Increase Customer Retention With Digital Marketing
In this article, we explain how to Increase Customer Retention With Digital Marketing. Generally speaking, the conversation around marketing has a tendency to focus on the acquisition of new customers. Of course, gaining new customers is incredibly important, especially during the earlier stages of a company. However, making an effort to earn the repeat business of previous customers can be incredibly cost effective, and not to be overlooked.
According to Marketing Metrics, selling to a new customer has an average profitability that is somewhere between 5% to 20%. Selling to an existing customer is between 60% to 70%.
This means it’s at least 350% more profitable to sell to an existing customer than to a new one.
It only makes sense to put effort into nourishing the customers that you already have, and Increase Customer Retention.
What is customer retention?
Customer retention is the sum of efforts employed by a business in order to increase the amount of repeat customers, and increase the amount of profit from each existing customer.
Customer retention allows you to increase the value you deliver to your customer base, while also increasing profits. Gaining new customers takes hard work, so you want to make the most of all that effort.
Acquiring new customers builds up your base, while focusing on retention extends the length of time and the frequency that one will do business with you.
Let’s get into some of the ways that you can harness the powers of digital marketing to improve your customer retention.
Increase Customer Retention: Understand Your Audience
This one goes without saying, but is so important that it must be said. In order to keep your customers coming back for more, you need to understand them.
- What are their needs and desires?
- Why did they buy from you in the first place?
- What are they saying about your company on social media?
- What sort of content and messaging connects with them?
- Why do some fail to convert, or abandon carts?
These are just some of the types of questions you can ask to better understand your customers. Aside from listening to your audience, utilize your analytics and data to gain insight into your customers.
The better you understand your audience, it becomes more clear on how to Increase Customer Retention.
Increase Customer Retention: Email Marketing
According to Emarsys, 80% of businesses surveyed relied on email marketing for customer retention.
While an Emarketer survey indicated that 56% of marketers considered email marketing to be the most effective method of achieving customer retention goals, proven to be a great way to Increase Customer Retention.
If you employ only one strategy for customer retention, be sure that it is the use of email marketing.
Email allows you to continue building a customer relationship after they’ve made a purchase from you.
Be sure that every email you send delivers value to the customer. Delight them with deals, coupons, new products/services that they would be interested and so on.
Increase Customer Retention: Content Marketing
Content marketing is a great way to continue delivering value to your customers in between purchases. Whether it is with blog posts, infographics, videos, memes – providing relevant and useful content to your target audience will keep them engaged.
Well executed content marketing will establish your business as an authority, and improve your brand identity. It will keep you at the forefront of your customers minds, and further your relationship at the same time.
Increase Customer Retention: Social Media Marketing
According to Sprout Social, 30% of millenials engage with a brand on social mediaat least once per month. It’s no secret that people are paying attention to their social media feeds.
Figure out which platforms your customers are using, and talking about you, and get involved! Many businesses simply aren’t active enough on social media, and miss the opportunity to connect with their customers.
Social media is a great way to share content with your audience, as they are already spending time there – you don’t have to pull for their attention as you do with email or by getting them to your website.
Being active on social media is also a great way to gain insight into your customers and listen to them directly. This is incredibly valuable for improving retention, and doing business in general.
Increase Customer Retention: Retargeting
Retargeting is a highly effective strategy for engaging existing customers and there are a variety of methods that you employ.
- Look at your purchasing trends, and retarget existing customers with products that you think they would be interested in
- Retarget existing customers based on seasonal sales/trends
- Retarget existing customers with abandoned carts; show your appreciation for them with coupons, free shipping, or any other deal
Contact Us to learn how we can help you gain AND retain more customers. We’ll help you build a data-driven and targeted digital strategy to achieve your business goals. Or, learn more about our services today.