier is where to look when you genuinely need customers to count on.
   
   If this relationship was a plant, it would be a monstera. With real dedication – proper pruning, watering, light exposure, and fertilizing – you and the customer can create something truly beautiful. Like a monstera, it can grow almost endlessly, so long as you keep adapting with it.
   
   Customer relationships like this are unique – a digital marketing dream. Like a monstera, they can be the crown jewel of your garden. For growing endlessly, they should be rewarded with a matching pace. Care should keep up with size, time together, and mutual growth. Loyalty like this can be rewarded with discount codes, exclusive offers, and prioritized communication. Their loyalty quickly becomes word-of-mouth recommendations, which become sales, which creates loyalty.
   
   All good cycles create more output than they require input.

There’s no way to make everyone in the world like you. The hard truth is that, sometimes, some people don’t want to be friends. You can try your best in every capacity; still, people won’t be interested. One should only spend so much energy trying to win over the unwinnable. 

The most rewarding friendships, like customer relationships, form organically – from well-placed digital advertisements, problem-solving products, or relatable social media. A human being with complex social needs is at either end of the computer, laptop, or smartphone. 

No one perfectly executes communication. Everyone can learn to create better, nurture, and sustain relationships with friends, customers, or house plants. 

Glass Cactus Marketing pride ourselves on not only forming close relationships with our customers, but also helping them forge customer relationships of their own.

Building a Garden of Loyalty: What Comes After Planting the Seeds?

Customer loyalty isn’t a one-time goal — it’s an ongoing process. Once you’ve identified your succulents, pothos, and monsteras (aka casuals, regulars, and die-hard fans), it’s time to think about how to move people between those tiers over time.

The best digital brands don’t just accept relationships as they are — they nurture growth.

How to move a casual acquaintance up the ladder:

• Start with intentional engagement. A quick email offering a discount or a “thanks for stopping by” can go a long way.
• Use retargeting ads to keep your brand visible without being overbearing.
• Create content that invites lightweight interaction — polls, quick videos, behind-the-scenes peeks.

How to deepen the relationship with a good buddy:

• Consider a loyalty program or perks for returning shoppers.
• Invite feedback. People love feeling like their opinions matter — because they do.
• Highlight them in user-generated content campaigns or community shoutouts.

How to retain your best pals for the long haul:

• Deliver above-and-beyond customer service. Surprise them with value, not just promises.
• Provide exclusive access — early drops, beta tests, private groups, etc.
• Keep the relationship two-way. Ask for reviews, testimonials, or just their story — and share it.

The truth? Customers don’t just want to buy something. They want to belong somewhere. And brands that succeed in 2025 are the ones that treat digital business not as a transaction, but as a relationship.

Rooted in Strategy, Grown with Heart

When you treat every customer like a seedling with the potential to bloom, your marketing becomes more human — and more effective. Digital success isn’t just about click-through rates or ROAS. It’s about creating moments that matter and building a reputation that reflects care, trust, and consistency.

At Glass Cactus Marketing, our approach to brand development mirrors the way we treat relationships: with patience, personalization, and long-term thinking. Whether we’re helping you design an email campaign, map out a loyalty funnel, or create customer personas, we start with empathy — and end with growth.

Ready to Grow?

No matter the size of your digital garden, we’re here to help you cultivate every corner. From new sprouts to established vines, our tools and strategy can support your next stage of growth. Let’s build something that lasts.