Converting potential leads into customers is one thing but retaining them is where the challenging work begins. Customer retention saves you more money than acquiring new ones. As per data, there is a 45% chance of purchase from a second-time buyer. This further moves up to 56% by the time they come around for their fourth visit. Taking good care of your customers, helps your business grow and thrive while retaining them brings in profits and enhances your brand image without any added efforts.

A small group of loyal customers can be vital contributors to a majority of sales.  Since retained customers make for such valuable assets, we bring you five effective strategies to make your customers return for those repeat purchases. 

Go for Multi-Channel Marketing

Businesses should analyse their consumers’ purchasing behaviour online and deploy this strategy to keep them engaged in the future. Time is of the essence when it comes to replenishable items. This is why businesses must segment their customers on the basis of products they buy on a regular basis and send across reminders via e-mails, in-app notifications, messages, etc.

The RFM Model (Recency, Frequency, and Monetary value) should definitely be used for automated marketing to retarget customers, re-engage them, and ensure faster cart checkouts in the process. Further, businesses should run trigger campaigns to have an in-depth understanding of their customers’ response rates, as this will help immensely with personalised messaging.

Cultivate Effective CRM Plans

Ensuring a great customer experience is crucial for any business if they want retention to come into play. This is where Customer Relationship Management comes in. Businesses should use CRM software to centralise all customer data in one place, analyse it, and provide customer experiences that are consistent with their promises. 

They should also leverage CRM analytics to segment their customers on the basis of who is more profitable, who purchases more often, etc. This helps in making regular updates to their shopping requirements. Another interesting way is to create dialogues with customers through integrated marketing communications. This will improve brand positioning, build loyalty, and ultimately lead to retention.

Connect with Your Customers

Customers like to be a part of the brand family as much as they like the brand. Businesses should try and partner with them by sharing. This way, caring will automatically come in from their side. One method can include sending personal invites via effective channels for any big product launch or brand event. This will make the customers feel acknowledged and important, and they will feel a sense of belonging and obligation towards your business.

Genuine interest should be shown while taking feedback and reviews from your customers on ways of providing frictionless experiences. However, you have to be careful to not spam them in the process. Additionally, separate chat rooms should be made with the sole purpose of piloting strategies, beta testing, and experimenting with their customers.

Accessibility-first Customer Support

Providing impeccable customer service is an important and effective one-way ticket to customer retention. If the service is good, the business will surely have its customers’ long-term attention. Data suggests that around 92-93% of customers will engage in repeat purchase if they experience good post-purchase service.

Businesses should focus on having a 24*7 portal for addressing criticism and providing prompt and efficient service to their customers - be it via calls, mails, or live chats. A feedback loop system should be in place that works on collecting, distributing, and analysing customer feedback. 

Personalise Loyalty Programs

Loyalty programs are simply a way of letting your customers know that they are valued for their relationship with your business. Businesses should focus on building strong loyalty programs to turn customers into committed brand advocates and members of your brand community. 

Customised loyalty programs will provide personalised and brand-specific rewards to your customers. Furthermore, businesses must use reward gamification methods to motivate their customers to reach exclusive VIP tiers in their loyalty programs. Data reveals that around 92% of customers will take recommendations from their trusted friends. This is why businesses should give points to their customers for providing referrals. This will ensure both retention and acquisition.

Retaining customers is definitely an excellent way to sell more and create a hurdle-free road to achieving business aims and goals. Therefore, businesses should continuously try to garner their customers’ trust and loyalty through well thought out marketing strategies. It will ensure a proactive retention approach and healthy profits in the long run!