Customer– the hero of your business, around whom all of your efforts, strategies, profit, loss the entire marketing journey revolves. The role of marketing has always been acquiring and serving customers effectively in the interest of the business.
The companies consistently work towards attracting new customers and increase their customer base- the most prominent asset for a business. However, the aim of a business should never be restricted to just adding members to the customer base, focusing on retaining the existing ones is equally important.
“Work as hard to keep a customer as you do to find a new one.” – Bill Quiseng
Logically, attracting a new prospect to your business is six times more expensive than that of maintaining an existing customer. To draw a new customer to your business, you need to create a whole new marketing strategy and build the foundation for your business in the customer’s mind. This gains confidence of the customer in your brand thereby increases customer engagement.
One should always remember that a customer once important is remains important. To make them feel the same, email marketing can be beneficial as it helps you to serve and support the customers at every stage of their life cycle.
Take a closer look at the following ways to incorporate various marketing tactics into your campaign and improve your customer retention.
Email Marketing Strategies to Improve Customer Retention
80% of business professionals believe that email marketing increases customer retention. – Hubspot
Email marketing itself is a powerful tool, and a regular tuning with creative strategy can make it even better. Unlike various communication and marketing channels, email marketing is a more personal communication channel. The subscribers specifically invite you to their inbox to deliver valuable content to them. Hence, you can utilize Email Marketing to nurture your customer more effectively and make the relationship last longer with them.
Treat your Customers like a Guest
The best way to treat your customers well is to treat them just like a guest in your house. Whenever a guest visits your home, the very first thing you do is to greet them, followed by attending and serving them throughout their stay.
Similarly, a customer should also never feel like being unattended. You should be more vigilant towards the customer’s actions throughout their journey to serve them accordingly. Starting with sending a welcome email right at the moment he subscribes to your website and assisting them at each stage of the customer’s life cycle.
Subscriber-controlled Email Flow
Even though the customer wants to hear from you does not mean to shower an unnecessary bulk of emails now and then. Instead, you should give the subscribers more control over the emails and allow them to regulate the email flow coming from you.
A bulk of irrelevant emails tend to irritate the subscribers, compelling them to unsubscribe from your website. Therefore, your email should have the option to choose from that fits their needs. You can provide the opportunities based on the following criteria-
- Suitable time for sending the email
- Frequency of emails per week/ day
- The type of emails (newsletter, promotional, motivational, etc.)
There are various ways to incorporate the idea in the email, such as – Time-based, Content-based, Unsubscribe preferences.
The Soft Sales Strategy
The ultimate aim of a business is to sell products and gain profit. However, bombarding the promotional emails all the time is not a good idea for your business growth. You should opt for a soft sales strategy.
Soft sales strategy is a way to connect to your subscribers and provide them with valuable content through email. This content not only benefits the subscribers but also gently updates them about your services. The practice, if followed effectively, impresses the subscribers and keeps them stuck to your brand for a longer time.
The point when you can’t utilize email to win the business, you can use it to win the hearts of your subscribers. – The formula proves to be extremely beneficial for a long-lasting customer relationship.
To include the strategy to your business, you can start by talking to your subscribers on the current problems faced by them. Timejobs- a job portal does the same. They figure out the problem of subscribers and educate them on how the company can help them to get through it. This way, the customer feels attended and cared as well as the promotion sounds more like a solution to them.
Re-engagement email campaigns
The subscribers tend to get bored very soon as their interests keep on changing over time. Slowly and gradually, they start to disengage with your emails – pushing you towards the category of spammers.
Re-engagement emails prove to be a rescue to this problem, increasing the chances of winning your customers back. The are numerous ways to re-engage your subscribers with your emails such as-
Kate Spade, a New York-based online store, opts for a unique approach to bringing the customers back by reminding them softly about the brand, instead of directly discussing the reason for disengagement.
Another way of re-engaging the customer can be telling them about the discounts and offers for them. This approach generally grabs their attention immediately and encourages them to make a visit to your website and place some order.
Segment your Emails
Segmented Email Marketing tends to increase the revenue by 760%.– Hubspot
Email Segmentation is a strategy that empowers you to send the right email to the right person at the right time. Subscribers never prefer to engage with generic emails. However, if you send personalized emails, it drives more traffic and pitches the correct user.
According to a study conducted by eMarketer – 39% of email marketers observed that Email segmentation results in better open rates, and 24% observed increase in sales leads.
Let’s say if you send a promotional/ re-engagement email for the product Harry’s – a discount on shaving blades to someone who has no use of it for now, they will never open such an email.
On the contrary, if you send the same email to men above 17, they will not only engage with your email and buy the product but will also look forward to receiving more appropriate content from your end.
Exit on a positive note
Unsubscribes are never easy to digest. However, instead of getting disheartened, the more convenient thing is to exit on a positive note. You should craft your email in such a manner that it reflects your concern and empathy for the subscribers. This creates a good impression on the subscribers and increases the chances of reconsideration and gives a second thought about unsubscribing.
The approach for this should be – thinking a bit differently. A lead who subscribed to your website and invited you to their inbox to hear from you is willing to unsubscribe. But why? Maybe he was not appropriately nurtured or the distinct vision was the main culprit. The best way to find out the exact reason is to connect to the subscribers directly and request them to ease down the process.
Or just like Moz, you can thank them for giving you a chance and then softly tell them about your new services being introduced, for which they are free to resubscribe as per their convenience.
Loyalty Rewards
You might be aware of the adage of brick and mortar shops; the loyal customers get special discounts and offers. Loyalty reward is the most effective formula for customer retention that always works. A customer never wants to leave a shop that offers a loyalty reward to them. This works for the online business as well, and a valid email campaign accompanied with it works wonders for the business
All you need to do is-
- Segment the most loyal customers of your business.
- Craft a creative and personalized email with exclusive rewards for their loyalty.
- Finally, send it to the fitted group. That’s it!
Ready to Harness the Power of Email Marketing in Customer Retention?
“Email has an ability many channels don’t: creating valuable, personal touches – at scale.” – David Newman.
Email is the most effective marketing channel, especially for customer retention. Email, if used strategically, has the power to keep the customers intact with your brand, allowing you to connect directly with your targeted customer and nurture them throughout their journey.
Along with customer acquisition, email marketing should also aim at retaining customers for a longer time. For this, you are required to serve them appropriately, so that the subscribers neither feel showered with unwanted emails nor feel unattended.
The process is complicated but essential, deciding the success of your email marketing campaign and the business. Hence, reach out to the experts, who will not only help you make your place in your subscriber’s inbox but also add quality to your campaign.
