Keep Customers Close: How Omni-Channel Personalization Strategies Increase Retention

Keep your customers close and your personalization strategy closer, especially when retention rates are dropping. 

For most brands, increasing customer lifetime value is a top priority. But when opt-out rates begin to increase, a results-driven digital marketing strategy must rise to the occasion to keep customers’ attention. 

Acquiring customers is important, but retaining them is even more critical. In fact, the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70%, while selling to a new customer is 5-20%. So why are brands focused on the shiny object of new customers rather than the already existing ones begging to become loyalists? Currently, 44% of brands prioritize customer acquisition, but only 18% focus on retention.

The energy you put into a new customer welcome series should be the same as your retention and loyalty campaigns. Your existing customers have already proved their loyalty; now it’s time to ensure they stick around for the long haul.

Higher retention rates start with 1:1 customer engagement at every digital touchpoint. But it runs much deeper than that. Successful retention begins by building relationships.

Here are three ways to ensure your customers come back for more: 

Keep Your Customers Happy

Good marketers know that when the customer is happy, the brand is happy. And what’s certain to keep them satisfied? Personalization. 

You want to keep your customers engaged with the brand. They want an easy shopping experience on any device, anywhere. Keep things simple for them by providing the most relevant information. Gathering accurate consumer data is the best and most reliable method to support 1:1 communications. But where should marketers start? By capturing zero- and first-party data. 

This data, whether it be tracked through online behavior (first-party data) or shared by the customer willingly (zero-party data), is easier to collect than one would think. Because people expect personalized interactions with brands, they are willing to share personal data to get the experiences they crave. According to Merkle’s 2021 Consumer Experience Sentiment Report, 76% of customers are comfortable sharing their data with brands in return for tailored personalization. 

For marketers that want to take things a step further, AI powered personalization is the solution of the future. The data you use today to create engaging campaigns can have a dual use of teaching the AI software about your customer, soon empowering marketers to send never-before-seen content that they know will be a hit. This will not only delight customers, but put your brand in an optimal position to foster healthier customers with stronger loyalty and higher lifetime value.

When personalization is prioritized and maintained throughout the customer journey, there is a smaller chance of them leaving the brand behind and looking elsewhere.

Reward Loyal Customers

Loyalty programs are successful. They have been around since 1793, when an American merchant gave copper tokens to repeat customers. This “spend-and-get” model creates a lasting customer-brand relationship that influences continued purchases. More than 70% of consumers say loyalty programs are a meaningful part of their brand relationships.

You can quickly increase retention by rewarding customers, especially if you’re letting them know exactly where they stand in email and mobile communications. It’s human nature to always want more–and if it’s free, even better. 

Once a loyalty program is put in place, updating customers on their points progress will keep them motivated to continue their purchase journey. You could display their status through an evergreen progress bar that updates with the customer’s points balance with each send.

Win Back Lapsed Customers

You win some, you lose some… and then you win some back. Winback campaigns are targeted to those customers who haven’t made a purchase in a long period of time. If you emphasize every customer’s unique value to your brand, there’s a high probability they’ll come around again. 

Here are some campaign ideas that are sure to win back a customer’s love:

1. Data Visualization - The most effective way for a brand to get a lapsed customer’s attention is by showcasing all of the fun times they’ve shared together. For example, a retailer sends an email to customers who haven’t made a purchase in 60 or more days. Using first-party data the brand included their last purchased item, similar items they may like, as well as the amount of days passed since they last shopped the brand. 

2. Scratch-Off - Everyone loves a discount. That’s why scratch-offs do wonders. Not only does this add an interactive element to the message to engage customers, it inspires them to make a high-value action such as making a purchase. 

3. Poll - Polling is a great way to learn more about a customer and target relevant communications accordingly. A financial brand needed a way to engage customers who had not logged into their online banking account in 30 or more days. In response, they triggered an email with a poll asking what their financial goals were. This prompted engagement and allowed the brand to send tailored communications that best fit their customers’ needs.

Keeping customers engaged is a battlefield, but with the right strategy they’ll be sure to stick around.

Interested to learn how Movable Ink can influence your retention strategy? Request a demo today.