Building a long-term relationship

The Future. Customer retention may not be as sexy as customer acquisition, but it’s the most important tactic for brand longevity. Marketers should find ways to marry brands’ needs with those of the people they serve. Understanding the evolution of their customers — and noticing what they respond to — can help brands keep them for the long haul.

Retention = profitability
Marketers are often told “to add more is to perform better.” AdWeek explains why retaining existing customers (rather than getting prospective ones in the door) is the more strategic move for better brand performance.

• Engaging people with a product or service that speaks to them — and considering how it might change their lives — guarantees high quality and care throughout the entire customer journey.
• Dripping knowledge and value over time holds customer attention.
• Rewarding customers for spending their well-earned dollars with exclusive offers creates good word-of-mouth advertising that brings in new shoppers at no cost to the brand.

Loyalty is the name of the game
Churn happens, and customer burnout is real. A marketer’s top commitment should be to their brand’s loyal fan base so those customers don’t leave to secure a better deal with a similar product or service. “More for the sake of more,” AdWeek reasons, “isn’t more at all if [brands] can’t hold on to [who they’ve] acquired.”