Everything You Need to Create Your Customer Engagement Strategy
Over the last few years, brands have begun to realize that customers now have far more power than they used to in regards to the interactions they have with companies. In response to this shift in dynamic, customer retention marketing and customer engagement have become common strategies for battling customer churn. Those who are late to the party will soon realize that without a sound customer engagement strategy will be left behind.
In the interest of helping you better serve your customers and create your own customer engagement strategy, we have put together this article on everything you need to know to get started. Our hope is that by tailoring your strategy with engagement in mind, you can get ahead of the curve and make the most out of your campaign. Let’s get started.
Why customer engagement matters
So, what is customer engagement? According to Aircall, engagement is a mixture of tangible manifestations of customer loyalty and the quality of the customer experience. Without actual metrics and data to back up customer loyalty, it can be difficult to know if your strategy is working. A customer’s experience can show exactly how engaged they really are with your brand.
Now, this may not seem important as long as you are keeping customers. However, as more brands roll out their own customer engagement strategy, you will soon be left behind. When you consider that 80% of consumers indicated they are more likely to do business with a company if it offers personalized experience, you begin to understand just how important engagement can be.
Drawing up a plan
As you begin drawing out your plan of attack for your customer engagement strategy, it is worth remembering that a good customer experience is one where the customer feels an emotional attachment to you and your brand. It may help to keep the following ideas in mind as a goal for how you want your customers to feel as they engage with your company.
- This brand always delivers on what they promise.
- I feel proud to be a customer of this brand.
- This brand is the perfect company for people like me.
If you are able to meet these requirements, customers will not only feel loyal to your brand, but they will want to tell others about you as well. The ultimate goal of a customer engagement strategy is to provide value to your customers in such a way that they become advocates for your brand. However, this is easier said than done. Next, let’s take a look at a few ways you can improve your strategy in order to get the most out of customer interactions and engagement.
Stand for something
The first part of doing customer engagement well is to stand for something. Whether this is something like giving a percentage of your revenue to charity or simply volunteering as a team on the weekends, customers want to know that the companies they interact with stand for something more than just money. In fact, two-thirds of consumers think it’s important for brands to take a public stance on social issues.
Now, it should go without saying that standing for something purely to gain customers trust is not advised. Instead, businesses should begin to realize that transparency and honesty are more important to customers than saving money or earning ‘rewards points.’ By actually investing in social issues and trying to make a difference, you will not only earn the trust of your customers, but have an effect on the larger community. This is something that should be a goal for every organization.
Be human
Up next for creating a customer engagement strategy is to be human and remember that your customers are too. This goes back to a previous article discussing how UX and CX work together, but by focusing on the needs of the customer, you are able to offer a better experience. Not only that, but customers will come to see you as a value-add to their lives.
This, simply put, is what customers buy into in today’s market. Beyond a certain point, products and services can only go so far. Customers are more interested in how your brand can help them better their lives and only by remembering the humanity of your customers will your truly be able to do this.
Keep it simple
Although there are plenty of grand ways to improve the customer experience and further your customer engagement strategy, sometimes the best option is to keep it simple. For instance, if a customer makes a purchase, sending a quick email with a thank you and their receipt is all that is necessary to provide a good experience. When brands try to make a big show of everything, they can end up alienating customers instead.
This is an area where recent improvements in marketing automation can come into play. Whenever a customer interacts with your brand, automate messages and chatbots can be used to provide instantaneous responses with required information. Simple things like this can quickly turn a good experience into a great one.
Always provide value
While we have mentioned this early, it is worth repeating: when setting up your customer engagement strategy, try your best to always provide value to your customers. Throughout the customer journey, there will be opportunities for you to guide them along by providing them with tips and tools for success. By investing in customer engagement and ensuring that this guidance is available, you can take your strategy to a whole new level.
Keep in mind, this doesn’t just go for direct interactions, but your entire omnichannel approach. Part of providing a great customer experience is to be consistent across the board so that any interaction your customers have with your brand meets their standards.
Continuously reevaluate and grow
Finally, the last thing you need to know about creating a customer engagement strategy is that this is not a one-time thing, but a continuous part of your marketing campaign. As you start to get the hang of customer engagement, you will need to always be checking and reevaluating your user engagement metrics for ways to grow and improve.
Although this may seem like a daunting task, now that you have a better understanding of both the need for customer engagement and how to go about creating a strategy, you are well on your way already. As long as you stick to it and remember to provide customers value throughout the process, you will be just fine.
Perkville: The Power of Customer Loyalty
While there are those who are just now hearing about customer loyalty programs and their ability to engage customers, others have been investing in customer loyalty for close to a decade. Those folks are the people of Perkville, a company that understands the power of customer loyalty in a world where customers have more choices than ever before.
By harnessing the power of relationship marketing, Perkville has made a name for themselves working with industries like spas, salons, and fitness studios to increase customer loyalty. Additionally, Perkville has been ahead of the game when it comes to loyalty, as now 75% of consumers believe loyalty programs are part of their relationship with a brand.
If you want to learn a thing or two about customer loyalty from the best in the business, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s talk about Perkville and the power of customer loyalty.
Company history
Perkville began back in 2010 with the idea of revolutionizing the way small businesses engage with their customers. Their hypothesis was that if you give your customers a way to track their loyalty and even reward them for it, they will be more likely to stay loyal to your company. While this might seem simple now, without companies like Perkville leading the way that would not be the case.
Since then, they have raised millions of dollars in funding and now work with a series of different companies across different industries. In a time where customer retention and engagement is such an important part of the overall experience, Perkville has helped many to do more with less.
How does Perkville work?
“Ok, but how does Perkville work?” you might be asking. Even if you don’t know how the system works, you have undoubtedly experienced some form of a customer loyalty program at some point in your life. Common examples include Starbucks’ rewards program, airline mileage programs, or even filling out a punch card for a free smoothie at your local shop.
Perkville simply has taken this idea and scaled it to a level where almost anyone can use it. By using big data for small businesses, these companies are able to make better decisions and help their customers with a loyalty program. The brilliance of Perkville comes from simply rewarding customers for engaging with a business more, which in turn drives sales and conversions.
Increase referrals
However, there are other benefits outside of simply reducing churn rate and increasing sales, although those are the main goals. Perkville can also help businesses increase referral business as well, both organically and with a little push. First, for organic growth they know that 73% of customers are more likely to recommend companies with strong loyalty programs. This stat proves that loyalty is important for growth as well as retention.
But with Perkville, they don’t stop there. Customers can always receive more benefits by referring friends to the business. The more friends that sign up, the more rewards you receive. So, not only are customers earning rewards, but you are getting new leads at the same time.
Marketing automation
The other feature that is often seen as a huge component of Perkville’s success is their ease of using marketing automation. Due to the fact that Perkville works with a lot of similar businesses, they have been able to set up campaigns that work well with each of their verticals. Companies in these industries simply set up the program and go.
With the power of automation, businesses don’t have to keep a sharp eye on every single thing their customers do. Instead, they can set up the program, see how it performs, and then analyze what can be done better. All this is being done while you focus on retaining more customers and adding new ones.
The Success of Perkville
While we have covered a few of the reasons why people use Perkville, their success has mainly come from going all-in on customer loyalty. Back in 2010, not many people understood that customer-first marketing would become as big of a trend as it has. By being at the forefront and going above and beyond, Perkville was able to cement their place in this space.
As more businesses join Perkville, the better their technology will become for creating loyal customers. Then, as their business grows, new areas of the market will start to see the benefit of loyalty for their customers. While it still remains to be seen what Perkville will do, we believe the future is bright.
Revenue model
Perkville works on a subscription-based revenue model on a monthly basis, which is typically the most popular format for SaaS companies, especially those working with small and medium sized businesses. From there it seems to simply increase in price for the amount of features you would want at your disposal.
Some savvy businesses have begun to pair Perkville’s customer loyalty program with SMS marketing for even better customer engagement. Since customers usually need to use their phone in order to access their rewards points, this combination makes a lot of sense for small businesses working on a budget.
Final thoughts
As we have seen, customer loyalty is becoming one of the best ways to engage with customers and keep them coming back again and again. However, like any great marketing program, it works best in conjunction with others.
We hope that you are able to take what you have learned from Perkville about loyalty and apply it to your own customers. Just remember that treating them with respect and making their lives better is the ultimate goal.
5 Tactics for Maximizing Your Customer Loyalty Program
Over the last few years, marketers have seen a rise in the popularity of customer loyalty programs as a tool for increased customer engagement. For some, this customer retention strategy has led to great success, while the other 77% of transaction-based programs fail in the first year. Obviously, there is some serious room for improvement when it comes to running a customer loyalty program.
Hoping to make your life easier and make sure you aren’t a part of that 77%, we have put together 5 tactics to help you get the most out of your customer loyalty program. In this article we will explore both the need for a customer loyalty program and best practices for maximizing its impact on your audience. Let’s take a look.
The need for a customer loyalty program
While you may have heard of businesses using a custom loyalty program, if you haven’t attempted to utilize one already, you may not see the necessity for one. For one, there is the commonly cited customer retention statistic that it costs anywhere from 5-7x more to attract a new customer than retain an existing one, meaning it is in your budget’s best interest to invest in attracting loyal customers.
However, a much more interesting statistic for those thinking about starting a customer loyalty program is that loyal customers spend 67% more than new ones. Not only do customers that are loyal cost you less money, but over time they will provide a higher ROI as well.
I’m not sure about you, but any program that has the potential to increase profits this way is worth getting involved with. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to simply have a customer loyalty program, you also need to run it well. Fortunately, we have 5 tactics for doing exactly that.
(1) Reward referrals
One of the key goals of any customer loyalty program is to increase word of mouth referrals and create a community around your brand. An easy and effective way to get the word out and encourage this is by rewarding referrals. For instance, you can offer a free item or session every time someone invites a friend that becomes a customer.
According to Forrester Research, 70% of U.S. consumers say they trust brand and product recommends from friends and family. Not only that, but customers are 4x more likely to buy when recommended by a friend. So not only do your customers have a powerful voice when it comes to their friends, but if those friends become customers, they will likely be loyal customers too.
Each of these statistics provides evidence why you should reward your customers for bringing in referral business. This can both help you reduce churn rate and increase customer retention across the board, so make it a priority.
(2) Mix up the rewards to keep things fresh
The second tactic or technique for maximizing your customer loyalty program is to mix up the rewards your customers receive in order to keep things fresh. For example, while something like a free Starbucks gift card after 5 visits might be appealing to some people, other offerings might do a better job with other parts of your audience.
By keeping different rewards available to use when the situation calls, you are able to tailor the customer’s experience to their needs. When your audience feels that you care enough about them to give them exactly what they are looking for, they are far more likely to stay with you down the road.
(3) Create engaging messaging
The next tactic we have for keeping around customers with a loyalty program is by creating engaging messaging. Customers are only going to engage with you and get involved in a program if they really feel as though they are a part of your brand’s community. By creating messaging that is engaging and relevant to them, you are much more likely to have a successful program.
Now, whether this messaging is sent through SMS, push notifications, email, or some other channel isn’t important. What is important is customers not only feel as if you care about them, but that they get the feeling you want them to be more engaged. As far as which channels to use, let’s take a look at #4.
(4) Promote the program through all possible channels
Another fatal flaw of customer loyalty programs that we see again and again is the lack of promotion around them. After all, how are your customers going to get involved with a loyalty program that they don’t even know exists? The way to maximize your program here is by promoting it through all possible channels.
We already mentioned channels like SMS and email, but places like social media and at your physical location can be just as important. Each of these different mobile marketing tools can increase engagement and make sure your audience knows about your program. While you don’t want to be annoying, your customers shouldn’t have to look far to find it.
(5) Solicit feedback
The last tactic we have for improving and getting the most out of a customer loyalty program is to solicit feedback from your audience. Not only is this vital to determining the success of your program, but loyal customers will tend to be more honest about what they need from your company.
In the same way that you should use multiple channels to promote your customer loyalty program, you should do the same for getting feedback. Since this isn’t something customers will usually seek out on their own, it’s up to you to bring it to them in order to capture those user engagement metrics.
Conclusion
At this point, we hope that you have a better understand of customer loyalty programs, the need for one in our present market, and how to maximize your own program to the best of your ability. All that is left is for you to get involved with a program and start making a difference in the lives of your customers. Why wait? Start today!
Top 6 Best Customer Retention Statistics 2018 You Need To Know
One of the most common customer retention statistics that you have likely heard is that it costs 7 times as much money to acquire a new customer as retain an existing one. Although the exact number has been up for the last few years, the basis of the statistic is to show the importance of customer retention.
In this article, we are going to review 6 statistics that you might not be as familiar with. However, these statistics continue to prove the importance of customer retention, especially in 2017. For business owners who have yet to take the plunge with customer retention marketing, we hope that these stats will show exactly why you need to get started right now, today. Let’s get started.
Benefits of Customer Retention
#1. 51% of U.S. consumers are loyal to brands that interact with them through their preferred channels of communication
Our first statistic comes from research done by Accenture, which states that 51% of U.S. consumers are loyal to brands that interact with them through their preferred channels. Customer retention is all about engaging your customers in new exciting ways, but also in ways which your audience prefers.
By meeting customers where they are and using different channels to talk with your customers, you can improve customer retention stratergies and reduce churn rate. For instance, more customers than ever before are engaging with businesses through SMS marketing to make a difference.
If you haven’t looked into the benefits of starting your own SMS program, the time to do so is now. Who knows how many customers you could be reaching?
#2. 74% of Millennials will switch to a different retailer if they have poor customer service
Although millennials have been accused of killing industries in recent news, new statistics show that the fault might have been placed on the wrong people. According to Business Wire, 74% of millennials will switch to a different retailer if they have poor customer service. Although this isn’t surprising, the millennial generation is leading a customer service revolution, yet again highlighting the importance of customer retention.
Having good customer service is the foundation of almost every customer retention strategy. For business owners who have not begun to train employees on service and make it a focus, customers are no longer willing to put up with being mistreated. Not only that, but with the world of social media, it might not just be one customer you will be losing. Don’t risk it and make customer service a focus right away.
#3. 39% of consumers avoid vendors for over 2 years after having a negative experience.
Again, we cannot stress the importance of customer experience when it comes to retention enough. A statistic from Zendesk claims that 39% of consumers avoid vendors for over 2 years after having a negative experience. Although you might think 39% doesn’t sound like a high number, the likelihood that this number will continue to rise instead of decrease is pretty good.
By starting on customer service and retention now, you can avoid losing those customers for the long hall. Additionally, if you treat customers well and they continue to churn, at least you can run remarketing campaigns with the hope of getting them back. Whereas if a customer leaves due to a bad experience, you may as well kiss that relationship goodbye.
#4. 86% of consumers are willing to pay up to 25% more for a better customer experience.
At this point you may be wondering, “Are any of these statistics good news?” Well, glad you asked. According to a report conducted on customer experience, 86% of consumers are willing to pay up to 25% more for a better customer experience. So not only does focusing on customer service help increase retention, it can boost your bottom line as well.
Hopefully these user engagement metrics are not surprising to you. After all, it’s not exactly rocket science that treating customers well leads to them returning the favor. However, when you can actually see that a better customer experience directly translates to a increase in profits, you can see the importance of customer retention plain and clear.
#5. By 2020, customer experience will overtake product and price as the key brand differentiator
Our penultimate statistic is by far the most important when it comes to planning out your marketing plan for the next few years. According to Walker, customer experience will overtake both product and price as the key brand differentiator. Not only will making customer retention techniques part of your plan improve your bottom line, but it can differentiate your brand as well.
One doesn’t have to look too far to understand that this is the case. Amazon has become one of the largest companies in the world by making customer success its champion and Apple has always risen above competitors by committing to UX design. If you want your business to succeed over the next few years, this is the way the market is headed. Are you going to get left behind or join the race?
#6. Loyal customers are 5x as likely to repurchase, 5x as likely to forgive, 4x as likely to refer, and 7x as likely to try a new offering
This brings us to our final statistic, which if we’re being honest, is actually 4-in-1. According to Experience Matters, loyal customers are 5x as likely to repurchase, 5x as likely to forgive, 4x as likely to refer, and 7x as likely to try a new offering. If a stat like this can’t highlight the importance of customer retention, we’re quite sure what will.
It does go to show that customers that are treated well the first time by the companies they interact with are more likely to continue working with that company. Again, this isn’t rocket science, but this hasn’t always been the case. As more businesses began to see these trends for what they are, more money is going to be spent on customer retention programs than ever before.
Each of these statistics points toward a growing trend, one of focusing on customer retention and trying to reduce churn rate. Beyond that, no one can tell, but by the time we will be able to, your business will have been left in the dust. Don’t let this happen and make customer retention, engagement, and service a pillar of your marketing plan today, you won’t regret it.
Why Customer Retention Should Be Part of Your 2018 Marketing Strategy
As the holidays approach and businesses start to turn their attention to the future, those who are hoping to get a leg up come 2018 are already planning out their strategies. For many business owners this can be a stressful time as you try to decide on the right approach that fits your goals.
Today we are here to make the case for why customer retention should be at the center of your 2018 marketing strategy. As many businesses can attest, making customer retention marketing a focus can improve both customer engagement and your bottom line. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look.
Customer retention is cost effective
To begin, one of the most sited stats about customer retention is that “it costs five times more to keep an existing customer than acquire a new one.” Now while this may not be 100% accurate (some studies show it is even more!), the basis of this statement is true. Customer retention is a cost effective way to keep your business going.
One thing we will say about customer retention is that even though it is cost effective, it is definitely not an easier solution. Customer retention strategies can be difficult to implement and might take a time to be able to see results. But trust us when we say that it will be worth it.
Loyal customers boost your bottom line
The next reason why you should consider customer retention marketing for your business is the boost to your bottom line. That’s right, not only is customer retention more cost effective than acquisition, it’s also more profitable. In fact, by simply reducing churn rate business owners have been able to increase profits by as much as 95%!
Not only that, but if you are able to keep your customers engaged, engaged customers are known to buy 90% more frequently and spend 60% more per transaction. With statistics like this, it’s a wonder why everyone hasn’t gotten involved with custom retention already.
Good customer retention speaks volumes
Not only will focusing on customer retention in the new year help you with current customers, but it can help attract new ones too. Just think about the brands you interact with on a daily basis and think about why you choose them. After all, there are countless companies out there all vying for your business, what makes your choices different?
According to user engagement metrics it would seem that companies that value their customers are the ones on top. Consider Amazon, the retail king, who made their fortune by simply focusing on customer service. Happy customers are more likely to recommend you to their friends, just another reason why a focus on customer retention can be incredibly beneficial.
Engaged customers tell you what they are thinking
Another cornerstone of customer retention marketing is customer feedback. After all, the best way to know what your customers are thinking is simply by asking them. Additionally, engaged customers are more likely to give you valuable feedback, especially if they see it as a way to help improve service.
In 2017, more customers than ever have started asking brands to conduct feedback surveys via SMS marketing. This makes sense when you think about. Customer surveys on traditional websites can feel clunky and take more time than expect, while SMS gets right to the point and makes it even easier to respond.
Consider adding SMS marketing to your retention tool belt to keep your customers engaged and glean valuable insights from their engagement and feedback. Most brands drop the ball here simply because they don’t use the tools they have available, so get ahead of the competition by taking the initiative.
Customers will trust and explore your brand
As you continue to develop a relationship with your customers through different customer retention techniques, the more they will come to trust your brand. Once they trust your brand, they will also start to explore it. This means that they will start to seek out your help with other services and solutions.
This is what will turn a good customer retention marketing plan into a great one: being prepared to meet these customers. When customers begin looking into additional services provided by your company, meet them with offers based on their past work with you. If you are able to tailor their choices to fit their needs, you are that much more likely to continue working with that customer.
Loyal customers are more forgiving
Unlike a business driven by customer acquisition, one that focuses on retention has more wiggle room. By investing in your customers, your customers will feel like they are a part of your business and won’t jump ship at the first bump in the road.
This also means that you can try out new marketing campaigns and tricks with loyal customers to see how they work. Unlike with customer acquisition, marketing this way brings down the risk-factor and can lead you to new insights.
One word of caution in regards to customers being forgiving: there is only so much wiggle room. While you should always be trying new things, there is only so much that you can throw at a customer before they will leave. Simply don’t take them for granted and you will be fine.
Customers will welcome marketing efforts
The final reason why you should consider customer retention for your 2018 marketing plan is that loyal customers will welcome your marketing efforts. This is the brilliance of customer retention. As you continue to build rapport with your customers, the easier it will be to reach them with marketing messages.
This is why mass text marketing and push notifications have become popular for customer retention purposes. It’s all about letting customers know that you care enough about them to treat them right and provide value wherever you can. Do this and worrying about churn rate will hopefully become something you leave in 2017.
Why wait?
We hope that this article has inspired you to get started with customer retention, but it also begs the question, “why wait?” You have everything you need to get started today, so why not get started asap? The sooner you get started, the sooner you will be able to make a difference for your company and in the lives of your customers.
First Austin Customer Success Meet-Up in the Books
Thursday evening, Gleantap hosted the first Austin customer success meet-up of the year. Professionals from multiple industries were in attendance to learn about customer success and what that means in 2017.
The Customer Success Meet-up group was started by Strikedeck in the bay area as a way to learn from other professionals. We were joined by Strikedeck CEO and Co-founder Shreesha Ramdas who was integral in helping Gleantap start the Austin chapter.
Our first speaker, Dan Koellhofer, offered us his insights on Thinking Massive in B2B Customer success. As Chief Innovation Officer at First Advantage, Dan knows a thing or two about customer success, having been in the field for many years.
After his presentation, Koellhofer fielded questions from attendees and helped them to better understand what they, as customer success professionals, can be doing better for their customers.
Our second speaker, Adam Patrick, walked us through Customer Engagement and Retention for a B2C Company. Adam is a friend of Gleantap and the Director of Customer Engagement at United Planet Fitness, one of the largest Planet Fitness franchises in the nation.
Adam walked us through how United Planet Fitness has been able to harness the powers of customer success tools like Facebook, SMS marketing, and more to engage their customers on a new level. Patrick was also able to field questions at the end about where he sees the world of customer engagement and retention heading.
We would like to thank Shreesha for his help starting the Austin chapter, Dan and Adam for sharing their knowledge, and all the attendees who brought their own perspectives to the conversation.
If you are interested in the Austin Customer Success Meet-up, we are planning on having one every quarter, so don’t miss out on the next one! Please reach out to Nathan Ellwood (nathan@snyxius.com) for more information on attending.
Boost Member Retention & Referrals through Text Messaging
In the world of fitness clubs and gyms, customer loyalty is the name of the game. Keeping loyal members at their location is the easiest way for gyms and fitness clubs to stay profitable and ahead of the game. One of the best ways to keep members around is by keeping them engaged, whether that be through a rewards program, mobile app, or tailored workout classes.
For many businesses, whether they are centered around fitness or not, loyalty is the lifeblood of their organization. However, customers today are less concerned with brand loyalty than they used to be. According to McKinsey Research, only 13% of customers are loyalists, who don’t shop around. Most are looking for the best price in town or additional features, with no thought as to who is making the offering.
This is why it’s all the more important to have a successful loyalty program. It’s important to be proactive in engaging your customers, exciting them with additional perks, reward points and making it fun with gamification.
Power of text messaging
What may be seen as an unlikely source of increased loyalty to your brand, text messaging has been proven time and again as a powerful tool for both member retention and increasing member referrals.
Text messages have open rates of around 95% and are the best way to meet members where they are, which is on their phones. If you have the right positioning with your text messages, you can influence your members in a truly remarkable way.
Gleantap
Gleantap is a text messaging and customer engagement platform that has partnered with Perkville to help local businesses boost member retention and referrals using the power of SMS. You can now automate your customer success campaigns at scale through text messages.
Gleantap + Perkville is like loyalty on steroids. It combines the might of Perkville’s rewards program with Gleantap’s automation to get powerful messaging directly into the hands of consumers. Gleantap also creates insightful reports to show business impact through your loyalty campaigns.
How does it work?
One brand that has benefited from this partnership already is Planet Fitness’s franchise United PF that has recently implemented Gleantap and Perkville’s platform across their 67 clubs to increase member retention and referrals. They are already seeing some early wins with this roll out.
United PF has opted to display the texting instructions for their loyalty campaigns on TV screens that they have at each club. Below are some details of this implementation –
Increase Reward Sign Ups
To increase Perkville sign ups, gleantap has made it very easy for members to sign up for the rewards program. PF Members can sign up for Planet Rewards by texting REWARDS to 635-65.
Increase Adoption
To increase adoption of perkville, gleantap has made it easy for members to access their points and get a link to redeem their points. United PF members can access their reward points by texting POINTS to 635-65. By making things as simple as sending a text, you are putting the ball in your member’s court, so to speak, making it easy and completely painless to get involved in the program.
Increase Referrals
Referrals are powerful and drive up your revenue & growth easily. With Gleantap & Perkville integration, we make it simple & luring for your members to refer their friends. Displaying REFER instructions along with the reward points, can have a great impact on boosting referrals.
Integration with your mobile app
Gleantap also integrates seamlessly with your mobile app letting you run your loyalty & customer success campaigns through push notifications. It opens another communication channel with your customers.
Whether these push notifications simply remind them of an upcoming workout class they have signed up for or rope in lost sheep that might be on the verge of cancelling their membership, integrating Gleantap with your mobile app only furthers the extent of your member retention and loyalty programs.
Looking to implement this at your location?
If you are already using Perkville, talk to your account manager or Schedule a Demo and someone will get in touch with you ASAP. Your solution to member retention is just around the corner, don’t wait!
How to Build a Holistic Customer Retention Marketing Plan
When it comes to customer loyalty and customer retention in 2017 compared to 20, even 10 years ago, you can see a drastic change. According to research administered by Accenture, “Just over one-quarter of U.S. consumers (28 percent) feel very loyal toward their providers.” This means that the other 72 percent are open to switching if the opportunity provides itself. This is why customer retention marketing is becoming so important to businesses of all shapes, sizes, and industries.
As business owners, marketers, and consumers ourselves, it is important that we understand the important new trends in customer retention marketing and reducing client churn. If almost 3/4ths of your customer base can be won away by improved customer service or lower costs, you need to be thinking about what you can do to combat those things before your customer leaves.
In this article, we are going to explore what it means to build out a holistic customer retention marketing plan. By that, we mean a plan that puts the customers first and is geared towards making them customers for life. Let’s get started.
What does it mean to be “holistic?”
In the world of customer retention marketing, to be holistic means to pursue aspects of your marketing plan that benefit the entirety of your customer base. Whether that means offering free shipping on products or offering 24/7 customer support, focusing on an improvement to the whole rather than one or two areas will lead to a better customer experience.
However, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t segment your audience and treat all customers the same way. It does mean that you should understand the differences that each of your customers have and how you can best serve them despite those differences. This leads us to our first stepping stone in building a holistic customer retention strategy.
Focus on high-value customers
If you are hoping to allocate your budget for the best possible returns, focusing on high-value customers is one of the best ways to do so. In terms of ROI, focusing on high-value customers first simply makes sense.
However, this is not the only reason we are saying to focus on them. By rolling out new campaigns focused on your high-value customers while keeping your whole customer base in mind, you can improve your services for everyone involved.
Protip: Use Net Promoter Score surveys to find out which of your customers are fall into the categories of passives, detractors, and promoters. Promoters are essentially high-value customers as they are most likely to promote a positive influence of your brand. Focus your efforts on retaining them and the rest will come after.
Solicit feedback and then do something with it
Far too often, organizations and companies will solicit feedback and then do nothing with it. What is the point of asking your customers what their experience is like if you have no intention of improving said experience?
According to Lynn Murray, AVP of Marketing Solutions at Sprinklr, “it’s a serious risk for brands not to know their customers.” And she is right. You need to know your customers inside and out so that you can provide them with what they need. If you’re especially good, you will know what they need before they do.
Do your best to solicit feedback at each logical step in the process. Someone just received their order or purchase? Ask them how the process went. Did they have a complain that was then addressed? See if there is something your company could have done better. The most important thing is to use the information they give you to constantly improve the customer experience and journey.
Protip: Negative reviews won’t hurt your business as much as not responding to them has the potential to. Also, customers will appreciate a business that can accept and amend their mistakes in a timely manner. That being said, take each negative comment or review with a grain of salt, but the few that matter should be handled quickly, effectively, and efficiently.
Always work on improving the customer experience
Going back to our first point on how improving the customer experience for your most valuable customers will improve it for everyone. The same methodology applies to this aspect of a holistic customer retention marketing plan. The most important part of improving a customer’s overall experience is by focusing on their customer journey.
The customer journey can be described as the sum of all experiences the customer has while interacting with your company. By focusing on keeping a consistent, measured approach to each aspect of the journey, you will have far more success than by focusing on just small parts of the process to improve.
Most importantly, a remarkable customer experience is impossible in this day and age without personalization. Enterprises looking to go above the average in this area need to personalize the customer experience at each possible touch point. Harnessing a personal relationship with a customer makes them far more likely to remain loyal to your company.
Protip: Companies should focus on the 3 Es of customer experience: ease, efficiency, and emotion. By focusing on these aspects, you are able to build both trust and transparency, two things that customers value very highly.
Continue adding value post-sale
Another key aspect of customer retention marketing that has changed is adding additional value to the customer post-sale. Now, sale doesn’t necessarily have to be a product or service, it simply can be described as the time an action is completed by a customer. By staying relevant past this point, you are telling the customer they are important to you and you want to continue your relationship.
Part of this post-sale strategy can include sending out a newsletter, relevant articles, and product usage tips. It also almost goes without saying, but should your customer complete an action or sale, you should send them a thank you email or note. In 2017, a confirmation/thank you email is a necessity for customer retention.
Protip: Another way of keeping customers engaged is by sending them replenishment reminders (if you sell a replenishable product). Even remind them of something like a service, such as a haircut or oil change, can be the spark they need to come back to your company for more. Don’t ignore your customers post-sale, think of the sale as simply the beginning.
Every interaction counts
The final thing to keep in mind when constructing your customer retention marketing plan is that every interaction counts. No matter how big or how small, every time you interact with a customer, you should have a consistent brand message you are sticking to.
In order for your strategies to be truly holistic, you need to keep your customers engaged at every stage of the customer journey. Use the tips we have laid out and keep in mind the customer from the start. If you do these things, your success is all but guaranteed.
How to use website engagement tools for your success
The Internet is an ever-changing landscape, steadily growing and expanding as more and more information finds its way online. As this happens, the amount of noise on the Internet also continues to increase. Search engines try their best to give users the best sites for their needs, but with so much extra nonsense out there, it can be difficult to find the right site. And even if you do find the right site, without the proper website engagement tools, you might leave disappointed.
The customer journey now begins online and your first impression is everything. Website engagement tools and user engagement platforms are becoming a popular choice for companies looking to turn a website visitor into a customer. While there are a lot of tools out there, what matters is not which brand you choose, but how you use them.
In this article we are going to explore how to use website engagement tools to make a difference for your site and its success. Hopefully once we are done you will be ready to take on any engagement problems that you might face.
Basic principles
When it comes to engaging users online, there are a few basic principles you need to understand. Website engagement tools can do a good job for you, but if you want to take your engagement to the next level, you’ll need to keep a few things in mind.
User engagement is unique for every website
Just like snowflakes, every website online is unique in a variety of different ways. What this means to you is that there is no one-size-fits all solution to your website issues and problems. It also means that you shouldn’t expect something that worked on one website to necessarily work for yours.
As you start to look at your website and how your users interact with it, think about what makes your site unique. In an ideal world, a visitor would come to your site, see your value, and start a conversation that blooms into a business relationship. There are a few too many factors in the way of making sure this happens every time, but we can do our best to get rid of as many variables as possible.
The way that good websites are designed is with the user in mind. Not only how they will interact with your site, but their needs, wants, and goals. From the design of your website to the content you create, you should always keep in mind what makes your site and users unique.
Website engagement tools will affect your bottom line
According to Wendy Lea, CEO of Get Satisfaction, user engagement has an impact on everything from your marketing efforts to your bottom line.
“Your bottom line is riding on your ability to deliver excellent service while you are meaningfully engaging customers. In order to build loyal relationships that extend and last, you need to understand the basic principles of the new definitions of customer engagement and put them into action.”
You need to be using website engagement tools to deliver excellent service while engaging with your customers. In so doing, you will be able to create a meaningful engagement experience. Here are a few approaches to doing this.
- Engagement should exist in a full spectrum of online and offline experience.
- It needs to be customer driven while still mutually beneficial to both parties.
- Engagement should be results driven
- You should be meeting your users everywhere (website, blog, social, etc.) to engage them.
Engagement boosts your marketing efforts
User engagement on your site is important for many reasons, but boosting your marketing efforts is one of the most important. If you think about it, each of the following areas of improvement come from engagement on your site.
- Increase conversions.
- Lower a high bounce rate.
- Increase search engine visibility.
- Build trust and long term relationships with your users.
- Increase social media following.
- Enhance the perceptions of the company and brand.
Boosting these engagement levels helps you understand your users and potential customers even better. Once you have started to track user engagement metrics, everything will be laid out before you to improve your marketing decisions.
Website engagement tools
Now that you are familiar with the basic principles of website engagement, let’s talk about a few different tools you can use to run a successful campaign.
Social login
By letting users login using their preferred social media profile, you are showing them that they can trust your site. Not only that, but by being logged in, there is less delay when it comes to making a purchase or interacting with the site.
- More than 50% of online users will opt to go to another site rather than complete yet another sign-up form.
- Around 90% of the users who do register won’t come back to your site if they forget their username or password.
- 73% of online users prefer to log into websites through social login.
You will not only engage with more users, but you will have more users, period. Consider a social login option as a website engagement tool to reach keep your bounce rate down.
Social sharing
Going along with the social login tool, social sharing is another good way to get more users to your site and keep them engaged throughout the entire process. Over 75% of users have more than one social networking account, so this is an area you simply cannot ignore.
By having a widget or menu on each page of your site for users to share to their networks you are giving them the ammunition they need to help your company succeed. Engage with them the right way the first time and amazing things can happen.
HubSpot
HubSpot is an inbound marketing and sales software that works with companies of all sizes to increase engagement. They can help you with social, SEO, CRM, email, blogs, and the analytics tools that you need to succeed.
Incorporating HubSpot into your website engagement tool-belt is a good way to put the best foot forward when it comes to take user engagement into your own hands.
So many more
There are plenty of other website engagement tools I could talk about, but as far as the basic of what you need for success, what we have covered is just about all you need to know. As you get started and begin to see results, you will have to be the judge of what tools will be the best for you, your company, and your website.
Remember what we said at the beginning about being unique in the digital world. As long as you always keep the end user in mind, you should have no problem bei
How to Increase Gym Membership in 4 Easy Steps
The gym and health club industry is a 21.8 billion dollar industry. Many Americans are obsessed with getting fit and staying healthy, but it’s no surprise that 67% of people with gym memberships never use them. We all know the feeling of enthusiastically signing up for that gym membership on January 1 and then forgetting about it 2 weeks later.
58 million Americans use a gym or health club, but the average gym member wastes $39 a month because they don’t use their membership enough. Clearly, fitness and health clubs have a huge challenge in not only gaining, but retaining customers. Let’s take a look at a few strategies that will help you attract new customers and build relationships with old ones.
Get them in the door.
We have all seen those offers that seem too good to be true – maybe an amazing BOGO deal or something like $1 for your first month of a service. While these offers might seem crazy at first, they definitely can be effective in getting people in the door and trying your product or service. These kinds of offers are particularly successful in the fitness and health industry. Consumers love a trial period to see if your gym is a good fit for them. If they love it, they are going to be more likely (and happy) to pay the full price for your services once their trial period is over.
A great deal can get them in the door, but be prepared to amaze them with your customer service and offerings once they’re there. This is a great opportunity to shower new customers with love and affection once they have started a trial and welcome them into your community. This will help them stay motivated and keep them committed to your club.
Build a community.
It’s hard to go to the gym, and, when a recession hits or someone falls on hard times financially, gym memberships are one of the first things to get cut. In fact, 46% of former gym members cited the expense of the membership as the number one reason they terminated it. People are incredibly price sensitive to fitness and health club memberships, so it’s important to build a community to bring them in and keep them coming back once they have started coming to your gym.
Technology is a great way to build community at your club. Developing a mobile application or creating a Facebook group for your membership can keep your customers motivated and connected. These tools can be a great way for gym members to find friends, share stories, and learn about new programming.
Listen to the needs of your customer.
Fitness and health can be incredibly personal for an individual. Your services therefore need to personalized and diverse for your customer base. Using customer analytics to understand the needs of your customer can help you provide services they will find most useful. Customer relationship management (CRM) software can be a great way to learn about your members. Listen to what your customers do and not necessarily what they say. They might say they want more yoga classes, but, if the classes being offered aren’t full maybe that isn’t the best way to go.
Analyze customer data to deliver content specific to each of your members. You can begin to create lists in your contact database based on consumer behavior and send your members offers via email or push notifications that they might find most useful.
Deliver value to your members.
Once you have a good understanding of your customer base, you can start creating content for your members that will keep them engaged. Remember that a majority of gym members underutilize their membership! You can keep your customers interested by interacting with them on social media, posting on your blog, and creating videos and resources for them.
You want to be able to show your members that the membership is worth its cost. If members can exercise elsewhere for free like the park or around the city, it might be hard to justify a membership. This is where valuable content and services can help communicate the value of your membership. Free sessions with personal trainers, blog posts focused on weight loss, and videos that feature healthy recipes could help keep your members coming back.
