5 Ways to Re-engage Old Clients and Customers
Businesses tend to focus their attention on the acquisition stage of the customer lifecycle. But retention and re-engagement are perhaps even more important with economic pressures shrinking your potential market. Studies have conclusively shown it costs between 4-10x as much to acquire a new customer as it does to market to existing customers. So how can you re-engage your old clients and past customers? Here are some ideas we’ve compiled to help you think about strategically about re-engagement:
UNDERSTANDING HOW YOU ADD VALUE
At the core of a re-engagement strategy should be your value proposition. If you don’t have a handle on this you won’t be able to adequately convey it to your current customers. What makes your product / company stand out in the market? What do you offer that’s unique, innovative, or useful?
ENGAGING WITH NETWORKS
If you’re in a client-focused service business, then taking the time to maintain your professional networks will go a long way to ensuring you stay in front of your previous clients. B2B companies thrive on a personal touch, especially in smaller local markets, and networking through events, presentations, conferences, referral groups such as BNI, and one-on-one coffee chats.
SOCIAL MEDIA
An often-neglected resource that companies can use to continue to remain on the radar of previous customers and clients. Instead of focusing on social media as a tool to sell, use it to engage with useful information, entertaining memes, and discussion about product development and idea generation. Keep customers coming back by creating a community, then use that community to fuel your marketing tactics.
AUTOMATED EMAILS
You can create automated email workflows to continue to engage previous customers with your product range, digital assets, or service offerings. Often, discount codes or coupons sent via email will encourage continued loyalty.
ENGAGE WITH FEEDBACK
Creating feedback loops for previous customers to provide their thoughts on your products and service can be a valuable re-engagement tool. This may seem like a counterproductive move (why invite potential negative feedback from dissatisfied customers) but can provide a wealth of knowledge to improve, as well as an opportunity to smooth over barriers to renewal.
CREATE A CUSTOMER ADVISORY BOARD
Joanna Lord, VP of Consumer Marketing at Porch, recommends creating a customer advisory board and inviting members who’ve cancelled to join. By creating a CAB containing both advocates and people who have cancelled, you gain well-rounded feedback that can enable you to respond quickly and intelligently to changing market demands.
EVENTS
Although events don’t often offer a scalable marketing solution, they can still be an extremely valuable engagement tool. Being invited to exclusive previews, events, parties and presentations make customers feel valued and special. Perhaps focus events around major holidays or occurrences on your sales calendar.
Whether a client has cancelled, purchased once and never again, or make frequent but irregular purchases, they have the potential to become an advocate and a valuable asset to your company. If you re-engage old clients with new products or useful information, create a community spirit, and offer different avenues for feedback, you’ll soon create an army of loyal customers and clients to see you through the ups and downs of the market.
Want more tips on improving your processes during a closing market? Download our free guide, Success Strategies for Growing Smart Companies.
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