A Guide on Reconnecting with Your Existing Customers
Retaining your existing customers has never been more important. With the increasing cost to acquire new customers, and the increasingly slim profit margins that many businesses face, it is vital to find ways to keep your customers coming back to you time and time again. Of course, this can be immensely challenging for many brands, but particularly for those in high-churn industries, or in industries where customers often buy once, or very infrequently. For those struggling to reconnect with existing customers, this guide will provide important tips.
Why Do Existing Customers Matter So Much?
Before we explore the tips and tactics you’ll need to reconnect with your existing customers, let’s address why it even matters. Why bother with those who’ve fallen by the wayside when you can use social media and content marketing to attract new ones? Simply put, the cost of acquisition far outweighs the cost of re-engaging with someone who already knows (and hopefully likes) your brand.
Not only that, but there is research that shows even as little as a 5 per cent increase in customer retention can boost your organisation’s profits by 25 to 95 per cent. Additional research points out that the typical e-commerce operation actually receives around 45 per cent of its revenue from current customers, not new ones.
So, it should be obvious that reconnecting with estranged customers is important, but how do you go about doing it?
Reward Loyalty
One of the best ways to keep a customer coming back time and again is to reward them for their patronage. Reward programs have been used for decades at this point, to great result for the brands sponsoring them. While they might make up less than 10% of a website’s visitors, repeat customers account for roughly 40 per cent of revenues.
So, what does a loyalty program entail? Really, it can be as complex or as simple as you like. Look at the way many credit card companies operate – they reward their customers for using their cards with points that can be redeemed on everything from airline travel to products purchased from Amazon, and much more. The American coffee chain Starbucks also has a loyalty program that offers rewards for loyal members.
The point is that you must offer something of value in exchange for your customers coming back to your store time and time again. You must also reduce any barrier to entry – make it as simple as possible for your customers to enrol in the program.
Make It a Game
Gamification is being used for everything from military training to employee training. It can also be put to use in building a better, more successful business. You’ll find a wide range of benefits through gamification, depending on how you implement it. For instance, it can help to bolster word of mouth advertising, and it can also help you create a more engaged, loyal customer base. Gamification can also be used to increase time spent in online and brick and mortar stores and can even make acquisition faster.
What sorts of games might you develop, though? Actually, there are many different options available, ranging from email-based to those that require an app to be developed.
Something as simple as a contest that requires your customers to share your message through different channels can be enough, or you could go the route of developing a smartphone app that combines games and shopping, the way that Victoria’s Secret did. You can add an element of competition, such as how Nike, Fitbit, and Strava operate, as well.
Whatever the case, you need to ensure that your rewards offer value to your audience. You don’t necessarily need to give away products, though. Something as simple as recognition in front of a wide audience could be a viable option depending on your industry and niche.
Push Your Message Out
Another way to reconnect with your existing customers is to use push notifications. These can be sent to both mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, and to stationary devices like PCs, but they provide you with the means to send important information right to your customer with a guarantee that they’re going to see your message.
Push notifications can deliver some pretty important benefits, including recovering abandoned shopping carts, boosting conversion, and helping you restart a conversation with a customer who might have disengaged from your brand at some point.
Conclusion
Ultimately, there are many ways that you can reconnect with your existing customers. The tips we discussed above are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Whatever path you choose to pursue, understand that it is important that you re-engage with customers who already know your brand and your value in their lives.
