Do you have a separate strategy for marketing to your existing customers?
You’ve probably got a marketing strategy for acquiring new customers, but do you have strategy for marketing to your existing customers.
Now this might come as a little bit of a surprise, but marketers don’t seem to be as focused on marketing to their existing customers as they are to finding new ones.
Some recent data from the US suggested that close to 50% of all venture capital raised was spent on Google or Facebook advertising.
This makes sense, as when you are starting out, you need to find new customers to grow your business. For this, pay per click is the typically the go-to strategy for marketers.
Once you start finding customers, you need to find out as much as you can about them. Where they came from, what they’ve bought, when they bought it. This information will help you to adjust your plans and grow through repeatable marketing processes that find more people like them.
It’s the management your customer data that is the foundation of Websand. Giving the tools you need to identify and drive email marketing to your subscribers, prospects and existing customers.
Sales from existing customers are more profitable for your business
Given that a 5% increase in sales from existing customers can boost profit by 25% (Harvard Business School / Bain), a little bit of focus, time and effort can have a major boost to your success.
So far on our journey, we’ve sent over a billion emails and worked with countless e-commerce businesses. During this time, a surprising statistic has emerged, only 20% of people buy from an e-commerce business more than once.
The main reason for this statistic, seems to be is that marketers prefer to spend cash, effort and time on acquiring customers rather a balanced approach that includes a focus on boosting sales and engagement from existing customers.
This blog is about helping you change that focus, so here are five tips to help you market to your existing customers.
Tip one for marketing to existing customers: send different marketing to your customers.
With email, the temptation is to send the same message to everybody. However, it’s more effective when you can see or when you can send different messages to different audiences.
It always seems a little bit strange to me that businesses are happy to incentivise a first sale but not a follow up one.
If your new customers don’t buy again, welcome offers without a targeted customer marketing programme can be a very expensive proposition.
Now we know that only one out of five customers are likely to return of their own free will, take a look at some focused marketing to your existing customers and drive some second sale conversions.
If you have a special offer for new customers, why not try a special offer for your existing customers.
Tip two for marketing to existing customers: cross selling
You have the data to understand which customers have bought which products, put perhaps you don’t actively manage that?
Product segmentation within Websand makes it easy to segment that audience based on this behaviour, so that data is always managed and accurate for your cross selling marketing.
So somebody has bought that handbag (or whatever you sell) why not market to them to congratulate them on their purchase and show them how they can get the best from it
by matching it with other items that you have for sale.
Tip three for marketing to existing customers: introduce customer only offers
You probably have ‘welcome offers’ or run promotions to ‘everyone’ but have you tried running a promotion specifically on those people who have already spent money with you.
You have no cost of acquisition as they are already your customer. So rather than a 10% Welcome offer why not have a 10% return offer and drive profitable some repeat sales?
Tip four for marketing to existing customers: turn your customers into a tribe
You don’t need points to create a loyalty programme, all you need is the ability to identify behaviour, and what could be better behaviour than someone becoming a customer.
How do you do this? It’s less complicated than you think. Create a suite of benefits to becoming a customer. It could be something as simple as free shipping on every future purchase. I know a few fast fashion businesses offer a subscription for free shipping.
Why not adopt a similar strategy to your customers and see how many come back and purchase again?
The best bit the cost of this strategy is 100% related to results. It costs you nothing unless someone does what you want and buys from you again :).
Tip five for marketing to existing customers: Identify and empower your VIPs.
Your VIPs are the people that really power your business. Those are the people that keep coming back for more and spending their hard earned cash at your store if you could identify them what would you offer them but also consider that they are advocates for your brand.
They clearly love what you offer as they keep coming back for more. These are also people that you can empower to spread your message.
An example of this in practice is Marks and Spencer’s irregular friends and family promotions.
Whereby vouchers are issued to known customers (registered with a Sparks card) and those customers are asked to pass on those vouchers to friends and family.
Not only is it a very effective way to stimulate word of mouth. It’s also a very cost effective way to incentivise customer acquisition AND increase customer loyalty from those valuable customers.
Even better, they get an emotional kick from your advocate, as they are able to give a great deal to people that otherwise wouldn’t be able to get that reward. more.
It’s a win-win all round.
On the business side, yes it costs you some margin, but you are driving extra sales, acquiring new customers which have been handpicked by those who spend the most money with you, and everything is traceable and measurable source.
It’s a win-win all round.
Putting your marketing to existing customer plans into action
So there’s five tips to consider when marketing to your existing customers.
The best news is Websand makes it easy to apply any of these strategies to your business, so if you’d like get started, sign up through your Shopify store or book a call using the calendar below.
Let’s make your customers happy, and add some more revenue to your bottom line.