Nowadays, customer retention is as important as acquiring new customers. Retaining customers not only ensures a steady revenue stream but also helps build a loyal customer base and, as a result, a stable business. The better you are at keeping customers engaged in communication with your brand, the faster your business will grow. And this is something marketing automation can help you with! Let’s see how you can increase customer retention using our platform.
If you’re not sure what the customer retention rate (CRR) at your company is, it’s a good idea to start by calculating it. CRR refers to your company’s ability to retain customers over a given period, typically a month or a year. The higher your CRR is, the better because it means that customers are not leaving your business too often. Usually, that’s because they feel well taken care of by your company and are satisfied with the products/services you offer.
Let’s use a quick example: If you started the month with 150 customers, acquired 20 new customers, and ended the month with 140 customers, your customer retention rate would be 80%, pretty good!
You can use the same formula to calculate your CRR. Regardless of the result, you can always do something to increase the customer retention rate (provided it’s not 100%). Our platform can help you do so, primarily by enabling you to stay in touch with your customers and provide them with additional incentives. Let’s see what features of our platform can help you with customer retention.
4 tools to increase customer retention in your business
EMAIL MARKETING
For many B2B and B2C companies, email is the primary communication tool and rightly so, because many customers start their day by checking their mailbox. This means that when using this tool, you can count on high delivery and open rates.
By automating email marketing with iPresso, you can send relevant messages that resonate with your target audience, keep them engaged, and encourage them to buy more products or order more services. Combine email marketing with personalization to ensure that the emails you send are tailored to your customer preferences and behaviors.
You can also use email marketing to stay in touch with less active customers, e.g., by sending them reminders about abandoned processes or sharing new products and discounts with them. Such emails can help you bring some of those customers back to your website and perhaps encourage them to order some new products.
Lastly, email marketing is very important when you’re acquiring new customers. You can start those new relationships with nice onboarding packages or welcome discounts so that people are more engaged from day one. Such a proactive approach to customer retention will make your life much easier later in the process.
WHATSAPP COMMUNICATION
WhatsApp is one of the most popular messengers in the world. It is very likely that the vast majority of your customers use it on a daily basis. You can use WhatsApp to stay in touch with your target audience and keep it engaged. Of course, you cannot go overboard and start spamming people. However, if you’ll retain a reasonable amount of communication and share news and offers that are interesting to your target audience, WhatsApp is a great tool for building customer retention.
Thanks to our WhatsApp feature, you can create conversation scenarios with your customers depending on the answer they give or where they are in the sales funnel (for example, you can schedule the communication and start it whenever you want). Add a bit of personalization, and your communication in this tool can be even better!
LOYALTY TOOLS
Have you ever thought about starting a loyalty program? Such a program can be extremely helpful when it comes to customer retention. People are more eager to stay with your brand if they can get some tangible benefits, such as:
- Early access to sales and new products
- Points that can be exchanged for discounts and other benefits (e.g., free delivery)
- Coupons and vouchers for future purchases
With a customer loyalty program in place, your customers can automatically accumulate points for their purchases and redeem them for diverse rewards. Make sure your rewards are worth the effort, and you’re on the right course to increase customer retention!
iPresso allows you to implement diverse loyalty and monetization programs based on points, e-coupons and other mechanisms. For example, you can generate personalized discount codes your customers can use when shopping at your store.
CUSTOMER SURVEYS
If you want to keep your customers happy and engaged, you need to ask about their opinion, at least from time to time. Many people won’t share their experiences with your brand unless you ask them. Conducting customer surveys will help you understand your customers’ needs and improve your offer and/or customer service.
There are two types of surveys you should be conducting on a regular basis:
- Post-purchase surveys: Sending surveys after purchase can help you gather immediate feedback on the customer’s experience. Use it to improve the way your company functions and solve reported issues. You don’t need to send those surveys after each purchase, especially when dealing with frequent buyers, but at least once every few months is a good idea.
- Periodic satisfaction surveys: You can also conduct general satisfaction surveys from time to time to see the big picture of your relations with customers. Such surveys come in handy when it comes to introducing bigger changes to your business, e.g., new products.
To encourage people to participate in your surveys, you can offer them a small incentive, e.g., free delivery for the next order. This not only boosts response rates but also enhances customer satisfaction, and that’s what this is about, isn’t it?
Wrapping up
Marketing automation is a powerful tool that can significantly enhance your customer retention efforts. By leveraging automated email marketing, WhatsApp communication, loyalty programs, and customer surveys, you can streamline building long-lasting and meaningful relationships with your target audience. This not only helps in retaining existing customers but also builds a loyal customer base that can drive business growth.
If you’d like to improve your CRR, start by implementing marketing automation in your business. Our platform has everything you need to increase customer satisfaction and retention. And you can test it for free! Go here to access a free 30-day trial period.
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