The vast majority of businesses would do well to invest more in customer appreciation. Why? Since goodwill and positive customer sentiment are really valuable for almost every burgeoning ecommerce store.

Initially, you need to give every customer who gave your brand-new business a chance, a reason, to publicly sing your praises; later on, keeping your business profitable will in all likelihood rest on getting more customers to make repeat purchases.

This year, go well beyond your traditional strategies to fulfill customer’s happiness. After all, once you show customers you care, they’ll return the love! To help, we pulled together the top seven ways to let customers know you value their business and their loyalty.

Send a card — not just on holidays

A physical note can make a major impact on a client’s happiness. Wufoo has a tradition of sending personalized thank you cards to their customers every week. They reported that for about 800 customers who received cards, their retention rate was 50% better than for customers who didn’t receive one.

Mid-February? Last week in July? It doesn’t need to be New Year’s or Christmas to tell your customers, “We adore you!” Take your customers by surprise and send cards on random days — it’ll make your snail mail even more special. You can even try finding the birthdays of customers you work with directly.

Send handwritten thank-you notes

Handwritten thank you notes are one of the most cost-effective ways to demonstrate appreciation to your customers. Despite their low cost, these notes are good at communicating sincerity and humanizing your brand in customers’ eyes

Taking the time to handwrite letters lets customers know you’re willing to invest more than money to keep them around. Plus, handwritten, tactile mail automatically stands out in the digital age.

Your note doesn’t need to be long. If you ensure it’s personalized and authentic, your sincere appreciation will shine through.

Ship a meaningful gift

Sending a small gift along with a customer’s purchase is a widely-used tactic, but how effective are most of those “free” gifts? The reality is that a generic pen branded with your store’s logo isn’t all that meaningful to the average customer—even a loyal one.

If you spend some time coming up with a small gift that will actually mean something to your unique customers, you can make this idea a lot more effective. For example, relevant, well-made merchandise can be meaningful: a company like Casper could consider sending a high-quality sleep mask, especially considering the premium nature of its products.

Organize an event

Events are another tried-and-true way to say “thanks” and spend time with your customers. Known for creating outstanding customer experiences. They offer food and drinks and bring in booths from local radio stations, DJs, retail stores, and more, allowing their customers to have fun and get a chance to meet the team in person.

Showing you care with an event doesn’t need to be elaborate, however. It can be as simple as inviting customers to have refreshments at your office for an evening, or hosting a customer barbecue

Spread the love with a social media spotlight

Social media is an easy way to highlight customers and show them some love.

Beyond just following customers and liking their posts, you can create a campaign like “Customer of the Week” to spotlight customers individually. Find customers who consistently “like” and comment on your posts — or browse your “Mentions” section on Twitter to see who’s proactively posting about your brand. Select one customer a week to post about and @mention.

Segment rewards

The most basic rewards program uses points to reward customers for every dollar spent. But to really showcase your appreciation, a graduated rewards program can be even more effective.

A graduate program segments members into tiers. Customers in higher tiers typically earn points faster and are eligible for bigger and better rewards. That means your most loyal customers see the most appreciation, with the added bonus of further incentivizing them to keep patronizing your store.

Send a survey, listen, and respond

Nothing makes customers feel more valued than listening and responding to their feedback. Plus, it will help your team get a better sense of what you’re doing right, and what you can improve.

An easy way to collect customer feedback? Send out an email or survey asking for their honest opinions. Try using Typeform or Jotform, great survey tools for collecting customers’ answers and analyzing data

Actions speak louder than words alone

“People will forget what you said. They will forget what you did. however, they will always remember how you appreciate them” — Maya Angelou

When a customer walks away from your business, what they’ll remember — and tell others about — is how interacting with your business made them feel. With the above ideas for inspiration, in addition to a little emotional investment, you can create meaningful, sustainable and memorable ways to tell customers you value their business and their loyalty.