Customer retention is the method of interacting with exiting consumers to try and convince them to continue purchasing products and services from a brand. The best element of customer retention is allowing the brand build long lasting relationships with their consumers, so that they become loyal to the company overall. These consumers can even tell their friends and family about this brand, leading them to become potential leads to the company. There are several strategies that business should follow to increase customer retention like, communicating well and engage consistently with consumers, understanding the consumer’s problems, make the returning consumer happy with returning to the brand, and asking the consumer feedback.
Communicating and engaging consistently with customers is an essential element in brand loyalty. If a brand is not communicating with their consumers, the consumer is likely to not check the brand social media account or even their brand website. Engaging with customers builds a connection with the brand, and most importantly loyalty.
A brand needs to understand their consumer problems, especially to know how to solve them. The brand needs to know which consumer benefit the most from their products or services. Companies have to hit pain points in their marketing campaigns so that consumers know that the brand understand them. (Links to an external site.) As time passes, the consumer will start to trust the brand and most likely buy from them as well.
Many brands have to make the returning consumers happy when they return back to the brand. Most companies have loyalty programs, which make a big impact on customer retention. Most consumers return to a store online, if they know they are going to be rewarded by the loyalty plan, it can be by a free item or a special discount. Any of these rewards will make a consumer happy. It doesn’t have to be a complicated reward system; the company just has to offer anything that can be valuable to the consumer. (Links to an external site.)
Brands have to ask their consumer for feedback for many reasons like it gives companies an insight on how their consumers think and feel about their brand overall. They can also ask for information to show consumer they care and value their opinions, it makes them feel good. (Links to an external site.) Businesses can email their customers and ask them about their thoughts on their service, and products. The email should make consumer want to engage by provide them with open-end questions, instead of yes and no questions.
During my five years working in the marketing side of the fitness industry, customer retention is a part of marketing that every brand needs to improve. We have created loyalty plans, and even provided clients with free gear as a part of our customer retention strategy. With the small gestures, we are able to show our returning consumers that we care about their business now and in the long run. We know our consumers, and we know what they want, and need. Customer retention is an essential way for brands to increase revenue and profit and maintain and increase the client base. It’s a way for brands to surpass competitors and stand out in their market share.