Converting new customers always pays off, and you should pay attention to it. However, you can’t afford not to think about the customers you already have and take them for granted. To make it in this harsh business environment, you must keep all your current customers and get some new ones on top of them. And to help you do that, we want to share with you a few tricks for improving customer retention with marketing.
Still, before we dive into the tactics and see how you can improve your marketing strategy, let’s take a step back and look at the basics. So first, we’ll talk about what customer retention is and why it’s so essential for your company.
What is Customer Retention?
In essence, customer retention measures how loyal your customers are. If your retention rate is high, it means that lots of people who buy from you come back and purchase something again. So, they’re sticking with you and your company. These people are vital for every business, but not all business owners feel that way.
As it turns out, most companies choose to focus more on getting new customers than keeping the ones they have. So, it doesn’t go in their favor that retaining customers is far cheaper than getting new people on board.
On the other hand, not all businesses have to worry about their customers staying. If you have enough new people coming in, each of them is a potential long-term buyer. On top of that, if what you’re offering is the best solution to their problem, they’ll keep coming back for more.
But even if you’re highly confident in your product and things look good, the chances are that some of your customers are churning. If you could get them to stay, your revenue might skyrocket. So, there are still plenty of benefits to reap here. Let us explain it a bit further.
Why is Customer Retention so Vital?
If you look into your data, you’ll see that you make most of your money from one-fifth of your overall customer base. These are your most loyal customers, and the more times they buy from you, the more likely they are to do it again. So, you want this segment of your customers to grow as much as possible.
Furthermore, there’s the problem of shipping cart abandonment. And if your rates are high here, you’re not alone. Even the big companies suffer the same issues, and finding the fix isn’t always as easy as we all would like.
That said, heatmaps can be heaps of help here. You want to find out what may be the reason people don’t go through with their purchase, and heatmaps offer an accurate way of tracking how people interact with your pages and your website. Put two and two together, and use heatmaps to see where your customers stray off exactly.
In general, there are three reasons why companies fail to close the deal.
- The shipping cost – A customer expected the shipping fees to be lower.
- Trust – People have trouble with giving out their credit card information, and they might not trust your company enough to do it.
- Payment options – Some customers will like to pay with a card, while others will go for PayPal or ApplePay. It’s your job to make it possible.
However, the good news is that if a customer bought from you once, they’ve already been through the process. And if you follow the tips for improving customer retention with marketing that we’re about to give you, they’ll come again. So, let’s talk tactics.
Retention Marketing Tips
Yes, your customers have bought from you once, so you’ve done the hard part. Still, you need to keep them engaged to ensure they don’t leave. If you disappear from their life as soon as they buy the product, you’re creating a bad customer experience. In the ideal scenario, your buyer’s journey will cycle again and again. And, of course, you do that with the help of digital marketing.
Here are some marketing tips that will help you to retain your customers.
Make a Communication Calendar
You should stay in touch with your customers, and you should offer them a few ways of communication. Whether they choose to email or phone, make a plan and know when to contact them and what info you should give them.
Your goal is to stay on top of their minds but not be pushy. You need to find a balance, so monitor the flow and frequency of your communication. Don’t forget to make things personal and make every buyer feel how much they’re worth to you. Experiment and find what works best for your customers.
Leverage Social Media
There’s no better place to engage and chit-chat with your customers than social media. We all spend a lot of time there, so why not make it worthwhile?
Making your business page easy to find is always a good place to start. We know it sounds logical, but do a thorough audit and see if you can spot anything wrong. Then, fix the issues, and start creating posts that will get people talking. Respond to comments, encourage new followers to engage, and reply to all brand mentions you get. Don’t worry — you can’t go overboard with social media.
Use Content Marketing
Your customers will trust you if they learn from you. So, put some time and effort into educating them through blog posts and videos. Think about what kind of article would be helpful to your customers, and write it. If you’re not a writer yourself, you can always outsource this part of the job.
On top of helping with educating and making customers loyal, content marketing will also help with your SEO. It’ll keep people buying from you and allow you to showcase your knowledge and get an edge over your competitors. Remember — the saying content is king exists for a reason.
Use Automation to Re-Engage Customers
If you don’t have time to spend on marketing, you can automate most of it. Of course, it’ll require you to plan and stay organized, but you can automate emails, social media, and even digital ads.
You can set up a system that will give every one-hundredth customer an incentive or an award to take it even further. Then, promote the deal on social media and throughout your content, and look at your customers coming back for more. It’s one of the easiest and oldest ways of improving customer retention with marketing, but it sure works.
Author bio: Bryce Neal is a writer and marketing specialist with Movers Development. Getting small businesses off the ground is his passion, and even when he isn’t in the office – he’s working.