Did you know that acquiring a new customer can cost five times more than retaining an existing customer?
We spoke to Khoros social media strategist, Amber Dermoudy, who is also a teacher of digital marketing and fur mama to Instafamous kitty, Leonardo DiCatrio on Metigy’s Forward Thinking Podcast. She’s taken a page out of Brene Brown’s book and has shared with us why customer retention should be the main focus in your marketing mix.
Your Business Is A Jar Of Marbles.
Though the original analogy was aimed for school children, much can be taken away from Brene Brown’s talk about a marble jar. The analogy states that for each good deed and act of loyalty made, the marble jar gets filled, but for each act of disloyalty a marble is removed. The underlying message is one of trust, and when you view the metaphor from a business perspective it begs the question, how much are you investing into your current customers to gain their trust and fill your business or brand’s marble jar?
Our tip is to start small, the jar can be filled through the little things. It’s the honesty, integrity, and taking customer service to the next level that will see it being filled. If you can do that and continue a genuine relationship then retention comes hand in hand, because if people like you they want to buy from you.
If you’re giving great customer service, listening to feedback and taking it all on board to better your product, then they’re going to want to continue using you over your competitors, who are constantly going to be trying to take those people from you.
Building A Loyal Brand Community Starts With You
We can all relate to a purchase we’ve made because our most trusted friend promised it changed their life for the better. This is why word of mouth is your highest form of marketing and flattery. Building a really strong community behind a brand can help to elevate you, but once a customer has connected with your brand, it’s up to you to welcome and keep them in your brand community.
Take a look at the brand Frank body scrub, the Melbourne based brand was able to successfully build themselves from the community. Their social media is a perfect example of how incorporating UGC (that’s, User Generated Content) into your marketing strategy can result in a cult brand following. They invested in their current customers and in return the positive word of mouth cultivated a community.
Related: 4 Ways to Include User-Generated Content in Your Marketing Mix
Slide Into The DM’s
Communication is key! And in this day and age, the average person spends one in every three minutes on either Facebook or Instagram. So if you’re not writing back, they’ll be finding another business that will.
If you’re unsure what social messaging is, it’s basically using a social media channel to connect with someone, whether it’s a brand, friends, or a group chat. The really big opportunity here stems from the fact that most people under the age of 50 don’t really want to make a phone call.
These customers want to use a live chat function, but the frustrating thing with live chat is that if you lose internet connection or something happens, you’ve lost that chat. This is where social messaging takes it to the next level – the history of the chat is inboxed. That means it’s still in your Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. This also gives the customer convenience to pick up that conversation later, when they don’t have to hide from their boss in the workplace lavatory.
How Can Retention Apply To A Startup
Even if you’re in the startup space, you are your business. You represent your business and your brand, so having a really strong personal brand is very important. You’re going to have to come up with other ways to stand out amongst your competitors. Personal branding is definitely a way that you can do that. For Amber, it’s her Instagram famous cat called Leonardo DiCatrio.
“I mention him in everything. He’s on my website, he’s in my resume, he’s everywhere because people remember that. Most of the time, people will remember my cat before they remember my name. I think having something that’s a bit quirky and giving personality is important. But I think, outside of that personal branding, there are other channels – definitely be across all the channels that you want, but maybe you’re stronger at LinkedIn, maybe you’re stronger at Instagram. I guess it depends on the audience that you’re trying to appeal to, and also what you enjoy the most.” Said Dermoudy.
We’ve got a whole range of podcasts, creative inspiration and how-to guides, including more information on creating your business brand. To make sure you’ve got a stream of content to keep you inspired. Check them out here.
Like anything in life, if you enjoy it, you’re going to be better at it. Learn to love getting to know your customers and if you love Instagram, LinkedIn, or perhaps Twitter, that’s the space to try and build yourself. Invest in yourself. Educate yourself, and do everything that you can to build your network and keep it!
Want to learn more from Amber Dermoudy?
So, there you have it. All of Amber’s top tips and tricks to help you increase customer retention and increase your profit. Do you want more tips for Amber including advice on personal branding and her favourite social media marketing strategies? Listen to Episode 14 of the Metigy Podcast with Amber Dermoudy.
Listen to the podcast with Amber, click here
