Many marketers get so involved in acquiring customers that they fail to effectively retain those they already have. Keeping existing customers can result in a higher ROI.
In fact, the success rate of selling to existing customers is 60-70%, which is more than the success rate of selling to new clients (5-20%).
Besides, acquiring a new customer is five times more costly than retaining the existing ones. 60% of shoppers say they would buy more frequently from their favorite companies.
Let’s take a look at the most effective strategies to retain customers.
1- Build Trust With Customers
Customers are more likely to repeat purchases from brands they trust. The moment customers feel you are not trustworthy, they will turn to your competitors.
Here are some great ways to build trust with customers to retain them.
- Deliver enormous value in your product. Make sure it is of the same quality as you claim on your website.
- Provide prompt, helpful, and memorable customer service. Make your customers feel that they are being heard and appreciated.
- Under-promise and over-deliver. For example, if it takes you a week to deliver a product, tell your customers it would take ten days or more. That way, you will never disappoint customers.
- Stay active on social media. Brands that regularly engage with people on social media are deemed more trustworthy.
2- Send Email Newsletters
Email newsletters help you train customers with educational emails. When you regularly send valuable content to customers, even when they have not purchased from you in a while, they will trust you more.
Another benefit of sending newsletters is that you stay at the top of your customers’ minds. So, when they are looking for products that you sell, you will likely be their first choice.
3- Set Up a Team
Some industries require professionals dedicated to retaining existing clients, such as finance-related businesses, law firms, and marketing agencies. In other cases, the management might hand over the duty of keeping the clients to the project managers who have an idea about their interests.
Depending on the type and nature of your business, create a team, or assign the task of retaining customers to the right people.
Employees with a Bachelor’s in marketing have a better understanding of the psychological processes, individual differences, and other factors that impact a customer’s trust in a brand and their purchasing decisions. Having such employees in your team can help you develop effective customer retention strategies.
Also, equip your team with the right tools to reduce churn rates. Tools like Omniconvert provide insights into your retention rate, lifetime value, customer satisfaction, and what made them stop buying from you. These insights will empower your team to better retain your existing customers.
4- Offer Incentives to Your Loyal Customers
Identify your most loyal customers and incentivize them to increase their loyalty. Your loyal customers are those who leave positive reviews on multiple platforms and share good things about your products or brand on social media.
Let those customers know you appreciate them for sharing positive things about your brand via emails or social media. Also, incentivize them to increase their chances of staying loyal to your brand. The incentive could be anything like a discount on their next purchase, freebies, or a shoutout from your social handle.
5- Leverage Social Media Marketing
Customers that follow businesses on social media are more likely to repeat purchases. Brands that leverage certain things that can help you make your social media marketing successful, such as consistent branding and engaging with customers.
Here are some great ways to use social media marketing to retain customers.
- Include social icons in your emails to encourage customers to follow you on social media.
- Share product launch news and updates on social media.
- Partner with top influencers to rapidly grow your following and retain the existing ones.
- Run social media contests to increase the engagement rate.
Re-engage with your followers when they interact with your posts.
6- Create Campaigns to Target Existing Customers
While promoting new products or offers, create separate campaigns for your existing customers. Since you already have some information about them (like browsing behavior and purchase history), it will be easier for you to create personalized campaigns that increase the chances of conversion.
Your marketing campaign should:
- Foster the bonding with customers.
- Encourage customers to purchase from you again.
- Increase the average order value by cross-selling, up-selling.
7- Learn From Customer Feedback
Many customers leave feedback and suggestions after purchasing products online. Make sure to analyze the negative ones to identify the defects in your products and opportunities to make them better.
Feedback is also a way to learn what customers care about when buying your products.
You can also send surveys to your customers via emails to learn about their experience with your product or brand. Add questions like, “how likely are you to recommend us to your friends?” “What did you like the most about our product?” “How can we improve our services?”
Use customer feedback to make your product and services better. Doing so demonstrates that you care for your customers, thereby increasing their chances of staying loyal to your brand.
8- Re-Engage Customers Who Are Likely to Churn
Analyze customer data to identify customers who have not purchased with you in recent times. Send them emails with a discount code or free shipping offer to encourage them to purchase from you again.
Ensure that the emails you send are personalized based on the customers’ previous interaction with your brand.
9- Keep Customers Updated
When trying to keep your customers, you must set genuine expectations. First, you need to identify areas where you might fail to deliver according to the customers’ expectations.
For instance, if you are an online retailer sending products to various locations, the delivery date can sometimes differ. It is not something that you can control every time. So in case of any delay, inform your customers immediately and update them with the new expected delivery date.
If you make your clients wait for the delivery without any information, they will likely feel annoyed and might not purchase from you again.
10- Develop a Communication Calendar
A communication calendar ensures you keep in touch with your customers regularly. For existing customers, the calendar would contain events like feedback surveys, special offers, and appreciation messages.
Frequent communication makes your customers feel valued and important. As a result, they will likely stick to your brand.
Bonus Tips
Always try to be honest with your clients. Don’t refuse to accept your faults, and don’t stop after agreeing. Rectify them immediately.
Don’t add unnecessary charges in return policies.
Your customers are your achievements. So provide them all the facilities that you want to have as a customer.