By Chris Christoff, co-founder of MonsterInsights, a leading plug-in for Google Analytics.
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Business leaders and marketers around the world are in a never-ending struggle to retain their customers. It’s no longer enough to convince someone that a product or service is worth an initial purchase. Instead, you must give users reasons to stick with your brand after their order.
Returning customers spend more, view brands as more trustworthy and are more likely to tell friends and family about their experiences. In other words, retention is about more than keeping one customer; it’s about cultivating a community of people who trust and respect your business.
There are quite a few ways you can create a top-notch customer experience and win over people from the moment they place an order on your website. Today, we will explore four strategies that can help you boost your retention rate and sales. Let’s dive in!
1. Deliver on your promises.
Let’s start by discussing how you handle new customers as soon as they buy a product or subscribe to your email list. The key to winning over users during this time is to act fast and deliver on your promises.
For example, let’s say someone subscribed to your email list because they were interested in a content-based lead magnet on your site. As soon as the person enters their name and email address, they should receive the content upgrade directly in their inbox. Imagine how you would feel if you were in their shoes and didn’t get the promised offer until days after you subscribed. There’s an excellent chance you moved on and started looking at other companies.
This principle also applies to how you market your products. The owner of an email marketing SaaS would not say their software will help users triple their subscribers overnight. They couldn’t possibly keep this promise because every person and circumstance is different. But it is fair to say that your software helps customers grow their lead lists.
My advice in this situation is to assess every offer and customer outreach and ask yourself, “Am I consistently delivering on this promise?” If so, you may need to rework your message or offer to line up with what customers expect from your business.
2. Develop an intuitive onboarding system.
Develop an intuitive onboarding system to ensure new customers continue using your product or service after their initial order. Onboarding is the process of showing customers how to get more value from their purchases. This strategy is often used with digital products, like software and applications.
One good example that comes to mind is Spotify’s onboarding program. New users who download the app will get on-screen prompts that show them how to do things like save albums and create playlists. This feature is beneficial for people who are not familiar with the music streaming service.
If you need help developing an onboarding program, review user feedback and ask loyal customers to beta-test upcoming releases. After some testing, you may notice that a vast majority of participants are confused about a specific feature. In that case, you can develop this aspect of your onboarding. After a few test runs, you should have a detailed system that increases retention and customer satisfaction.
3. Personalize messages and offers.
Next, let’s talk about the power of personalization. Shoppers expect brands to personalize their interactions and marketing material based on their goals, interests and pain points. The best way to add this strategy to your business is to segment your audience. Segmenting is when you divide your customers into lists based on their needs.
For example, an online pet store would create lists for people who own different animals. Cat owners need specific products and services, as do dog owners. Can you imagine how a cat owner would feel if every single email from a new pet supply store they found featured nothing but dogs? Odds are, they would feel like the content is generic and doesn’t speak to their needs. Meeting their needs through personalization ensures people will continue reading your emails and visiting your website.
If you need help segmenting your list and implementing personalization, I recommend asking new customers to choose their preferences as soon as they engage with your brand. Use their responses to put them on a list that ensures the content they see matches their interests.
4. Create a loyalty program.
Finally, you can win over new customers by creating a loyalty program. The type of program you use will vary significantly based on your product selection, budget and industry. The purpose of loyalty programs is to reward customers for repeat orders.
An email marketing SaaS might create a subscription tier where users get two months for free if they buy a year up front. Alternatively, brands that sell physical goods could introduce a point system where users get cash back for every dollar they spend, starting with their first order. If customers see a $20 credit waiting for them on their next order, they are far more likely to return to your site and make an additional purchase in the coming weeks.
Feel free to experiment with different loyalty programs. Adjust your strategy based on engagement and retention after each change. If you continuously fine-tune your rewards and system, you can expect more people to place multiple orders.
As you can see, there are plenty of exciting ways to win over new customers. The tips outlined today can help you set up a system that ensures your target audience has a lot to love about your brand from the moment they place their first order.
