It’s easy to focus on trying to bring in new customers. That’s the whole point, right? You want to grow your business.
I’m here to tell you that, while you never want to stop trying to attract new customers, you may want to take some of those resources and look at the customers you’ve already got.
I’m talking about customer retention. When it comes down to it, your best customers will almost always be your current customers. And in order to make the most of them, you need to find ways to keep them around.
Let’s look at the numbers.
- Just a 5% increase in customer retention can lead to a 95% increase in profits. (Harvard Business School)
- Selling something to a new customer? Only a 5 to 20% probability. But an existing customer? You’re looking at a much more comfortable 60 to 70% chance. (Altfield)
- It’s agreed by 82% of companies that customer retention is cheaper than acquisition. (Econsultancy)
Sounds like customer retention is worth investing in right? That’s what I thought. Here’s three customer retention strategies to make sure your customers stick around for the long haul.
Engagement is everything. The key to maintaining a consistent base of customers? It’s keeping them engaged.
It’s one of the reasons content marketing is getting so big. Brands are looking for ways to keep customers hooked, whether they’re making a purchase, watching a video, or reading a Facebook post. You want your customers thinking about your brand, interacting with it, and talking about it, all on a consistent basis.
Research from Gallup finds that fully engaged customers hold a 23% premium in terms of revenue, profitability, wallet share, and relationship growth when compared to your average customer.
More than just a loyalty program. Have a loyalty program? Great. So do more than 90% of businesses. But here’s the thing. 71% of customers claim that loyalty programs aren’t actually engendering loyalty. (Accenture)
That doesn’t mean you should give up on loyalty. Far from it. If loyalty programs were useless, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. In fact, according to eMarketer, 58.7% say that one of the most valued parts of the shopping experience is earning loyalty points and rewards.
No, the problem is that most businesses aren’t paying attention to what modern customers want out of their programs. Loyalty programs aren’t something you set and forget. You can’t just settle with a hole-punch card and hope that works.
You need to know your audience. And then, like I highlighted above, you need to engage. That starts with implementing a digital loyalty program, and actively investing time into it. That means new rewards, birthday texts, all the bells and whistles.
Don’t be afraid to react. Your brand needs to be flexible, ready to react to anything. That means you need to read your reviews and respond to them. Fix your mistakes. Find what the problems are, and leverage that to improve.
People will switch businesses when they’re dissatisfied. This can happen even if they’re loyal. Not only do you need to listen, you need to react. Otherwise, you’re going to bleed customers across the long term.
Customer service is particularly important for retention. According to Microsoft, more than two out of every three customers (69%) agree that customer service is very important when selecting a brand. On top of that, research from HubSpot tells us that 93% say that excellent customer service will make them more likely to make repeat purchases.
Retain And Engage With CoGoBuzz
With CoGoBuzz, our state-of-the-art digital marketing service, you’ll overhaul your marketing efforts with advanced WiFi, SMS, and Email solutions. With our service, you can track which customers are returning to your business, and how often! You’ll even be able to send them a special offer to return – with their friends!
CoGoBuzz redefines the mobile experience, helping your business retain customers easily. You’ll reach and engage your customers on the devices that they use most, both in-store and out. We create a fully-realized profile for every customer that logs into your in-store HotSpot. On top of that, our service comes packed with a fully digital, text-based loyalty program, allowing you to instantly engage and reward your customers with a simple text. CoGoBuzz works overtime to make sure customers keep coming back.
Click here to learn more about CoGoBuzz!
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What does your business do to keep customers around? Sound off in the comments!