Jan 28

Customer Retention Marketing

Malomo Staff

Staff

If general marketing is about turning consumers into customers, then customer retention marketing is about maintaining that customer relationship. As a result of new technologies and intense competition for customers, the past few years experienced a boom in customer retention techniques. In the ecommerce industry, such ongoing marketing is especially important. Ecommerce companies by nature compete with the entire globe. They also lack the physical presence that could take advantage of foot traffic sales.

Defining Customer Retention Marketing

The customer retention definition is quite simply any form of after-purchase marketing designed to continue the customer relationship. The goal of such marketing is primarily to encourage new purchases from the customer. Secondarily, after-purchase marketing can also help to build customer loyalty and generate new customers from word of mouth recommendations. While these techniques are very similar in form to all other methods of marketing, they are different in terms of the target audience and goals.

Example Strategies of Customer Retention

The customer retention process has many facets and forms. The first steps of customer retention marketing begin during the actual purchase. Data collection efforts provide insights into the customer and are used to build a comprehensive profile. Including multiple points of contact for the customer also allows extended opportunities for client interactions. Each of these communications can help to extend customer loyalty and ongoing purchases for your company.

Examples of customer retention marketing include:

Thank you text message sent to the customer immediately following the purchase.
Monthly E-newsletter to customer email address covering the best practices of other clients.
Quarterly webconferences describing new service offerings, product research, and allowing a live question and answering period.

Why Customer Retention Is Vital

The benefits of customer retention are numerous, although the results can vary based on a number of factors. The biggest advantage of customer retention efforts is an efficient return on investment. Marketing to the public means spending money and time attempting to reach people who may never be in the market for your products. Focusing on existing customers taps into a potential market proven to result in real sales. Shopify experts from Brumate, SuitShop, & Raaka Chocolates know how vital customer retention is for their Shopify storefront (and luckily they shared their retention strategies with us!)

Customer Acquisition and Retention Strategies

Customer retention strategies in crm include some of the same tactics used to lure customers initially. The main difference is that the messages during acquisition were made to build and confirm the relationship. After the customer has enough trust to make a purchase, the marketing tools are adapted to serve as customer retention tactics. For example, cold marketing emails become reminders to update to newer products or restock on products by setting up subscriptions.

Keeping the Customer Loyal

Customer loyalty strategies are as diverse as there are customers. Some customers only care about the bottom line. For them, you may need a process to reward frequent customers with discounts or complimentary services. Other clients value the opportunity to assist in the development of new products and services. Those customers would appreciate feedback mechanisms that allow them to provide suggestions for product improvement.

Dealing With B2B Relationships

B2B customer retention strategies can be a bit trickier. Individual consumers have a variety of reasons why they might seek eCommerce products. Businesses on the other hand, almost always want something that will enhance their operations in specific ways. Accordingly, B2B retention strategies involve making sure your products and services help your customers achieve their goals. Most importantly, since each customer defines their goals and the relevant benchmarks, communication is key.

Customer Retention With Services

Customer retention strategies in service marketing can be more complicated than selling physical products. If your online business sells t-shirts, for example, it may be easier to send regular updates with new t-shirt designs. Customer retention with non-physical products often involves soliciting customer involvement in testimonials or focus groups. The idea is to continue selling the customer on the idea of a joint partnership toward their success.

How Malomo Can Help

Malomo is a well-integrated shipment tracking application. Ordering products over the web can be treacherous for first-time customers. Problems during shipping can often reflect poorly on your business, even if the fault lies with the delivery service or other entities.

Malomo can help you develop positive customer retention strategies by providing a means of improving the product delivery process. Your customers will have a simple method of tracking packages and receiving updates about any issues. You will have a way to target your retention marketing messages to customers from purchase through delivery. If you're looking to learn more, we also have a complete guide on customer retention that all D2C brands should read and a guide on how to navigate iOS 14 and Google privacy updates.

Develop Positive Customer Retention Strategies

Find out how custom-branded, automated post-purchase notifications and tracking pages can transform your ecommerce business and skyrocket customer retention.

Customer Retention Examples

The simple truth is, no single retention strategy example will provide you with a comprehensive customer retention strategy template. Each company is unique, with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Downloading a customer retention process ppt regarding how a large multinational corporation keeps its customers may not provide you with useful information. In reality, many of the best customer retention examples can be misunderstood if examined from the perspective of a finished program. Many customer retention strategies case studies fail to account for the ongoing process of success and failure that usually leads to eventual success.

The Good

Accordingly, understand that creating a customer retention strategy for your organization must be an ongoing process. Starbucks is now known as one of the largest coffee chains in the US. However, they did not build that loyalty overnight. They began by focusing on the actual customer experience and branched out into customer loyalty programs that encouraged repeated purchases. They demonstrated a commitment to evolution by being one of the first coffee companies to embrace online ordering and pickup. Allowing customers to order before arriving cuts a large amount of time out of the purchasing process.

And The Unfortunate

On the other hand, cable companies are perhaps the best example of how not to do customer retention programs. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s cable companies in the US were known for three things, expanded television, high prices, and horrible customer service. As monopolies, they often did not have to consider customer retention, as customers had no other options if they wanted more than three channels. This dire desire for options however likely contributed to the rise of so many alternatives to cable television.

Retention Marketing Definition

Marketing is about acquiring customer relationships, and over time the field is responsible for an astounding assortment of tools. Those creating retention marketing strategies would do well to consider these tools as part of any effort. In order to be most effective, the simple retention marketing definition must be adapted to serve your company: What kind of relationship do your customers want with your company?

If you work in ecommerce, there is probably a reason your customers shop with you instead of using a brick and mortar store. Of the many types of retention marketing, you should be keenly focused on digital marketing if your initial customer relationships were built digitally. Everyone has their own particular mix of communication tools they most prefer. One of the first rules to digital marketing is understanding how your customer wishes to be contacted. It serves no purpose to focus on email-based types of retention in digital marketing if your customers rarely read an email.

As for the question, "What is retention in digital marketing?" Each company must answer this question. Your customer base, available tools, and the type of products you offer should also be considered part of this decision. You can either take your time to learn by trial and error or hire a digital marketing expert.

Amazon Customer Retention Strategy

While understanding the client retention process at a larger corporation may not provide you a perfect model, there is some benefit to general understanding. The amazon customer retention strategy is a perfect example of this reality. There are two specific elements of the company's retention strategy that must be mentioned. First, Amazon's direct customer relationship is enhanced through Amazon Prime. Prime is truly one of the most noteworthy examples of customer retention.

Through an annual membership fee, Amazon Prime retention offers access to video streaming, a Kindle book library, and free two-day shipping on many items. This powerful combination of services is proven to keep customers visiting the Amazon site and ordering products repeatedly.

Amazon's marketplace, on the other hand, is a wonderful example of the benefits of customer retention. Because the marketplace features the ability to review and rate a seller, customer relationships are vital. Amazon customer loyalty statistics routinely rank among the highest among retailers.

B2B Customer Retention Strategies

Ultimately, the best customer retention strategy is to trust an expert's opinion, even if that expert is you some years from now. But before you begin searching the stages of customer retention ppt online, there are basic stages to the retention process. Understanding these basic stages can at least give you a foundation for your retention strategy.

Stage 1: Opening The Relationship

Outside of the financial transactions during the purchasing process, you want to make sure you deliver what you promised and get to know your customer. Services like Malomo can help all parties track orders and ensure trust-building communications. This is also the time to begin onboarding processes to ease the customer into the product.

Stage 2: Ongoing Relations

After the initial purchase, your task is finding the most effective way to encourage a continuing financial relationship. This may take the form of email reminders, video blogs with new product uses, or a newsletter with new features. If you have fiercely loyal customers, you should also invite them to focus groups or product conferences to develop ongoing feedback mechanisms.