A shift in focus to customer retention on behalf of marketers is becoming more important then ever in a landscape of declining consumer spending and the subsequently scaled back efforts of marketers trying to obtain new customers.
Customer loyalty is an area many marketers tend to overlook, and email can provide the perfect link to boosting loyalty with your customer base quickly, efficiently and effectively.
Chicca D\’Agostino, president, Focus USA/Focus Worldwide wrote an informative Op-Ed on DMNews today outlining what marketers can do to better utilize email for customer loyalty and retention, proving the importance of showing your customers they matter to you can’t be underestimated.
Consumers are increasingly engaging in dialog about the brands they use and interact with, especially on social media channels like Twitter and Facebook. Savvy brands who leverage this fact and maintain a dialog with its customers can find out about problems first, for example, without reading about it later on Twitter.
“If you are considering a new product or service idea, e-mail your customers and ask for their opinion first,” D’Agostino explained in her article. “It is like having your own consumer panel, and at the same time you are showing customers that you value their input. Dorito’s aired a commercial in last year’s Super Bowl created not by their ad agency, but by consumers. What a great way to develop relationships- isn’t this what CRM is all about?”
Astute marketers who understand these concepts are engaging their customers in conversation because they know this is one of the best ways to enhance retention, and there’s no better time to focus on customer loyalty than right now. Thinking outside the box and simply sending a “thank you” email, for example, for no other reason than to express your appreciation, can be surprisingly effective.