Like every other business, you have spent months perfecting your content marketing strategy, SEO and Adwords. But no matter how hard you try, new customers you acquire using these marketing techniques are still not going to be as profitable as your repeat visitors. According to prominent content marketing strategist Jeff Bullas, returning visitors spend nearly 300% more money on ecommerce stores compared to new visitors. The study shows that returning visitors are also better in terms of engagement. The time spent on the website and the pages viewed per visit are all consistently higher among the loyal repeat customers.
It needs to be pointed out that there is nothing wrong with targeting new buyers per se. Every business sees churn and it is very important for marketers to focus on customer acquisition. At the same time, returning customers have proven to be one of the most profitable segments for business and it would be counter-intuitive to not throw more marketing resources at them. So how exactly should one go about marketing to repeat customers? Here are a few strategies to deploy.
Make them feel special: In his book, ‘Living Life From The Inside Out’, clinical psychologist Dr. Edward Dreyfus writes that there is an inherent need among all human beings to feel special. People constantly strive to achieve ‘special status’ in the eyes of others. As consumers then, they naturally seek special status as a loyal patron. As a business owner, it is your duty to give your repeat customers this status and making them feel special. There are a lot of ways to do this – special coupons and gift vouchers for repeat buyers, personalized gift items to people who have been long-time customers and free membership cards with special privileges are all different ways to make your customers feel special and connected to your business.
Arrange sneak-peeks to new launches: Loyal customers tend to know more about your products and business than the average customer. As a result, their feedback on design changes and product launches not only helps your business shape your products for the better, but it also helps reward your loyal customers with ‘privileges’ not available to the regular customer. Do remember however that loyal customers tend to carry a lot of inertia and are vocal about changes to the product they are used to. So while it is a good idea to offer them a sneak-peek into new launches, do not base all your business decisions upon their feedback.
Make them the face of your company: Prospective new customers to your business regularly research about experiences from past customers before they make a purchasing decision. Seeking testimonials and video feedback from your repeat customers is a great way to not only convince new customers about the credibility of your product or service, it also helps trigger an emotional connect with your existing customers.
From a marketer’s perspective, it is important to remember that the above strategies do not impact the bottom line of your business directly. This is because loyal customers do not buy more because of these strategies. However, engaging with repeat customers and making them feel special tends to incentivize new customers to become more loyal to your business. Also, rewarding loyalty helps turn these customers into vocal advocates which can help bringing more new customers to your business in the long run.
