If most of us had to count the number of times our parents or teachers reminded us to work hard in school, or be polite and civil to others, or clean up after ourselves even when we didn’t want to, we’d be counting for days.
This narrative also applies to many businesses in the modern world. Startups and small businesses are often bombarded with tons of information about establishing their businesses, especially when it comes to customer engagement and retention. As a result, many often get lost in the noise after trying many ineffective strategies for enhancing customer relations.
Customer engagement and retention are among the biggest facets of a successful business. Retaining a customer is often cheaper than acquiring a new customer, with acquisition costs sometimes going as high as seven times the cost of keeping a customer.
Still, many businesses underestimate the value of keeping customers. More than 60% of customers will not do business with a company that once satisfied them, even if they were content with their products or services. This speaks volumes about the lack of connection between most businesses and their existing clients, which has a negative impact on business growth.
So how can you stop the bleeding and guarantee long-term customer retention?
Check out the following strategies from a growth hacking standpoint to help your business hold on to customers.
1. Good-old Email Marketing
For many digital marketers, email marketing is a popular strategy used to get customers through the door. However, many of them quickly stop sending emails as soon as the customer becomes a buyer, promptly removing them from their email lists.
A good email marketing strategy usually keeps the post-purchase lines of communication open with helpful and informational emails. They offer businesses a great way to remind customers that the business still exists because, let’s face it, many of us will forget about a cool product or service no matter how exciting it was initially.
A good email campaign strives to communicate value and substance to customers. For instance, you can use newsletters to communicate important changes or updates to your products or services. You can also send users links to weekly posts or other interesting reads that lead them back to your website which helps keep them engaged.
2. Identify and Describe your Target Customers
An awesome product or service means little if you have no idea who you’re selling to. Defining your target audience is not only important for customer acquisition but is also critical when you’re looking to keep them engaged. Defining your customers means finding out who they are, their pain points, digital channels where they’re most likely to be found, and understanding what’s really closest to their hearts.
Knowing your customers will go a long way in helping you create engaging content that is specifically tailored to their needs. This will also show that you value and understand them, which further helps your brand become a part of their lives and not just a company that is focused on their wallets.
3. Use Social to the Fullest
Growth hacking basically means going hard on marketing over a short period of time using traditional marketing tools analytics to engage new and existing customers. That said, there’re only a few tools and strategies that come close to the efficiency and effectiveness of social media. With millions of active daily users on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other popular social platforms, social media presents millions of businesses worldwide with the opportunity to reach out and interact with clients.
Social media is especially effective at customer engagement. However, there’s never a one-size-fits-all strategy when it comes to designing a working social media engagement strategy. For instance, if you are running an online or physical store, you’re more likely to benefit from Instagram and YouTube than you would from LinkedIn. Ensure you pick the right social platform that is reflective of your industry and customer demographics.
4. Use Surveys to keep Track of Evolving Customer Needs
There’s no better advocate for your products and services than an existing customer. Getting feedback from your customers enables you to improve on your offerings, which gives you an opportunity to connect with them and increase your retention rate. Using survey forms is a great way to discover your customer’s thoughts and experience with your product or service.
For the best outcome, keep your surveys short, simple, and straight to the point. Most customers don’t like surveys, so anything that requires them to spend more than a couple of minutes will most likely be ignored.
5. Balance your Marketing Budget with Everything Else
For many businesses, finding a reliable source of funding to sustain operations is often a big challenge. Without sufficient funds, businesses are often forced to seek working capital loan facilities from banks and other lending institutions, sometimes with hefty fees and interest rates. As such, businesses that don’t get into a path of profitability early on often close shop quickly and painfully within their first few years.
This is why it’s always important to balance out different aspects of your working budget, especially when it comes to marketing. Because customer engagement and retention are to some extent cost-cutting measures, it always makes sense to include them when designing your overall marketing strategy.
6. Remarketing
Remarketing is an inexpensive but very efficient way to engage old customers and get them to walk back through your doors. When used properly, remarketing is often very effective at increasing customer retention. Remarketing campaigns only target specific customers instead of a general group, which can help you save money on ads.
You can also add customized messages on different subpages on your website for customers who already visited these pages. This way, you can speak directly to the needs and interests of a returning customer, giving you the perfect opportunity to engage with them.
Bottom Line
There’s no easy way to get customers to stick with your business. We’re living through some of the toughest business times in history, which means businesses that don’t innovate will lose clients quickly.
A solid customer retention strategy mixed with modern growth hacking strategies can help
your business brings in more customers and retains them even as business environments grow more competitive.
