With all the noise in the market today, staying ahead of the competition and acquiring new customers, whether through digital or traditional marketing mediums, is becoming more of a challenge. It’s a fact that it costs 5 times more to acquire a new customer than to sell and retain an existing customer. Many companies who used to spend the majority of their budget on new customers have now begun to reallocate marketing dollars towards existing customers giving them the attention that they deserve.
Research shows that one of the main differences between companies that thrive and those that don’t is customer retention. That doesn’t mean that companies should abandon the pursuit of new logos, but, beating the competition begins with the customers who already know, like and trust your brand. The more customers that a business can retain the more likely they are to achieve business goals for four reasons.
- Existing customers have a greater propensity to buy provided that you have provided good customer service.
- Targeting existing accounts takes out the guesswork as you already know their pain points, company and personal preferences.
- Brand loyalty is powerful, if a customer is happy with the product and service, they have no need to look elsewhere and are easy to upsell and cross sell.
- Loyal customers should be an organization’s biggest advocate sending referrals that are 30% easier to convert than a lead.
Where should you begin with a customer marketing program? Here, 5 simple customer retention tactics that will help to keep existing customers happy for the long-term and boost profits.
- The Customer is King. Give them the red carpet treatment from the very beginning with a gushing welcome email and a superior on-boarding process that leaves them wanting more.
- Don’t waste any time, the sooner you begin the nurturing process the sooner your customers will become brand advocates. Make the most of user generated content like customer photos and positive feedback as this type of authentic advertising is impactful and you will reap the rewards.
- Don’t miss the opportunity to highlight customer success stories, case studies or testimonials. Your audience will be influenced by a recommendation that they consider genuine and trustworthy.
- Be a good listener – that means responding thoughtfully on social media and carrying the conversation. Think of social media participation as being akin to be a good dinner guest. Bring value to the table and don’t monopolize the conversation as you want them to invite you back again!
- Don’t underestimate the value of rewards and giveaways whether they’re in-person or digital. Giveaways are a prime way to renew interest around your product while positioning yourself as engaged and thankful for their business.
- Be consistent with the distribution of your content and don’t go radio silent for lengthy periods of time. Set reasonable goals and stick to those goals.
Businesses today need to develop a succinct customer marketing strategy so that they can retain customers for the long haul and turn them into brand evangelists. The good news is that you already have an abundance of customer information at your fingers which is half the battle in marketing.
