Every company focuses on acquiring clients through existing channels: ads, SEO, social media, etc. And that’s understandable since new purchasers bring revenue to the company. But what if we tell you that customer retention is no less important than customer acquisition?
Retention is the act of encouraging existing clients to return to the brand again and again. And it’s beneficial to companies in many ways, from ensuring a stable flow of orders to a higher return on investment (ROI).
Of course, the balance between retention and acquisition depends on the business size, products, and target audience. Car dealers should expand their customer base more than relying on retention. The same goes for a SaaS company offering software as a one-time purchase.
But if you sell clothes or operate the subscription-based pricing model, you need to give customer retention due attention. And we are here to help. Read this article to find out why you should invest in retention and how to re-engage your existing buyers.
Why Companies Should Develop Robust Customer Retention Strategies
You may not be aware of this, but customers who have already purchased from you are considerably more likely to do it again. It’s crucial to focus on customer retention, regardless of the size of your online business. And the reason is that it’s much more challenging to acquire new customers than to persuade existing ones to make another purchase.
Naturally, the website functionality has a significant impact on your retention success. You may need to make technical adjustments, rework mobile eCommerce design, and accelerate website loading. But all these steps are worthwhile, looking at the following statistics.
- Customer retention impacts ROI. A 5% increase in customer retention translates into a 25–29% rise in revenue.
- 8% of a company’s most devoted customers account for about half of its revenue.
- For certain businesses, high-value clients account for at least 70% of their revenue.
- According to some studies, acquiring a new customer can cost 5 to 25 times more than keeping an existing one.
- Repeat buyers typically spend 67% more than new ones.
Three Customer Retention Tips to Consider in 2022
1. Provide Omnichannel Support
The first way to provide a customer-centric experience is to go omnichannel. Omnichannel revolves around the efficient use of various channels. Adaptive companies understand the importance of a solid online presence and leverage social media, messengers, emails, and SMS to reach prospects. That’s how they become multichannel.
An omnichannel strategy takes this approach to the next level. How? Businesses do not just sustain several channels at once to find leads, retain clients, and increase engagement. They recognize clients based on previous interactions.
Suppose someone left a message on Instagram and now texts you via WhatsApp. The last thing customers want is to repeat their data and inquiries from the beginning. Your task is to extract information from your social media and provide a solution to the problem in the shortest possible time.
Customers receive more outstanding contextual support via omnichannel communication. It offers a seamless, consistent experience across all channels, including desktop, mobile, phone, and in-person. According to research, this approach helps companies retain 89% of consumers.
2. Be Present on Social Media
The number of platforms to connect with your audience increases by the day. One of them is social media. Even though these websites are designed for personal communication with friends and family, they also help businesses achieve their goals.
For example, you can increase brand awareness and retain customers. Social media let you attract paid traffic with ads tailored for certain segments.
Note that social media attract different audiences and vary in the types of content. LinkedIn is a professional venue, so it works better for retaining B2B clients. It also suits service and software providers best, so generating educational content is the best way to increase their interest.
Twitter, in turn, is about short and catchy messages and trending hashtags. Instagram has more room for creativity, so you can publish photos, shoot Stories that vanish in 24 hours, utilize Reels, or go live.
Compile a company description with keywords everyone will understand. Upload a profile photo and expand your network by collaborating with partners, influencers, and loyal customers. Below you can see how Adidas encourages its customers to share pictures of its products on Instagram. The company reposts these images and creates a sense of belonging to a community.
Adidas leverages user-generated content as social proof and a way to retain clients
3. Host Webinars and Online Events
Quality content is a must when retaining customers. You can share it on a blog, YouTube, social media, or podcast. But while articles require visitors to focus on reading and YouTube/podcasts lack interactivity, webinars allow you to reach clients in an engaging way.
Generate educational content and teach consumers some valuable skills. It’s one of the surefire ways to keep your customers coming back. For example, you can host a webinar on using the features of your tool.
Webinars enable you to accompany everything with screenshots, videos, or screen sharing. So the information becomes more vivid and comprehensible. Here is an example from the Miro website. The company shares webinars with the audience to help them utilize the collaboration platform at its maximum.
Miro offers various webinars to get acquainted with the tool
There are numerous solutions for taking your online events to the next level. They come with standard functionality like raising a hand or live chat and more advanced features like immersive reality, rooms, characters, and whiteboards. They also let you record presentations to spread the content on your platforms and increase views.
When someone registers for a webinar, they become sales leads. You get their information, such as a name, email address, and phone number. It lets you follow them up, ask for feedback, and send personalized offers. How can you encourage people to watch the webinar live? Answer their questions, make a time-sensitive discount, and create polls during a meeting.
Conclusion
You can take various actions to prevent consumers from switching to your rivals. The same holds true for tips to create more solid, long-lasting relationships with your audience. We’ve presented three top strategies to retain clients in 2022 and beyond:
- Communicate with buyers and recognize them regardless of the platform.
- Post content and engage users in discussions on social media.
- Educate and entertain clients through webinars and online events.
The bottom line is that you can earn more from fewer devoted customers than from a greater number of first-time buyers. That’s why you should employ such a cost-effective and beneficial long-term tactic as customer retention.
About the Author
Art Malkovich is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Onilab, a full-service eCommerce agency. Being an experienced developer and project manager, he keeps up to date with the latest trends in headless commerce, online store development and migration, SaaS, and UX/UI design.
