Customer Retention Marketing Strategies That Work

Retention marketing focuses on your existing customer database by maximizing their buying habits, both in frequency and volume. Achieving this type of repeat customer by even just 5% can increase your profits as much as 95%, according to a Bain & Company study.

While it may seem easier to attract new people to your website, it’s less expensive and more profitable to get back those that have already visited and made purchases. But in the growing land of e-commerce, what actually works? Let’s take a look at some of the best retention strategies.

Loyalty, Loyalty, Loyalty

While it does take time and a bit of effort to build loyalty, it can come with some serious rewards for your brand and your customers. A loyalty program incentivizes customers to make purchases that will lead them to exclusive offers, usually a free product. These reward systems are typically based on the frequency of purchases, resulting in a growing collection of stars, points, levels, or dollars.

Something Just For Them

What’s great about being an e-commerce brand is having customer purchase history all in one place. This allows you to show customers other products they may be interested in based on similarity, type, or price range.

Beyond products, recent purchase history can also help you curate relevant content that has a higher likelihood of customer engagement. For example, if you know they have just purchased a new skincare product, send them over a few points from your blog on the best night-time skincare routine.

The goal here is to make the customer feel it is just for them and foster a personal connection with your brand.

Start Getting Specific

Reaching the right people are far more valuable than a large number. The most effective way to do this is through email reactivation campaigns. They are all about segmenting your customer database based on their actions. This way, you are targeting specific groups that are more likely to engage with your content. Here are the best examples of audience segmentation.

• Customers who haven’t visited the site in X days. With these types of emails, it’s best to use specific dollar incentives rather than percentages. You’ll want to send these sooner than later, as the longer customers are inactive, the less likely they are to engage.
• Abandoned cart reminders. These are for the hesitant or distracted customers. Prompting a sense of urgency, providing a discount, or revealing what was left behind can all be the gentle push needed to make that conversion.
• Post-purchase follow-ups. This is about customer retention, after all. Keep them coming back by including any product information such as care instructions or FAQs, showcasing similar items, and, of course, thanking them for the purchase.

For more ways on how to boost your customer retention marketing through enhanced email campaigns, get in touch with the strategists at Kraus Marketing!