A large percentage of marketing efforts, and the products that go along with them, focus on binging in new customers. It’s the bread and butter of any business; and it’s an essential factor. An even greater challenge, and one that can grow your business’ revenue exponentially – is increasing the amount of customers who order from you again – who “retain” and become repeat customers. Marketing to customers who’ve already bought from you is called “Retention Marketing”, and it isn’t easy. If you’re getting ready to start a marketing campaign to your existing customer base; don’t take the easy way out and assume they’ll be easier to convert from now on… See the long-view and construct a well-tailored retention marketing campaign that will really work. Here are some tips on getting started.
Work the Data
Depending on how your CRM is built, and how much data you’ve actually been able to harvest as customers buy from you; you probably know quite a bit about them and who they are. Ask yourself, “What is my typical customer? Where do they live? What is their age? Are they tech-savvy? Are they excited about my products?” Questions like these can help you understand why people bought from you in the first place, and why the might do so again.
When you think you have the best idea of your target customer demographic, start focusing on the elements of your business that appeal to them. If you sell groceries, and they buy energy drinks – don’t focus on the meat and potato dinners you can provide. Instead, cast yourself as the grocer who understands health and fitness. You just might find that you’ve become the niche grocer in your region for health and energy drinks. The fact that all of these customers also end up buying all of their other groceries from you is a side note that just doesn’t hurt any either.
Marketing Tools – the right mediums
As you now know more about who you’re going to market to, you can use the best marketing tools and mediums to reel them back in as well. Social media advertising like facebook ads, give you the chance to reach out to people as a friendly solution instead of a SPAM message. If you sell a product that is extremely commoditized, you’re in an uphill battle for your customer to even remember where they bought your product in the first place. This is where things like direct mailing services come into play. With direct mail campaigns, you can send out something creative and memorable, such as custom printed postcards, to every customer on your mailing list. When your print piece arrives at their office or home, it’s nearly guaranteed to be noticed and read. Many mailing products like postcards and direct mailers can be purchased affordably by trusted online printers, who will also take care of your mailing services for you!
The Right Message Matters
An all-too-common fault in retention marketing is to repeat the bold, sales-based messaging that exists in new customer acquisition based marketing campaigns. The fact is, your customers don’t want to hear this anymore; and it’s somewhat insulting to act as though they haven’t learned anything about your product since buying it. Instead of making bold and outlandish claims, remind people why they can rely on your product. Even if they have forgotten where they’ve bought it, you can spit that as a benefit: “So reliable, you don’t need to think about it. Imagine if [insert product] weren’t there – wouldn’t you miss it? Don’t forget to replenish stock today!” The messaging of a retention marketing campaign is a delicate flower that must be cultivated and pruned; remind your customers how smart they were in the first place, and how smart they can be again!
