Segun Onibalusi, digital marketing strategist and founder of SEO POW
Year by year, brands must get more creative in acquiring and retaining customers—especially direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands in charge of their marketing. There’s so much competition that it has become a struggle to get new customers and even more challenging to retain them.
And things will only keep getting more challenging. The retailers that survive will be those innovative enough to develop new strategies to draw customers in and then keep them coming back. Acquiring customers and keeping them is crucial to how profitable a retail business can become.
Every retailer needs new customers and getting new customers in this saturated market demands heavy creativity from you. Every day, brands develop new strategies that appeal to their customers using various marketing channels. But Hubspot says 71% of customers don’t trust sponsored ads on social networks anymore. So, if you’re not doing something interesting, you’re wasting money.
One way to stand out is to incorporate technology. The inclusion of tech in customer acquisition is a significant marketing trend. Many brands have started using the latest tech. The following are some customer acquisition and retention strategies that are both creative and bound to be useful in 2021.
Video content
Video marketing has been on the rise in the past years. And Cisco says, By 2022, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic.
One company properly using videos to bring in new customers and sales is Blendtec— a DTC brand that makes blenders. This brand’s video marketing strategy is basic yet super creative. Through its “Will it Blend?” video series, they get people to see how effective their blenders are.
The brand brings in tough objects like car keys, phones, etc., to see if they will blend—in other words, if the blender can destroy them. Blendtec has been doing this since 2006, and the marketing strategy is still effective. Their approach is simple, tell a story about your product, and watch engagement soar. Videos help you tell a better story, which is what customers respond to
If you think video marketing is big now, it will be more significant in the coming years because consumers prefer it. After all, it’s more engaging and easier to consume, therefore, attracting more customers.
Referral programs
Customer referrals are one of the best customer acquisition strategies because of their low cost and quality leads. With more brands using sponsored ads, customers have become wary of them. According to studies, 92% of consumers trust referrals from people they know. And what’s more interesting is, referrals account for 65% of companies’ new deals.
You should take customer acquisition seriously, especially in 2021, where more brands will pump money into paid ads.
Ritual has a fantastic referral program that lets users make group orders for friends and coworkers. How it works is, each time a user places an order using the app, they earn points. These points can lead to rewards such as a $1 lunch to local restaurants. And every referral gets the user 1000 points.
One thing that makes their program appealing is that it caters to their customers’ convenience. They provide customers with incentives to make bulk orders, which is especially beneficial for people in offices and co-working spaces.
Customer retention
Keeping your already existing clients is where the brunt of work is. Customer retention helps you make and save more money for your business. You must be creative because today’s consumers are sophisticated.
Because Market is a DTC brand that focuses on helping seniors with incontinence and other peculiar needs, their product offering stands out because they’ve reduced the friction customers face in the buying process.
They built a “socially intelligent” customer service that uses human agents supplemented by machine learning algorithms, capturing even the most subtle customer suggestions. Retailers usually lose that information in the oblivion that is routine customer service support calls. Because Market has built on that data and designed products that stem from those precious customers’ suggestions.
Because then allows its customers to choose a product to try in the comfort of home. They propose a vast array of products delivered discreetly to them. The customer can try multiple products or sizes, pay a small fee, and find the best fit.
This simple strategy has helped Because Market sells more than 80 million products to 200,000 customers since its inception in 2017.
Data-driven loyalty programs
Loyalty programs are some of the surest ways to keep your customers excited about your business. Studies show that companies with strong loyalty marketing programs grow revenues 2.5 times faster than their competitors and generate 100% to 400% higher returns for shareholders.
And to make your loyalty programs even more effective, you need to include data. Using consumer data helps you create a personalized experience for your customers.
The Starbucks Reward loyalty is said to be responsible for 40% of its revenue. It works like this: You get two stars for every $1 spent; once you get to 25 points, you’ll be allowed to unlock a reward of your choice.
Starbucks sends personalized messages to its customers on their birthdays or recommending a similar product to the one they just purchased. The brand also makes reward redemption easy through its mobile app.
Conclusion
2021 and subsequent years hold something special for brands willing to think outside the box and develop strategies that put their customers first. As you must have understood, it’s one thing to attract customers and another to get them to stay.
You should understand that one strategy is not enough. Today’s consumers want the complete package to solve their pain points, an excellent buying experience, and incentives to stay. It’s not easy, but it’s possible to win in ecommerce.
SEO POW is a content marketing and an organic link-building agency in Ibadan, Nigeria.
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