How to Use Customer Marketing Appropriately to Massively Enhance Retention

Every business needs to retain its customers. Customer retention is vital in the changing landscape of the business environment. A research study conducted by Bain & Company shows how profits can be increased up to 95 percent if the customer retention rates increase by 5 percent. 

Customer retention becomes more important since it costs seven times more to acquire a new customer than to keep one invested in the company. 

But customer churn is inevitable. No matter how useful your product or service is, you will lose customers. The goal should be to reduce that customer loss to the maximum extent possible. The secret to building long term relationships and retaining customers is customer marketing. 

What is Customer Marketing?

Customer marketing is directed at helping companies engage, communicate, and address the concerns of the customer base in a frequent, right, and lucid manner. With a customer marketing strategy, you can ensure that customers get the most from your product and stay with you for a longer-term. Customer marketing is aimed at increasing revenue and profits through understanding customer preferences and choices. 

How can Customer Marketing Enhance Customer Retention? 

Customer marketing focuses on building a long-term relationships with customers through the funnel stage from product adoption, expansion, retention, and advocacy. Keeping the customer as the focus, a marketing strategy needs to be chalked out. With relevant communication channels, customer marketing can influence customer opinion on a product or service. 

High-Level Touch Marketing 

If your customers are important and are of high value or VIP level, you need to chalk the best customer marketing strategy. Regular contact and communication are necessary to make them feel valued in the long run. By this, live chat support or AI agents are not the answer. Real human contact is the key, follow-ups, meet ups, and other engagement modes are necessary. 

Customer Education Plans 

Customers use the internet to look for product usage or service issues. 94 percent B2B businesses now use content marketing as a core marketing strategy for this reason. Through content marketing, companies can educate customers on product or service specifications. Customer education involves product adoption and making the customers feel that they can trust your views and opinions on the product or service. 

Guide through Buyer’s Remorse 

Don’t we all face a buyer’s remorse? Post product purchase, we start to doubt the worth, value, and usage. Customers with extreme buyer’s remorse are less likely to stick around. To ensure attrition does not happen in that way, making sure customers know the benefits of the product or service is important. Make sure there is no information overload though as it will only drive them away. 

Customer Feedback 

Collecting valuable customer feedback will ensure you to provide a better service or product. It is also a great measure of customer satisfaction. Knowing what they feel about the product will help analyze expectations and set relevant targets. Through frequent calls, surveys, or monthly meetings, companies can understand customer feedback to develop a plan to address those issues. 

Customer Advocacy and Loyalty 

The main idea of marketing is to create loyal brand advocates. This is why social proof is important- not only for acquiring new customers but also for keeping existing customers. When companies get endorsed, they like it. Seeing a logo on a reputed website improves brand positioning greatly. Bringing customers to advocate product or service will make other customers understand the value and influence them into decision making. 

Personalized Deliverables

Each customer works differently. They have different preferences and that should reflect in the messages and offers customers receive. Customers have different tastes and catering to their needs and preferences can help to customize the customer experience for them. It was found that personalization delivers a high impact rate of return if it is based on user preferences, purchase history, and other relevant information of the customer. 

Customer KPI Measurement 

With customer-centric marketing, customer retention can be managed. An excellent customer service team is necessary to retain customers. It is necessary to start tracking the metrics of customers to be able to understand their pain points and issues. If customers are not happy with the service they receive, they will look at other customers and options. 

Tech Strategies 

By automating customer strategies in technology, companies need to create scalable marketing campaigns that can be optimized for better performance. With the right technology tools, you can reach a high volume of customers easily. Data plays a great role in helping customers make a decision- also close to 70 percent of marketing executives vouch for it. 

Constant Support 

Nurturing is required for every customer. With educational content like blog posts, tutorials, or through live chat customer support, companies should maintain a touchpoint with customers. The questions they have need to be answered through support quickly. There is also the need for FAQ pages for quick query resolution.

Bottom Line: Right Targeting Improves Retention

Maintaining a close relationship between customer marketing and customer experience will enhance customer retention. The more you know about the customer, the better experience you can provide. Shaping strategies and messaging to meet customer expectations is important. Developing a strong USP is important to convey a competitive advantage. Being on the top of the customer’s minds either on social media or through email marketing can help with retention. For strong customer relationship management, it is vital to work on all aspects of customer satisfaction.

About the Author:  Jafar Sadhik is a passionate digital marketer possessing sound knowledge in the fields like SaaS tools, CX, churn statistics, etc. Previously, worked for top ventures like SportsKeeda and Neil Patel Digital India, and currently works at SmartKarrot Inc. He loves to read books during leisure and a great admirer of Agatha Christie’s works.

Read More
Source