Most modern businesses focus on attracting new customers. Their entire marketing strategy is geared towards gain new leads instead of preserving old ones.
But is that an effective approach? Did you know that attracting new customers is 5 to 25 times more expensive than retaining old ones? Did you know just a 5% increase in customer retention rates can increase profits by anywhere between 25% and 95%?
Businesses must invest in an effective customer retention strategy to maximize profits and build brand loyalty. Here’s look at some great tips to get more brand loyalty through customer retention:
Convey the Right Message
In a survey involving 7,000 people, 64% of participants said they had a relationship with a brand with shared values. This means that is the point of connection between customers and brands. People will only understand what your values are if you tell them or show them. Make sure your brand conveys your most cherished values and beliefs clearly. Choose something you actually believe in and can live up to. Customers respond well to brands that choose a value and are committed to it. Such brands are more respected and gain loyalty.
Know Your Customers
How can you retain customers if you don’t understand them? Customers support companies that understand their requirements and preferences. Take time to study the target demographic carefully and understand their pain points.
You can then design your marketing campaigns and services based on the data collected. This will not only help with customer retention but also ensure your campaigns are more successful with new customers. You can collect information from your current customer base through surveys, studying customer behavior, and analysis of online behavior. The more you know, the more refined your retention campaign will be.
Provide Good Quality Customer Service
A customer’s experience with a brand will dictate their future relationship. If they have a bad experience, they will leave and express their discontent online. You can avoid serious harm to your reputation by providing excellent customer service at this stage. Customers are more inclined to trust companies that address their concerns immediately and effectively. They are patient and tolerant of brands that make mistakes but are eager to resolve them comprehensively.
Focus on satisfactory resolution rather than a quick evaluation. A survey on customer relationships revealed that they’re more concerned about the quality of the response than the speed. Consider investing in a customer service software to deliver a great customer service experience. The market offers a wide range of customer service software that lets you manage incoming customer queries and act on them effectively.
Engage Customers on Social Media
Social media is an excellent way to develop a more personal connection with customers. There are many ways to connect with an audience through these platforms and some of them include:
- Replying to comments and questions promptly.
- Posting promotional content like informative articles and blog posts.
- Handling customer service through social media.
- Making big announcements on social media.
- Using features like Livestreaming and Stories to share candid content.
- Commenting on posts by existing customers. (Especially if the post is connected to your company in any way.)
By engaging customers on social media, you keep your brand at the forefront of their mind. The personal interaction also helps you develop a steady relationship with the customer.
Treat Them Fairly
Many companies introduce new schemes, sales, discounts, and plans to attract new customers. Sometimes all of these promotions are heavily in favor of newcomers and disregard older customers entirely. In such cases, older customers often feel neglected and discarded. If the customer is already loyal to you, such bias towards new shoppers can break trust. That’s why it is important for brands to maintain equilibrium.
If you have sales and discounts for new customers, take time to create similar promotional campaigns for older customers. This will ensure they don’t feel neglected.
Personalize as Much as You Can
Customers love it when brands pay special attention to them. They like it when the brand’s content or service feel like they’re uniquely designed to suit the customers’ requirements. Personalization isn’t very difficult. There are different ways to approach it and here are some of them:
- Address customers by name in email communication.
- Answer a customer’s question through content. For example, if XYZ asked you a question about a product, create an article in reply. This will make them feel special.
- Create a marketing campaign with a particular customer in mind. You don’t need to mention their names, just target them in your campaigns. This will make the campaign feel more personal.
There are different kinds of buyers in any given industry. Some people love to spend and are prone to making impulsive decisions. Others are conservative and spend cautiously. You need to personalize your content accordingly.
Start Loyalty Programs
Loyalty programs offer advantages that other marketing campaigns can’t provide. They’re especially effective in increasing brand loyalty and retaining customers. According to one survey, 81% of respondents admitted loyalty programs encouraged them to keep doing business with a brand.
These programs don’t cost much if they’re planned well but offer rich rewards. Customers will be less inclined to shop at a competitor’s business if you provide a great loyalty program.
Create a Community
Creating a community can help you retain customers and maintain a consistent base. People love belonging to a community and will be loyal to a brand if they believe they’re a part of something. Accomplishing this isn’t too difficult, especially in this age of social media and the internet. You can create forums, conduct community contents, and encourage relationships between customers. This helps create a community spirit and that will ensure your brand hold customer attention for longer.
You will need to keep the community active and engaged to take full advantage of this system. It is important to engage the community as a group and interact with them regularly. Customer retention offers rich rewards. It provides businesses a steadier customer base and better financial certainty. Investing in retention campaigns is a wise decision that provides long-term benefits.
