Customer retention definition: Retention is about building brand loyalty and longer term customer relationships. How can you keep customers returning even though there are other alternatives? It is a lot easier than acquiring customers in the first place and costs less money and resources, especially if your customers already had a great experience with your product or service. Retention marketing refers to the steps your brand takes to retain customers through various channels.
According to a study by Bain & Co. a 5% increase in customer retention can amount to between 25-95% in additional profit per year. It’s primarily about improving the overall experience to make previous customers more likely to return. Repeat customers usually spend more than the first time customers and it is a lot more feasible than using paid ads to acquire new ones. Below I have outlined 5 ways that you can improve customer retention for your brand as well.
1.) Sell Complementary Products & Services
Consider other ways that you can support your customer to achieve their goals or alleviate their painpoints over the long term. You can also use emails to follow up with products that relate to their needs based on their previous purchases. If you can personalize your complementary products, services and experiences that will also be more effective because customers may feel like you understand their individual needs better than everyone else.
You can also use your customers history to send them more personalized offerings. Consider their underlying needs and goals that they are trying to accomplish. By combining empathy with creative thinking you can decide on the best complementary products to match your main offerings and create value for customers. If you don’t sell complementary products then your customers will go to your competitors to meet these needs.
2.) Use Social Media To Keep In Touch
At the heart of retention marketing is Social media. Use social media to keep in touch with previous customers and create valuable and engaging content that ads value. By allowing customers to connect with you on social media they are choosing to keep in touch. Also, by sharing their experience on social media that could boost brand awareness.
Ideally you would want your brand to keep customers engaged through valuable content. The best content can be inspiring, emotional, funny or educational. You can also consider the timing and create content tailored to the specific season or holiday.
3.) Create Gifts & Surprises For Your Customers
There are many creative ways to create value through free gifts with no strings attached. Through strategic gift giving you can create more personal long term relationships with your customers in which they keep returning. Consider providing incentives for loyal customers or if you can’t give items then try giving away free content such as ebooks, especially if the information is exclusive. This can be a form of reciprocity even though you ask for nothing in return.
Try giving away complementary products for free as well. By giving loyal customers surprise gifts and privileges you go above and beyond what your they would expect. This would create a more memorable experience and also make them more likely to return. Also if they made a huge and very significant purchase you can congratulate them a year later.
4.) Newsletters
Create newsletters and send them regularly as part of your retention marketing strategy. This is another way to be sure about who is interested in your brands content and keep them engaged. By signing into your newsletter, they express interest in your brand. By keeping them interested they are more likely to be a return customer. You can also track your progress based on how many signups you are able to acquire and how many of them stay.
5.) Collect Feedback & Optimize Accordingly
Don’t forget to reach out to your customer after the transaction to find out how their experience was overall. They could also leave you a public testimonial. By receiving as much feedback as possible you can gain the insights you need to optimize the overall experience and improve it over time. Also when you set up your site, make sure you have your Google Analytics and conversion goals set up so you can start tracking how people interact with your brand online. This would also allow you to create a more personalized experience for your customers and build on your reputational capital.
There are many other ways to boost customer retention or customer loyalty among your target group. If you know of any other retention marketing methods that have worked for you in the past, feel free to leave a comment below. If you enjoyed this article, you may also like my other article on subscriptions. Click here to read more.
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