Customers are the most important part of your business. It\u2019s a fact. The ultimate goal of any growing business is to attract and nurture a loyal relationship with its customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But customer acquisition<\/em> and customer retention<\/em> often compete for attention from your marketing budget. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When faced with the reality that acquiring a new customer can cost five times as much as retaining an existing one<\/a>, you may be tempted to throw all of your resources to attracting new business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The reality is that it\u2019s important to dedicate as many resources to retain existing customers as it is selling to new ones. Both are essential and require separate strategies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Increasing customer retention by just 5% can increase profits from 25% to 95%.<\/a> In addition, the success rate of selling to a customer that you already have is 60-70%, versus 5-20% for new customers. There is great value in keeping the right customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Businesses need to craft a game plan that effectively attracts and retains customers with tactics that can be measured and altered as needed to achieve success in both areas. Here, we look at best practices for marketing strategies that identify and manage new customers differently than returning customers. Attracting a new customer takes time and patience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Consumers have more options than ever \u2013 not only in terms of where<\/em> and when<\/em> <\/em>they shop, but also how<\/em>. It only makes sense that retailers have to work harder and smarter to gain customer loyalty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To realize the benefits downstream, retailers will need to move the battle to the top of the sales funnel<\/a>. Here lies the \u201cawareness\u201d and \u201cinterest\u201d phase of the purchase experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Strengthening the top of the funnel also means giving attention to the middle and bottom of the funnel so those initial prospects move forward to conversion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why it is so important to optimize all your digital assets \u2013 your website, landing pages, content, SEO, and social media campaigns \u2013 to work together as an effective marketing funnel. Talk to us about your business marketing strategies.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n When someone moves into the middle of your sales funnel, that means you\u2019ve captured their interest. This is where you want to show why your product is the perfect fit or solution to your customer\u2019s needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How well you satisfy your customer\u2019s needs will affect the likelihood that they will return. Returning customers will spend more often and will refer their friends and family. Is a customer someone who has purchased an item from your company within the last six months, or at any point in time? What about a repeat purchaser from several years ago? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Say two customers bought from you yesterday. Today one searches for items from your company using a generic search (i.e. sports cars), the other\u2014a branded search (i.e. Ferrari sports cars). Are they both considered your customers? Or should the one using a generic search have to be \u201cre-acquired\u201d? <\/p>\n\n\n\n You would also want to consider transaction data <\/em>\u2013 at what point in time is it unlikely that your customer will return? Will they still return after a year has passed? Searches typically fall into the realm of new customer acquisition, situated towards the top of the funnel and comes at higher cost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, this cost is justified when you understand that you can further nurture your customers to purchase using other channels such as email and direct marketing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A customer\u2019s journey can be complex, so it is advisable to have a multi-channel strategy<\/a>. For example, a customer may discover a new product on Instagram, view that product again via display ad retargeting, and later research that product on Amazon \u2013 only to finally purchase it after receiving a promotional email. After defining who your customer is, divide your ad campaigns based on new or returning customers. For example, your ad campaign could target these 3 sets of audiences: <\/p>\n\n\n\n With your audiences set, it\u2019s time to determine a unique, specific return goal for each. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Generally, you should be willing to invest more (to a less efficient return) to attract new customers. However, since you have already invested in the returning customer, you should set a more efficient return goal in that case. Once you\u2019ve obtained enough data to analyze, you may be able to segment each ad campaign further. You may be able to target each audience by device, or branded vs. non-branded search terms<\/a>. Watch your key performance indicators to see if you are hitting your return goals. Are new customers in line with your new customer profile? Are you gaining new customers while maintaining the same level of profit? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Your growth in search will naturally level off if you aren\u2019t consistently refreshing your ad campaigns. It\u2019s smart to develop a habit of making tweaks every 3 months or so, depending on your data results. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\nAttract Customers and Maintain Contact
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nKnow Your Customer
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nUnderstand Your Customer’s Purchase Path
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nCreate Ad Campaigns for Acquisition and Retention
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<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\nSet Unique Return Goals for Each Group
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nSegment Further to Align with Your Customer’s Journey
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nWatch for KPIs of Success
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