Acquiring new customers is never a bad thing, but maintaining a solid relationship with past and present customers is far more important. Loyal customers are just that, loyal, and they’re almost as critical to the success of your business as your own employees are. So why then do so many companies max out their marketing budgets on finding new customers rather than maintaining their existing clientele?
Most of it is “newness.” Something new and shiny is always going to be more attractive than something you already have, right? Except, in the business world, it’s this line of thinking that ends up wasting thousands of dollars on marketing efforts that could be used to nurture already-strong relationships and create an unbreakable bond between customer and company. That’s where retention marketing comes in handy.
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THE FACTS ABOUT CUSTOMER RETENTION MARKETING
If you don’t believe us, consider the facts: Acquiring new customers is notoriously expensive. In fact, it can cost five times more than building a relationship with an existing customer can. If done correctly, boosting customer retention rates by just 5% can cause a 29-95% increase in profits. Selling to an existing customer has a success rate of 60–70%, whereas selling to a new customer has a success rate of 2-5%. The annual loss to American businesses from needless consumer switching is $136.8 billion.
HOW TO QUICKLY IMPLEMENT CUSTOMER RETENTION MARKETING
So, there you have it. It’s pretty clear that keeping your existing customers happy is just as crucial as finding new customers is, if not more so. So how can you make retention marketing a more effective strategy for your business?
- Keep in touch with your customers on a regular basis. For some, smaller businesses this can be done on a one-to-one basis. For larger companies, digital marketing is the way to go. Email campaigns are a proven way to engage with your customers regularly and provide them with info and updates on your company and your products/services.
- Place extra focus on upcoming events and seasonal promotions. During the holidays especially, staying in touch with customers via email and social media goes a long way toward keeping you at the forefront of existing customers’ minds.
- Standardize your campaigns. Creating a clean, consistent look across all your digital marketing strategies (email, social, content, etc.) shows your customers that you have your ducks in a row and are capable of providing a polished, professional product/service. It also increases the customers’ trust in your brand.
- Run retargeting campaigns. This strategy, usually accomplished via email, is designed to help you get in touch with customers you haven’t spoken to in a long time, remind them why your product/service is the best of the best, and encourage them to come back and make a purchase.
- Created email flows. Email flows are a great way to segment customers into different categories based on their needs. For example, new subscribers who haven’t purchased yet may be encouraged to do so via an educational email campaign or a welcome series flow. For first-time and repeat purchasers, thank you flows and winback campaigns are an excellent way to encourage repeat business.
TAKE THE FIRST STEP TOWARD NURTURING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
The long and the short of it is that it’s cheaper, easier, and more effective to capitalize on your relationship with an existing customer than it is to go through the effort of finding new ones. Not taking advantage of retention marketing would be something akin to drilling for oil on top of a mine that’s already filled to the brim with gold.
If you’re ready to start winning, schedule a discovery call with us. Most calls last between 14-27 minutes and are the perfect way to start your foray into retention marketing. Check out our ecommerce services page for more information or visit the Win at Ecommerce blog.