It’s no secret that businesses have been struggling over the last year. Many are still downsizing, getting rid of any resources and expenses that aren’t absolutely necessary.
This climate is not exactly prime for marketing. The last thing customers want is to hear a sales pitch for yet another product or service. They instead want support, empathy, and human connection.
How can you alter your approach to customer retention as we recover from COVID-19? We’ll walk through why customer retention matters and a few ways to keep up with the latest trends to maintain your client relationships.
It’s easy to think you need to put all your focus on getting new customers – they drive your business, after all. But, you also need to understand just how valuable your existing customers are.
Take these stats: If you can accomplish just a 5% increase in customer retention, you can increase profits by 25% to 95%. And, it can cost five times as much to attract a new customer versus nurturing an existing customer.
Instead of believing that your business will only grow based on the new leads you can attract, pay attention to the people who already support you. Who knows, they may be more likely to spend a little more the second time around once they’re familiar with you.
According to the Gartner CMO Spend Survey for 2020 and 2021, 79% of CMOs expect to rely on their existing customers to help them recover from pandemic losses.
Customer retention is perhaps more important than ever. Instead of putting all your energy into trying to find new customers, show your current ones that you are here for them.
Consumers have been thrown lots of bad news over the last year. Instead of using an approach that emphasizes more negative energy, stay focused on the positives. It’s important to show your audiences that you recognize their challenges but put more weight on the solution you can offer. How can you make their lives easier? Show them that there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
You can also incorporate positive statistics in your marketing content. Pull in pieces of good news to inspire people. This is your chance to create better connections based on empathy and trust.
If you haven’t been staying in touch with your customers, now’s the time to start. Start sending out surveys that let your customers know that you value their opinion. Ask them what struggles they’re going through and how you can help. Ask them more specific questions about your products and services and how you can improve.
While surveys and customer feedback are always important for your business, they are now crucial to learning the new pain points people are experiencing during harder times.
If you have Google, Yelp, or similar pages where customers leave reviews, check in regularly and respond to what people are saying. If you get a great review, thank the customer publicly and genuinely. If someone has an issue with their experience, comment right away that you want to solve it.
Showing that you’re active with your community and that you value what they have to say will help you strengthen existing customer relationships.
Data is one of the most important factors in your ability to retain customers. By gathering and analyzing data about them, you can understand what will engage and inspire them. But, because you need a new approach in our new normal, you need to make sure you’re still focusing on humans and not just data.
In 2021, this requires what’s becoming known as hyper-personalization. This concept is when you can blend data with great content and a seamless online experience for your customers. You need to deliver an excellent experience from start to finish, and it has to be relevant and timely. Modern customers want brands to know what they want, right when they want it.
Since your existing supporters have already provided you with information about them, you can create even more personalized experiences for these groups. Use data you already have to segment your audiences and send out content that will speak to those customers. Additional data and automation can help you reach those people when they’re looking for a specific product or service online.
Your existing customers have already shown their support, so take things to the next level by delivering personal, engaging content that you know they’ll love. It’s crucial to show customers that you understand what they want and can deliver the solutions they need.
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