Customer Retention : How To Retain Customers For Life [PODCAST]

Welcome to episode 12 of Blue Square SEO & Digital Marketing Podcasts. In this episode I talk about customer retention and 10 tips and hacks on how to keep your customers, clients or patient loyal to your business.

As a business owner, you are most probably trying hard to get more new customers, clients or patients for your business. You may be doing this through online marketing, whether that be SEO (Search Engine Optimization), pay per click advertising (such as Google Ads, Facebook advertising etc) or social media marketing. Or you may even be doing offline marketing, such as newspaper, magazine, radio or TV ads, going to networking events. This is no doubt costing you money and hopefully is working.

Here are some stats from Mycustomer.com about customer retention.

• 66% percent of consumers would continue to buy from a preferred brand, even when that brand goes against a more innovative competitor. (Edelman)
• 77% percent of brands could disappear from the face of the world and consumers wouldn’t care. (Vivendi)
• Members of loyalty programs spend 12-18% more per year than other customers (Fundera)
• 81% percent of consumers make purchasing decisions based on how much they trust the brand. (Edelman)
• Your odds of selling to an existing customer are between 60-70%. For new customers, that figure drops to 5-20%. (Altfield)
• Happy customers are 87% more likely to purchase upgrades and new services than unhappy customers. (McKinsey)
• Sixty percent of loyal customers will talk about their favorite brands with people in their social circles. (Yotpo)

Customer Retention : How To Retain Customers For Life Podcast

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Blue Square SEO and Digital Marketing Podcast. I’m your host, Paul Birkett, from Blue Square Management, and in today’s podcast I’m going to be talking about customer retention and how to retain  your customers, clients or patients for life.

INTRO

Many business owners make the mistake of chasing after new leads and creating new opportunities without first making the most of the resources and opportunities they already have.

If you have a website, and I hope you do in today’s world, and you’re focusing all of your energy on getting new people to visit, then you are likely missing out on a lot of potential business from your current customers, clients or patients. It is much easier to get someone to buy from you who has already done business with you in the past. So that’s actually the smartest place to focus your efforts on.

Likewise, you are much less likely to get a sale from someone who is visiting your website for the first time versus someone who has been visiting for a while and who you have established trust with.

In the next few minutes, I will go over 10 tips and strategies that will help you turn your visitors into customers and your existing customers into repeat customers.

Tip 1 : Make it Easy

This is where your branding becomes incredibly important. If someone lands on your website and are impressed by the way you present yourself and what you offer, you need to make sure that they are able to get back to you again when they decide to bite.

This means you need to have clear and obvious web design that is memorable enough that they can track you down in future. Likewise, having an easy and memorable website URL can go a long way. You can even encourage them to bookmark your page through a popup.

Tip 2 : A Mailing List

Better yet, is to get them to join a mailing list or newsletter of some kind. This will then ensure they get frequent updates from you, which will keep you at the forefront of their mind. What’s more, it will allow you to reach out to them with specific offers and deals that might interest them based on your previous interactions. Lead capture is one of the most crucial aspects of your online presence, so don’t neglect it!

91% of Consumers Check Their Email Once a Day or More

Email Marketing Has a ROI of 4,300%

Tip 3 : Social Media

Similar to a mailing list is a social media marketing. By using  Twitter or Facebook you can keep your customers up-to-date and provide yourself with a means of staying in touch long after they’ve left your website.

67% of Twitter Users Are More Likely to Buy From Brands They Are Following on Twitter

Tip 4 : Providing Value

Another good strategy is to ensure that your website itself provides value. Many businesses do this through a blog. Add a blog to your website and that way there will be useful content for your visitors to come back to and read. If your website is literally just an advert, then there is really no need for them to return to your web site unless they are looking to buy something.

Tip 5 : Deals and Special Offers

Running deals or special offers are a great way to increase your turnover for a period and to potentially gain some free marketing. At the same time though, it is also effective at demonstrating to your visitors a good reason to check in from time to time. If you mention your promotion in a Tweet then you’ll find it’s a good way to attract a lot of previous visitors back to your site who were interested in some of your products but didn’t buy at the time. Make sure to get involved in larger deals and promotions too, like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

In 2019 Black Friday Online Sales in the US Reached $7.4 billion dollars

Tip 6 : Tell Them to Come Back

Sometimes the best techniques are the obvious ones: why not just literally instruct your visitors to come back to your website? This could literally just be a case of including a message at the end of your content saying, ‘be sure to come back soon‘, or telling them how often your content is updated. Or how you occasionally have deals and offers. Of course, they might just ignore your request but at least you have planted the idea and you’ve made your case for why they should keep you in mind.

Tip 7 : Use a Loyalty Program

A loyalty program is a fantastic way to get your customers to come back time and again. Here, you offer discounts and other bonuses to customers who use your services or shop with you frequently. This then gives them an additional reason to use you over your competition. At the same time, many people find it somewhat addictive to see their points rack up and will often go to lengths to keep them growing!

Tip 8 : Create a Social Element

In 2020, Facebook is the third most popular website on the internet. What makes it so popular? That would be the social aspect which lets people check in on friends and have conversations on topics they find interesting.

Basically, social interactions keep people coming back because they want to see the responses to things they have written about and continue their discussions. Simply adding a comments section on your website can be a great way to create a community around your business that builds loyalty in a big way.

Tip 9 : Make Them Feel a Part of Your Business

Using the web is a great way to get people involved in your business and to help them feel like a part of it. This in turn gives them a stake in your success and they’ll be much more likely to come back as a result, as well as spreading the word.

What does this mean? Well it could mean outsourcing an idea. It might mean running some kind of contest. Or it could just mean answering a question and engaging with your audience. Even giving away t-shirts can make people feel like they’re a part of your ‘movement‘ and to really get behind you as a result. This is also another very good reason to be on social media and to leverage other social elements.

63% of People Follow Small Businesses to Show Their Support on Twitter

Tip 10 : Leave an Impression

Most important of all is simply to ensure you leave the right impression on your visitors and your customers, clients or patients. At a basic level this means creating a website that runs well, loads quickly, looks great and maybe has a few nice touches that stand out.

Going deeper though, it means making sure that the entire experience of dealing with you is memorable in all the right ways. This entails thinking about your branding. Maybe it could mean under-promising and over-delivering in terms of shipping. Or how about packaging a freebie in with their order, or sending a personalized message? These small touches are what set amazing companies apart from the crowd and build real loyalty.

Show you care about your business and about your customers and you will find they will reciprocate!

I hope you found this episode helpful and see you in the next Blue Square SEO and Digital Marketing podcast.

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