How much of your marketing budget are you focusing on customer retention?
The Harvard Business Review estimates that the cost to acquire a single new customer is between 5 and 25 times more expensive than retaining a current one. Customer retention is a good investment.
While attracting new customers is very important, you can’t overlook retaining current ones. After all, your customers probably have different brands to choose from – so why should they remain loyal to you?
Nowadays people are looking for a more personalized experience from the companies they patronize on a regular basis. If your brand can connect and resonate with these people, they will continue to purchase your products or services.
So how can a company create a following of loyal customers?
We’ve come up with a few tips on how you can create brand loyalty and keep your customers coming back for more.
Personalization
You can make your customers feel valued by simply creating a personal connection that resonates well. You can send out a happy birthday mailer along with a promotion, such as a 10% off one-time use coupon code.
If you’re like most companies, you probably have a huge customer list. Manually sending out a card to every single person is near-impossible.
Variable data printing can help solve this challenge by printing out birthday cards that have a unique personalized message. Alternatively, you can use email marketing to send out an email on or near their birthday.
No matter which route you choose, be sure that your marketing messages are thoughtful and offer some sort of value. Otherwise, people will quickly grow tired of the incessant advertisements.
Personalized Products
If you can segment your customer lists, then you probably already know who your biggest and best customers are. You can send them a personalized product which will show your appreciation for their loyalty.
The best-personalized products aren’t necessarily the most expensive. Look for something that your customers will find themselves using on a regular basis, such as a calendar or notepad.
This way, your brand name will be in front of them on a daily basis and serve as a constant reminder of your presence. Be sure to print the URL of your website and social media accounts for quick reference.
Social Media Marketing
Social media is a great way to stay in touch with your current customers. The best social media marketing campaigns involve creating engaging content that will resonate well with your audience.
This is where many companies tend to fall flat. Social media marketing involves much more than making a Facebook or Twitter post about an upcoming sale or posting your website URL. An effective social media marketing campaign is all about creating an engaging and genuine personal connection with people.
Direct Mail
Direct mail is experiencing a massive resurgence in popularity over the past few years. The advent of internet advertising has led to decreased competition for the mailbox. This means most of your competitors are focusing their marketing budgets on online advertising.
Direct mail also helps create a personal connection with your customers by giving them something tangible that they can hold in their hands. Best of all, you’ll be targeting an untapped marketing strategy that your competitors aren’t.
Mobile App
Almost everyone in this day and age owns a smartphone, and they’re always using it. A mobile app can create a direct link between you and your customers. You can send out “push notifications” in which a message will appear on the phone screen of every person who’s downloaded your app.
You can also add a customer loyalty program to your mobile app. Best of all, you can track and measure customer engagement and analytics to determine how well your app is performing.
When it comes to designing a phone app for your business, the only limitation is your imagination. The more creative you get, the higher the chances of driving new business and retaining your customers.
Customer Retention in Raleigh
At AlphaGraphics in Downtown Raleigh, we specialize in helping our clients with their marketing efforts. To learn more about how AlphaGraphics of Downtown Raleigh can produce and design your next project, you may
email us or
request a quote or call us at
(919) 832-2828.