Keeping customers is one of the strongest and, at the same time, the most undervalued marketing
strategies. First of all, I’d like to emphasize I’m not opposed to new customer engagement activities and
strategies, however, this time, in the foreground, customer retention will take place.
Keeping a buyer or customer for a certain period is an indicator of the success and sustainability for a lot
of businesses. The old truth also applies today – it is much cheaper and easier to keep an existing
customers active than to get a new one. When was the last time you measured your customers retention percentage? The formula is simple.
Customer retention rate = ((Number of customers at the end of the period – Acquired customers) /
Number of customers at the beginning of the period) X 100
The subject of brand messengers is trending currently. We all know that it is possible to purchase a
messenger for a certain amount of money for a certain period. How would it be if your business had a
specific plan to create every new customer a messenger of your brand in the long term? How would it
be if your strategy were to focus not on attracting new customers, but on attracting long-term
customers instead?
Direct marketing is a form of communication based on the consent (subscription-based) and allows us to
show respect to the customer from the start. Especially after the entry into force of the GDPR, customer
data play a huge role and have a huge value. Permission to use data and communicate with direct
marketing tools is some kind of a trust credit that the customer has provided to the company. Here lays
the starting line for your long-term relationship with your customer. If it starts and continues with
uniform communication based on the principle of “breaking a fly on the wheel”, my experience lets me
to say boldly that retaining a customer in the long term would be very tough and direct marketing
channels will certainly not create a brand messenger.
How do you create a successful customer retention strategy that would build customers’ confidence and
loyalty and help the brand deliver the best experience of cooperation with your business?
5 to 15 strategies and samples for customer retention activities can be found in different sources.
However, I would like to turn your attention to the fact that their number and types will be different in
each organization. Firstly, any business, including yours, has different information about its customer
available. Secondly, how long a brand has been on the market and what are its positions can
significantly change the choice of customer retention strategies. Thirdly, sales and/or production
capacity, which can often influence, for instance, the capacity in which the purchase activity of existing
customers is developed. Finally, the technologies used, data availability and the ability to introduce
marketing automation.
Such marketing communication activities as collecting customers’ opinions, additional selling, greetings
or reminders cannot be conceived as manual activities in contacting each customer individually. Of
course, unless your business is exclusive and has a high added value allowing to serve and market
customers only personally. For example, production of luxury motorboats.
Multiple-channel marketing automation is a primary instrument for successful and easy development of
a customer retention strategy. Because it won’t be enough with automation of a single notification.
We’re all different. We have different musical tastes, favourite colours, habits of shopping and receiving
products, types of communication and communication frequencies. Don’t think all your customers are
the same, because they aren’t. They buy different products, at different times and places, and choose to
receive information about your business on different platforms and channels of communication. Use
this information on the experience and behaviour of your customers. Ask your customer for more
answers about your product or service, which will allow you to provide more added value.
While developing marketing automation in various channels, think also about the long-term
optimization of these processes. It’s more likely that the plan you’ve imagined will not work very well at
once on all customer groups. Adjust communication and sales activities according to the customer’s
habits and activities. Don’t create a loyalty program to give discounts. Don’t ask for customer data if you
have no intention to use them. Don’t promise outstanding service and great experience if later you try
to sell non-relevant offers to your customers and don’t listen to their opinions.
Loyalty card transaction, abandoned web page browsing, customer’s name day, time of last purchase,
product category and related products, customer’s feedback and rating, mobile app use. I named some
of the data types that your business might already know about its customers. Or would like to know.
However, how much of this information do you use to build individual offers, sales activities and
customer communication experiences?
Any reflections and/or questions arising? Contact me.