Partner content
Marketers have long since focused on both acquisition and loyalty marketing – and rightly so. But too many have mostly done so in isolation meaning valuable advertising monies are wasted and the customer often lost in the chase, gone forever to be forgotten. NDA, in partnership with Prospect Knight, is publishing a series of articles looking at how marketers can break the silos, build meaningful relationships and bridge the gap between the two in order to deliver better for both business and audience.
Online sales and advertising are evolving, but if brands don’t put the right plans in place they run the risk of falling behind. The Coronavirus pandemic has reminded us that business resilience is fragile, customer loyalty is limited and that finding new customers – particularly when shops are shut and people locked down, is hard.
Many businesses have realised the enhanced importance of attracting and retaining customers, especially as consumer behaviours flex so quickly. But few are set up to leverage the advantage.
Here are five things every business should consider:
Prepare for a new normal
Coronavirus, rather than inventing new trends, will have enforced and sped up existing ones. More people than ever will shop online. More people than ever will rely on technology for communication and entertainment.
And they’re not afraid to chop and change – loyalty is no longer a given. Think, too, of the economic impact the pandemic will continue to have: some find themselves with more expendable income, others, furloughed or made redundant, may need to cut back – be that on subscriptions or payday treats.
Some people will revert back to their old ways once the pandemic allows, but most will continue with their new ways of buying things, new ways of communicating, new ways of being entertained. Businesses should consider these ongoing trends and prepare for the “new normal”.
Build a best-in-class loyalty & retention program
Acquiring new customers and keeping them coming back should be every marketer’s bread and butter, but too often these activities are not considered in the round with separate teams (and often agencies) tasked to work in silos. As this article argues, acquisition and loyalty are two sides of the same coin and the need for a holistic strategy across them both is more important than ever.
Loyalty and acquisition programmes must not be carried out in isolation. Too often teams are siloed. CRM teams client-side rarely interact with the online ads strategy, whether agency or in-house. Make sure these strategies are working together. Acquiring new customers alone is akin to a leaky bucket, filling from the top but losing customers through the bottom.
Look to win back lapsed customers
Research from Altfeld shows that existing customers are much more valuable than new prospects, at around 60-70%, whereas stats suggest that selling a product to a new customers is a much lower five-20%.
Reaching out to win back lapsed customers is a huge opportunity for brands. Having bought from you once or more, they represent well qualified leads. Ask why did they leave, what more could you do or offer? Get personal and be useful.
And don’t be afraid to test new or lapsed channels, our clients have had huge success re-acquiring customers using direct mail, for example.
Higher competition will mean more work for marketers
With lockdown continuing into 2021, I expect to see a continuation of super-competitive digital spaces. Facebook and Google were hyper-competitive in the back-end of 2020 – take Black Friday, for instance, and this will continue as more businesses improve their digital offerings. Brands will need to be constantly on top of their accounts to ensure every penny is spent in the best way possible.
With the various channels being flooded by ads it’s crucial that when brands do generate sales they nurture these customers.
The importance of creatives on channels such as Facebook will only increase. Images and videos need to stand out from the crowd – time and effort into the message and look of the brand will go a long way. Expect to see additional storytelling and brand building exercises from brands across industries.
Above all, know your customers and treat them with trust and respect: give them what they want, they’ll repay you with their loyalty – and even help recruit new converts.
Read article one in this series here and article two here.
Prospect Knight is a customer marketing agency helping companies to maximize revenue from their existing customers whilst also acquiring new ones. We do this through Online Advertising (PPC, Display, Social Advertising and remarketing) and CRM (Email, SMS, Direct Mail). With a combined 30+ years of production and agency experience, they are proud to provide cutting-edge marketing to brands they love.
