Best Practices For Customer Retention

This is a guest post by Frank Vitetta who works as a freelance marketer for Metrilo.com.

Over the last few years, I have been increasingly involved in retention marketing and I have noticed how this new terminology is replacing the old “brand loyalty” term.

(source Google Trends)

Before we go into details for efficient customer retention, let’s ask a simple question. Imagine that you are a stamp collector, a dedicated gatherer of valuable assets. What is easier – to nurture your collection by buying protectable holders or simply search for a new set of stamps once you lose or destroy your existing ones?

Even a child would state that this is a silly question. If you cherish your collection, you will try to keep it intact. Customer retention works in a similar way. Your users are the valuable stamps. It is way cheaper to keep the ones you already acquired than to convert new ones. With the added bonus of adding revenue to your business. Because customers, unlike the stamps, generate profits for the whole lifetime of your relationship (Customer Lifetime Value).

 

• Even a 5% increase in retention rates may boost your profits by up to 95% (Harvard Business School)

• 4/5 of your future business comes from approximately 20% of your current, loyal customers (Gartner Group)

• The chances of selling to an existing customer are capped at 70%, while new prospective customers add up to only 20% (Marketing Metrics)

 

Customer retention as a top priority

A core of loyal customers is the backbone of your successful business. This is why customer retention is a must. It is essential to build a lasting relationship with your customers, and this comes easier than you would think. If you care about your customer base, they will notice it – amazing customer service, high level of engagement, and also education – these are key points for an efficient customer retention platform.

A noticeable percentage of business owners approach customer retention with minimal care. They assume that retention marketing works on its own. But an existing customer base is not enough to keep your business going. You will need to invest more in keeping those customers. And it will cost you a lot less than leaving the future of your store on just a good faith.

Here are some of the most promising customer retention strategies. Some may suit your business perfectly; others may not be your type of action. In any case, you can only benefit from them.

Customer retention strategies for optimal success

Put simply, it is close to impossible to retain a customer who doesn’t notice you. They have to pay attention to your idea, to your products and deals. Like every relationship, business-to-customer also requires decent communication and engagement. An engaged and satisfied customer is a loyal customer.

A rebel with a cause – Customer retention basics

All of us embrace the idea of standing for something. Even the most rebellious people stand for their values. And a mass percentage of consumers share this ideology when it comes to picking favorite brands. Research shows that over 60% of loyal customers express “shared values” as the main reason for choosing a particular brand (Corporate Executive Board).

Retention marketing relies heavily on the personal connection between you and your customers. Although you can’t meet each of them in person, you can make it seem this way. A real connection is generated through personalized experiences for them. If you can make any customer feel special, they will gain the sense of knowing you. Not only as a brand/store leader but as a virtual friend. And this should be a key component in your customer retention strategy.

Summon the inner catalyst

Every customer, in general, chooses their preferred brands by resemblance. If the product/s vision and purpose relates to customer values and beliefs, it is more likely to provoke interest. In order to accomplish strong customer interest, you need to study your customer base thoroughly. Identify the core of loyal customers, and develop a message for their needs and goals. Every promising customer retention strategy has to be equipped accordingly.

It is easier to satisfy an existing demand rather than create an entirely new one. You can’t be sure how many customers will relate to your innovative ideas. The safer and more profitable route is the first one. In times of such competitive marketing, it is essential to present your customers with the most accurate answer to their desires.

Take customer experience to another level

You will be surprised how low-cost customer retention initiatives work on your clients. The key factor here is uniqueness. Think of welcome surprises, milestones, and customized rewards for each customer. It may seem like a lot of work, but it will pay off greatly.

Add a bonus item with their second or third purchase. It doesn’t need to be something overwhelming. Even a handwritten Thank you-note will make them feel special. And always rely on the surprise. Don’t proclaim bonuses on your website. Keep it on the low side. This way, every surprise gift will summon a feeling of personal involvement. And this type of retention marketing creates the most loyal customers.

Passion, Engagement, and Responsive actions in Retention marketing

First and foremost – care for your customers. This includes friendly behavior, gifts, and bonuses, but also innovation. Make sure to be aware of new technologies and ways to benefit your customers. Every properly answered question adds up to the Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). Every piece of customer feedback enables you to react to their needs. Every proactive customer retention initiative expands your loyal customer base.

We know how tough it can be to satisfy every customer. This is why you need an efficient customer support system. Hire professionals, rather than temps to do the job. Optimize your automated customer support tools, and invest in real employees to cover every customer’s need. After all, your clients are the people who dictate the place and time of engagement with brands. Follow their leads and try to be everywhere. At any time given.

Don’t hesitate to implement customer retention platforms

In relation to the previous point, being “everywhere” is easiest when you engage in the digital world. Metrilo.com is SaaS platform, oriented towards e-commerce retention marketing. With their help, you can track purchase history, campaign success, and the most promising existing customers.

To identify the strengths and weaknesses of your customer retention actions is crucial. With enough data, you can greatly boost customer lifetime value, average order values, and even conversion rates.

If you want to check our more retention marketing platforms, my friend Tom has got a nice site here: http://retentionmarketing.co/ with the right platform you can expect a 67% rise in Customer Lifetime Value, along with 39% better conversion from emails, and 48% better retention rates.

Is brand loyalty dead? Let me know what you think.

The post Best Practices For Customer Retention appeared first on SEM Blog & News - SEO, PPC, Social, Marketing & More.

source https://www.emarketed.com/blog/best-practices-customer-retention/

Trending Topics are a Marketer’s Treasure

When coming up with a marketing strategy, businesses can benefit from finding and taking advantage of recent trending topics. Content marketing that incorporates trending topics can be more effective at reaching people online who are interested in what’s new and relevant. You can get your content read and make sure that your brand is involved in recent events and discussions.

The first step in using trending topics is to be able to find them and search for one that you can easily incorporate in your own content. Trending topics are easiest to find on sites like Twitter, Google, and Facebook. Twitter was the platform that gave birth to the trending topics feature through the use of hashtags to track trends but other websites also incorporate trending topics based on what people search for the most.

You can look through the list of trending topics on any of these sites and try to identify some that would be most relevant to your brand and will interest your followers. You will need to make sure to produce and share the content quickly before the trend loses momentum. You can also plan content with trending topics in advance if you know something will be relevant such as upcoming holidays or events like festivals and award shows.

It is important to use trending topics correctly by employing the exact hashtag that people are using. You also need to make sure you understand the context of the hashtag or the topics so that you don’t use it incorrectly and appear out of touch. Make sure to do enough research beforehand so that your content is useful, relevant and appropriate for the trend.

With enough planning and the right content you can use trending topics to increase brand awareness and reach a new audience.

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source https://www.emarketed.com/blog/trending-topics-marketers-treasure/

What is “Content Seeding” and When Should I Start Planting?

The concept behind seeding is to spread something over multiple areas in order to yield more results. The same is true of “content seeding” which in the world of digital marketing refers to the strategic approach of scattering content across the internet. Of course content seeding is not haphazard or random in any way but rather a calculated and targeted strategy that focuses on placing content in the most effective way possible.

With content seeding you need to put a link to your content in a place where people are most likely to find it. This will usually mean targeting relevant influencers who are well-connected and similar to your brand. You can hire various influencers on different channels so that you can reach more people with your content.

In order for content seeding to work it is important for the content to be high quality and as relevant and creative as possible. The content itself must also be targeted to specific networks and audiences so that it will be suitable for a certain influencer. Some of the most effective sites to target with content seeding are social media channels because this is where most people view influencer content.

You can start content seeding whenever you feel that you have an established website and good quality content but simply need to spread the word about your brand. When your content is ready and you want it to be seen by as many people as possible then you need to begin a content seeding campaign. Once you start you might find that really good content begins to spread on its own after it is seeded.

As long as you have great quality content and pick the right influencers you can start to see positive results with content seeding.

The post What is “Content Seeding” and When Should I Start Planting? appeared first on SEM Blog & News - SEO, PPC, Social, Marketing & More.

source https://www.emarketed.com/blog/content-seeding-start-planting/

Ghostwriting Your Content? Here are the Pros and Cons

Most marketers know that the quality of your content is crucial in getting the best results from a campaign. Some businesses hire ghostwriters to produce content for their website, blog or social media posts to ensure they have the highest quality. There many benefits associated with having a ghostwriter but there are also certain drawbacks as well.

With a ghostwriter you know that the content will be much more polished and in most cases perfectly optimized to increase traffic. Ghostwriters have enough experience to understand what kind of content gets results and works best for SEO or advertising purposes. A ghostwriter can also create content quickly and meet deadlines for your campaign.

However, with in-house writers there are also some advantages that might make them preferable to a ghostwriter. A business that has in-house writers usually has much more control over the type of content that they create. You can oversee everything that they create and provide your own ideas and insight so that the content is tailored to your vision.

In-house writers also typically have more in depth knowledge of the field your business is involved in. They know the day to day details of what you do inside and out and won’t need to put in all the research that a ghostwriter might need to. In-house writers can also be more affordable, give the content the specific personality of your company which might be difficult for a ghostwriter to capture.

There are pros and cons to hiring a ghostwriter but it all depends on your business goals and how you want to achieve them. Both ghostwriters and in-house writers can be useful options based on the type of content and results you are looking for from an ad campaign.

The post Ghostwriting Your Content? Here are the Pros and Cons appeared first on SEM Blog & News - SEO, PPC, Social, Marketing & More.

source https://www.emarketed.com/blog/ghostwriting-content-pros-cons/

Missing Out on Mobile Technology?

Digital marketing encompasses a broad spectrum of different strategies that all contribute to increasing brand awareness. If your marketing plan does not include mobile technology in any way then you may be missing out on a key component of your campaign. Customers engage with brands across an increasing number of devices and incorporating mobile technology into your marketing can provide a big boost in visibility.

The way that customers find products has been shifting toward mobile in recent years and now the majority of retail purchases actually happen on mobile devices. More businesses are embracing apps as a way to reach their customers and increase business by making it easy for them to purchase something on their device. They are also incorporating mobile technology into purchasing items in-store as well for the convenience of customers.

Some interesting ways to incorporate mobile technology into marketing can include providing personalized discounts to a user’s mobile phone or notifications after a purchase to review the experience. Finding unique ways to engage customers through the use of their mobile devices can keep them connected to your brand. Mobile content should target customers based on what they want to see at the right time and their current location.

In using mobile technology it is important to be able to provide content across all channels that customers subscribe to. Content also needs to be timely so that it can encourage customers to make a purchase through their mobile device. Getting more involved in mobile technology can help your overall marketing efforts because it will influence people and reach them in a more immediate way.

If you haven’t yet embraced mobile marketing then it is time to move toward new technology as a tool to increase customers and provide them with what they need.

The post Missing Out on Mobile Technology? appeared first on SEM Blog & News - SEO, PPC, Social, Marketing & More.

source https://www.emarketed.com/blog/missing-mobile-technology/

Leveraging Social Media Polls

One of the key strategies that businesses online usually focus on is getting more engagement from their audience on social media. Interacting and getting people to respond to posts can help you build a more engaged fanbase that is likely to stay loyal to your brand and spread the word about what you do. One of the most effective ways to get people to engage with your posts is to create a social media poll to get feedback from your audience.

Getting consumer feedback not only gets people to react to your post, it can also provide you with valuable information that can help you improve what you do. Voting for something can drive excitement for certain products or your brand in general and it can help you understand what your audience really wants. Polls can make user interactions more immediate and intimate in a way that a normal post can’t quite accomplish.

Social media polls can often take the form of allowing followers to decide the best options for products that a company offers. They can also simply be for fun so that the audience can share their opinion on something. Polls can incorporate humor to get people to react in a way that makes them more interested in your brand.

Lettings be involved in business decisions helps them feel more involved in what you do and persuades them to care more about the outcome. Polls can be used on almost any social media site including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Even though polls can be useful they should be only posted occasionally so fans don’t bored or lose interest in them.

Mixing in some social media polls with your regular posts can boost engagement and help you build a closer relationship with your audience.

The post Leveraging Social Media Polls appeared first on SEM Blog & News - SEO, PPC, Social, Marketing & More.

source https://www.emarketed.com/blog/leveraging-social-media-polls/

Busting the Myth of New Business Failures

Many people from all over the world are afraid of starting up their business ventures because of the myth that most startups do not last beyond a year. This has sadly made people give up on their dream starting a new business for fear of the unexpected and likely failure.

However, this myth is completely misleading, and the opposite is actually the truth! The majority, almost 80%, of all startups thrive for one year and beyond according to the most recent statistics from the SBA Small Business Administration.

Recent research from the small business advocate office of the SBA proves that over 75% of startups succeed in their first year of operation.

 

Embedded from Best 4 Businesses.com

Small businesses and startups are the backbones of every country’s economic progress. They are a major source of employment since that often employ locally. This simultaneously helps the people’s living standards while driving up the country’s economy.

During the recession for example, when many big businesses faltered, most small businesses withstood the recession and kept going strong. In the process, they helped their many employees weather the economic storms successfully.

Facts about Small Business in America

• • There are over 29 million small businesses in the USA alone. Out of these, about 23 million had no employees while another 5 million had employees. The number of large business is much less than the small businesses.
  • Over 99% of all firms in the USA are small businesses with the same percentage of paid employees.
  • Small businesses account for 62% of new job creations in the first quarter of every year.
  • About 4000,000 small businesses start every year, but only about 50% survive the first five years.

Why Small Businesses and Startups Fail

Though not all new businesses survive after the first five years, those that do, stabilize after being in business for a few years. A third of all startups survive beyond 10 years.

It is important to note that majority of those businesses that close their doors do not do so because they failed. Some opt to sell off their businesses while other people choose to retire and pursue other channels. So let’s explore the reasons why new businesses fail so you can prosper instead.

Failure to focus on the expectations

One of the reasons for business failures is due to lack of focus on long-term results. When any company fails to define its expectations, they are bound to fail.

Somewhere along the line, priorities change, which creates confusion and this, can lead to negative consequences.

If you start a business and define what you want to achieve in terms of revenue, cash flow, and customer retention, then there is no reason to fail. Be very clear to everyone in the company what you expect as the result. In this way, everyone will work towards achieving that goal.

Failure to invest time in employees

While most people think that marketing strategies are the ones that bring in the largest returns on investment in most businesses, it is not always the case. The people that you employ in your startup are the most crucial part of your growth. They are the body of your business, and in order to get the results you need, you have to train and treat them well.

Focus on their needs and they will focus on making your business thrive by attending to your customers better and since they will care more about your business and your company.

Sharpen their skills by offering training and reward them with benefits and promotions for work well done. A happy employee is a great investment. A discontented employee may contribute to your business failure.

Failure to listen to feedback

Some employers are so overly confident that they dismiss every information given to them about their businesses by employers, customers, and experts. Failure to listen to what people say about your business is a sure way of failing.

If you are the owner of a business and take it upon yourself to run all the affairs, it will wear you down and leave you frustrated. Eventually, you may think that you are running the business all alone without any input from anyone. The truth, on the other hand, is you do not let anyone in – to your personal and professional detriment.

Occasionally, ask your employees, partners and even clients what they think you should change. They will probably ask you to delegate some duties and work as a team instead of taking everything head on alone. If you listen and follow the feedback, the positive results will surprise you. Appreciating those that you work with and listening to what they have to say will make your business prosper beyond the one-year myth of failure.

Failure to choose the right location

If you want to beat the myth of your business failure beyond the first year, then be very careful about the location you choose. Choose a location that best suits your business or service that you are offering.

If for example, you are running a café, do not choose an area with low traffic. You need a place with heavy traffic where you are sure that you will have people coming in for meals at all times. If you run a courier service, do not choose a place where it is hard for clients to reach you with their deliveries. Choosing the most convenient places will ensure a consistent flow of traffic, and this should keep you in business for longer.

Failure to advertise

While many businesses flourish because of hard work, commitment, experience and sometimes luck, it is also good to give your business a push by advertising and marketing your products. Many startups may lack traffic because not many people know what they are offering. You can change this by advertising widely either online or on social media or by using banners and other means of advertisement. This way you know that you will attract paying customers and sell products that people are willing to pay for. Make your products stand out during your marketing campaigns and show reason why you are better than the next company is.

Failure to learn management skills

Good management is the backbone of success in a business. If you do not have good managerial or entrepreneurial skills, learn in order to save your business.

It is scary to start a new business. However, if you strive to work hard on your investment and ignore the myths, then there is no reason why you should not go beyond one year successfully.

Get rid of any bad habits and follow these failure-proof guidelines. You have to remember that without small businesses, the economy would not be what it is today.

Test the waters first before you jump into opening your business. Carry out enough research and know everything you need to know about the kind of products and services you want to sell.

You alone can prove the myth wrong. Good luck entrepreneurs.

About the Author:

Marsha Kelly sold her first business for more than a million dollars. She has shared hard-won experiences as a successful serial entrepreneur on her Best4Businesses blog, where she also regularly posts business tips, ideas, and suggestions as well as product reviews for business readers. As a serial entrepreneur who has done “time” in corporate America, Marsha has learned what products and services really work well in business today. You can learn from her experiences to build your business.

https://twitter.com/best4businesses

The post Busting the Myth of New Business Failures appeared first on SEM Blog & News - SEO, PPC, Social, Marketing & More.

source https://www.emarketed.com/blog/busting-myth-new-business-failures/