10 Unique Customer Retention Strategies To Boost Conversions | Customer Retention
The biggest mistake marketers make is they keep their entire focus on generating new leads instead of retaining the existing customers. Yes, it feels great when you get new customers on board, but failing to keep your current customers can cost your business a lot in the long term. Customer acquisition is an expensive affair. According to Brain & Company, customer acquisition costs businesses 7-times more than customer retention. The same research also reveals that you can boost ecommerce conversions and have a whopping 125% profit if you retain just 5% of your customers annually. WhatIsCustomerRetentionAndWhyIsItSoImportant? Simply put, customer retention is your business’s ability to retain existing customers over time. In other words, it’s a ratio that explains how many customers are retained by the business at the end of the given period. You can calculate customer retention using the following formula: “CRR = ((E-N)/S ✕ 100” Here,
CRR = Customer retention rate
E= The number of customers retained at the end of the given period
N= The total number of new customers acquired during the given period
S= The total number of customers a business has at the start of the given period Customer retention is an important metric as it helps businesses know how successfully they can acquire new clients and retain the existing ones.
Also, returning customers have more faith in your products and services. That goes without saying that they tend to spend more on your products than new customers and refer your brand to friends and family. Here are a few reasons why implementing customer retention strategies is crucial for any online business: It’sCost-Effective
As mentioned above, customer acquisition is an expensive affair. It’s cost-effective to keep someone in a fold than to acquire new customers. RepeatCustomersAreMoreProfitable One of the advantages of implementing a customer retention strategy is that the current customers buy more often than new buyers. Since your loyal customers are already aware of your product quality and service, they prefer your brand over other businesses working in the same niche as yours. But do not take the loyalty of your routine customers for granted. While they’re more open to price changes, they expect consistent services from a brand in return. ItDifferentiatesYourBrandFromOthers Although customer retention is such an integral pillar of a marketing framework, many businesses still invest their entire resources in acquiring new customers. When you represent a customer-centric image of your business, people tend to trust your brand, and it also makes your business stand out from the rest of the competition. You’llGetMoreReferrals Your loyal customers will eventually become your brand advocates. They not only will prefer your brand for their use but also refer your business to others within their social circle. In other words, having more loyal customers means more chances of getting new customers through referrals. RegularCustomersProvideGenuineFeedback If there is one thing that keeps ecommerce businesses going is customer feedback. And feedback coming from a loyal customer means a lot. Research also suggests that customers who provide valuable feedback to brands are more likely to give those businesses the benefit of the doubt. YouCanUpsell/Cross-sell
You can recommend your high-ticket items to your loyal customers who are already spending a good amount of money on your products. Also, you can try to cross-sell relevant products to customers who have already purchased stuff from your website. For instance, you can cross-sell a headphone or a USB to a customer who has purchased a laptop from your store earlier. Similarly, you can offer a value-driven package on fashion accessories if someone has bought a dress from your apparel store. LoyalCustomersAreMoreForgiving Unlike new customers, loyal customers are more forgiving and kind. Since they already had a positive experience with your brand, they tend to forgive and forget minor service glitches and mistakes – just don’t let it happen too often, though. RepeatCustomersAreMoreWillingToTryYourNewProducts According to research, existing customers are 50% more likely to give your new products a try than new customers. And if they’re happy with the results, your chances of getting more customers via word-of-mouth marketing will be increased. Now that you know why it is essential to create a foolproof customer retention strategy, here are some of the ways you can use it to boost ecommerce conversions. 10 Unique Customer Retention Strategies To Boost Conversions 1.CreateACustomerLoyaltyProgram Customers are only loyal to brands that help them attain their goals. It won’t take them a minute to switch if your competitor has a better offer for them. One of the ways you can acknowledge your customer’s loyalty is by introducing a customer loyalty program. As its name suggests, a customer loyalty program rewards customers for their continued trust and loyalty for your brand. These programs enable you to interact with your buyer on an ongoing basis. Also, it helps brands deliver more value to the buyer. 2.Personalize Your marketing efforts are incomplete without impeccable customer service. Delivery of excellent customer service is what every ecommerce business should aim for. Happy customers not only stick with your brand but also recommend your business to others. One of the effective customer retention strategies is to provide a personalized customer experience to your buyers. Personalized customer service refers to offering services that cater to the actual needs of your customers.
Studies also suggest that customers prefer buying from the brand that identifies them and delivers tailored services according to their needs. To deliver a personalized customer experience, make sure you understand your customers and give them as many options as possible. It’s also crucial that your agents are available 24/7 and assist customers when they need them the most. 3.TriggerUrgency Another effective way to boost ecommerce conversions is by offering your customers a limited-time offer. In addition to conversions, businesses can also use this strategy to draw in buyers who are no longer active with your business. The fear of missing out encourages customers to take timely action. You can also include a surprise gift card or a coupon code in your buyer’s cart that they can use during their next purchase. 4.ImproveUserExperience When it comes to customer retention, there is nothing more effective than providing your customers with an excellent user experience. No, we’re not talking about the monetary benefits only. Many factors contribute to this process, including a customer-friendly website design, a simple checkout process, live chat support, and more. Everything on your website should be organized. Prepare dedicated landing pages for each product category, and train your live agents to provide maximum support to the users. You must also include videos and images to help your customers know the true benefits of your products, The idea is to keep your customers engaged and help them complete the checkout process without much hassle. 5.RewardYourVIPCustomers Have you ever heard of the famous Pareto principle? It states that 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers. The most valuable asset for any online business is its loyal customers. If you have CRM software installed in your system, you can easily identify those customers that are more profitable for your business. Once you know about your most profitable buyers, you can allocate your resources effectively. You can target those VIP buyers by offering them a reward or an incentive to make them feel valued. Remember, these relationships can go a long way. So, make sure you make every possible effort to keep your loyal customers happy and satisfied. 6.DeliverValueThroughContent
Another effective customer retention strategy that also boosts ecommerce conversions is to keep your customers engaged through useful content. Present-day buyers have plenty of options at their disposal. Failing to capture their attention may result in severe consequences for your business and conversions. Creating an all-inclusive content marketing plan to educate your customers will help you attract sales and build long-lasting relationships. There are many ways you can use this approach to your benefit. For instance, you can create useful and informative how-to guides and tutorials. Also, you can dedicate a section on your website where you can post conversational blogs. The content you create should be actionable, value-laden, and perfectly optimized for your audience. 7.Re-engageUsingMarketingAutomation With marketing automation, you can optimize and improve customer retention strategies by leveraging personalized communication. Take a simple example of automated follow-up emails that you send to remind a visitor of an abandoned cart. Almost all ecommerce businesses face the issue of abandoned carts at some stage. With marketing automation, you can remind buyers that their purchase is incomplete, and they can get an incentive if they complete their transaction within a stated time frame. When we talk about customer retention in ecommerce, the core idea revolves around getting repeat sales from the customers. Marketing automation enables businesses to keep track of everything, be it customer’s contact details or information about the most profitable buyers. Also, you can schedule email blasts, send event notifications, reminders, etc. 8.BuildACommunity Another proven customer retention strategy is to create a discussion board or a community where your buyers can interact and share opinions. If you own a Shopify store, you must have interacted with other owners on Shopify’s discussion board. Here, members discuss different things, share opinions, and know about new and upcoming product features. So you can do the same to keep your regular buyers in a loop. 9.Under-promise,Over-deliver
Do you want to retain a customer and convert them into a lifetime asset for your business? Exceed their expectations by over-delivering on your promise. Remember, a happy customer will keep coming back for more. The bitter truth is that the majority of online businesses keep their entire focus on generating leads and boosting conversions. But customer retention and conversions go hand in hand. 10.CreateACommunicationCalendar If you haven’t heard of this term earlier, a communication calendar is something that you can use to maintain a record of your content creation and publishing. Frequent communication is key to customer retention. When your buyers do not reach out to you, it’s your responsibility to take the initiative and contact them with some offers. Research suggests that businesses that take customer engagement seriously and communicate with their buyers at least 10-time per year generate up to 300% profit. There you have it – 10 Unique Customer Retention Strategies to Boost Conversions. Follow these strategies, and you’ll witness a noticeable improvement in your sales and conversions. Also, you’d be able to create a loyal customer base for your business that will stay committed to your brand no matter what!