Retention Marketing is often forgotten and can certainly set your brand up for success.

The more you understand your customers behaviour, the better you'll become at delivering messages, deals and experiences which convert 1 purchase into multiple.

It is far cheaper to Market to your existing customers than new. Research suggests it costs 7x the amount to convert new customers and clients...

Below are some tips to help spur Retention Marketing ideas for your business:

Speak to your existing customers via:
- tailored communication recognising the existing relationship with your business ie: emails, newsletters, hand written thank you notes...
Loyalty
- Is there a loyalty program you can implement?
- Hint: make it simple to communicate and easy for your customers to understand what's involved. Anything complex will slow you down and the customer is less likely to take up the initiative.
Value Add
- Would an additional item / longer service experience / coupon entice your customer to return?
- Perhaps a 2nd time buyer's discount?
- I prefer value-add Marketing as this takes the focus off price. This always depends on the business and the offering - so have a think about what may work best for you.
How can you encourage your customers to return?
- Perhaps give them an offer which must be redeemed within a certain amount of time. Adding a sense of urgency often helps - be sure not to give them too long or the purchasing mindset disappears.
Simplify the purchaser experience
- Are you overcomplicating the buying process?
- Do you have too many choices?
- Less is more. Would simplifying the user experienceencourage your customer to return time and time again?
Up-sell and Cross-sell
- Do you have the correct offerings to migrate customers from one type of purchase over to another?
- Ensure you have revenue streams which allow you to up-sell and cross-sell
Customer Value
- All your offerings must be of value to the customer. They should be helpful and useful.
Customer Service
- Customer Service goes a long way. Whether you're scaling your business or not - having a 'small business approach' is what will help your customers decide whether they want to come back or not
Price
- Ensure your price is right!!!