Are you looking for a way to generate more sales while boosting customer loyalty? If so, you’re not alone. Business owners around the globe work hard to grow their brands and get people invested in their product or service.
The key to getting more sales is to build stronger relationships with your existing audience. Repeat customers are more likely to come back to your website, spend more than first-time buyers, and engage with you on your website, social media, and email.
You can get more repeat visitors by focusing on customer retention. Essentially, customer retention describes the process of keeping new customers loyal and encouraging them to make repeat orders. In other words, the goal is to maximize the average lifetime value of each visitor.
Today, we are going to take a look at several customer retention tips that will help you grow your business and get more people interested in your company.
Let’s get started!
Start an Email Newsletter
Email marketing is one of the best tools you can use to grow your business, regardless of your company size and industry. On average, email marketing has a whopping 4,400% return on investment, which includes additional profits obtained from good customer retention practices.
Newsletters are particularly effective at getting first-time customers to become frequent shoppers. Consumers like reading newsletters from businesses if the information is relevant to their pain points and goals, so proper audience research is a must.
Once you understand how to address your customers, you can create newsletters that feature your best blog content, a Q & A section, and of course, promotions they can use when visiting your online store.
The purpose of these messages is to build trust with your customers by offering helpful content, answering questions, and giving people a chance to save some money. If someone is interested in your brand, they will engage with your newsletter, which will lead them back to your website for a repeat purchase. We suggest limiting your newsletters to 1 per month, or bi-weekly at the most.
You should also consider other email marketing best practices when developing your campaign. For instance, scrubbing your email list regularly ensures that your messages are only landing in the inboxes of people interested in your products or services. Whichever way you slice it, there’s no questioning the efficiency and importance of email marketing.
Reward Customers for Their Loyalty
Next, let’s talk about rewarding customers for their loyalty. Incentivizing existing customers is a great way to improve your retention rate. Globally recognized companies, such as Starbucks, use customer loyalty programs to retain customers and keep them coming back every morning for a fresh cup of coffee.
You can create several types of loyalty programs based on your budget, industry, and product selection. Some companies create a point-based system where customers get store credit based on the amount they spend. So, if you use a 5% cash-back program, a customer will get $5 back for every $100 they spend.
This extra credit helps the user, but it also encourages them to come back and make use of what they earned.
Alternatively, you can create a punch-card style system if your online store features low-cost physical goods. For instance, an online pet store might offer customers a free bag of pet food after they buy a pre-determined number of bags. Make sure you let users know how much they have to buy to get their loyalty reward.
It’s also possible to reward loyalty by using a subscription service. You may be surprised to learn that 76% of business owners say that subscription models work to boost customer retention. Why? Simply put, it encourages users to spend more time using your brand.
When someone works with a company for over a year, they tend to continue coming back for future needs. Subscription programs work best for companies that offer monthly “box” products, think Dollar Shave Club, or businesses that offer SaaS services.
Focus on Personalization
Personalization is, without a doubt, one of the best ways to boost your customer retention rate. People now expect brands to go beyond a simple storefront. They want companies that understand their audience and offer products and services that meet their needs.
We know this is true by looking at how personalization affects profits. In general, creating customized content leads to a 20% increase in sales. When you look at the effect of this strategy on email, the results are even more revealing. Companies that use personalization with their email marketing campaign see 26% more opens. In other words, people are opening messages that they would otherwise delete without a second thought.
If you’re not sure how to create personalized content, start by segmenting your audience. Create customer personas that define the people who visit your website the most. For example, an online pet store would likely categorize their users as cat or dog owners. They know that sending offers about the latest dog food to cat owners is pointless, and vice versa.
After you’ve identified your customer segments, start creating content, and offers that appeal to each group. Every section of your customer base has its own set of goals and pain points. There are times where these things will overlap, and that’s fine. But make sure you have a general overview of your most frequent customer personalities and have content that meets their needs.
Meet and Exceed Expectations
Finally, make sure you’re meeting and exceeding the expectations of your first-time buyers. If you want people to continue shopping with your company, you need to give them a reason to stick around.
If you promised you would send a lead magnet to someone if they subscribe to your email list, include a special promotion. Taking steps to ensure that customers feel welcomed and appreciated will ensure that they will come back to place more orders.
Take some time to think about your marketing campaigns and what you’re promising to customers. Now, think about ways you can build on that experience for a more loyal customer base.
Customer retention is absolutely necessary for thriving businesses. Repeat customers tend to spend more time and money on your website, and they are likely to refer your business to friends and family. Using the strategies outlined above, you’ll have no problem getting more people to come back to your online store after their initial order.
Man pointing at Customer Acquisition concept over a tablet -DepositPhotos
