Top 5 Ways to Improve Customer Retention

What is customer retention?

Customer   retention is what organizations do to stop customers from churning or switching to a competitor. Increasing customer loyalty is a key goal of any business and contributes greatly towards sustainable growth. Despite this fact, and irrefutable evidence that existing customers are more valuable than new ones, customer retention has often taken a back seat to drive sales.  

But this trend is changing, especially given the rise of subscription-based business models. There are clear competitive advantages of customer retention, and we're here to help you understand how and why the benefits of customer retention should be on your radar. 

How do you measure customer retention?

Before we can start going through all the things you can do to increase your customer loyalty and retention, let's learn which metrics you should be focusing on. The only way to tell whether your customer retention plan is working is to choose your KPIs and track changes over time.

Customer churn is probably your most important KPI. This stat tells you the rate at which your customers stop doing business with you. You want to keep this number as low as possible. 

Now that we got that covered, let's go into the 6 ways to increase customer retention!

#1: Provide great customer service

You can't expect someone to become a repeat customer if you don't give them great customer service.

More than resolving issues and providing technical support, you'll want your customer service agents to be polite, and friendly, and offer a helping hand to the customers at every step of the way. Moreover, you have to understand customer lifetime value for your company's growth in a positive way, because if your customer is happy then you're in a win-win situation.

Here are some things you need to take care of to improve your customer experience.

• REDUCE YOUR RESPONSE TIME
• PERSONALIZE YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE
• BE AVAILABLE ON MULTIPLE CHANNELS 

#2: Make your website shine

Your customers will be more likely to return to your offer if you optimize your website to provide them the best possible browsing experience.

What does this mean?

Here are some questions to put on your checklist to make sure your website is optimized according to the latest standards.

• Is it mobile-friendly? Not only do a lot of people visit websites from their smartphones, but Google prefers to show optimized websites in its search rankings. Optimize your website for smartphones to make it more pleasant for your users and get more visits.
• Is there enough white space? Contrary to its name, white space can be of any color -- it simply represents the blank space between design elements. Having more white space will let your website "breathe" and help the customers focus on the information that matters.
• How long do your pages load? It shouldn't take more than three seconds for a single page to load on your website. Customers are impatient and if you have bad loading times, you might want to consider optimizing your images or switching your web hosting providers.
• Do you have enough CTAs? Users always need to know where to go and what to do next. That's what CTA buttons are for -- they make the purchasing process easier and quicker.

Stay on top of the latest UX trends and ensure that your website offers a pleasant experience to your visitors!

#3: Use Retargeting

Retargeting is a type of online advertising that allows you to reach users based on their previous actions with your brand. In simple terms, it allows you to target those users that already displayed purchase intent and get them to come back to your website and complete the purchase.

It's one of the best retention strategies: it's cost-effective, gets good results, and can help you build strong relationships with your users.

The great thing about remarketing is the fact that you can do it through multiple channels. You can set up a remarketing tag on your website, collect the visitors through their cookie IDs, and re-engage them almost anywhere on the Internet.

#4: Explore website personalization

When you take care of the core website issues like UX, the order process, etc. -- you might want to consider website personalization.

You can personalize your website in many ways, starting from the offer. Some popular websites like Netflix, TED, and Amazon personalize your content based on your previous interests. That increases the chances of you consuming more of that content or, in the case of Amazon, making a purchase.

You can also customize various other things, like images, text, and CTAs.

#5: Use testimonials

Finally, one of the most interesting reasons why users may come back to your offer is FOMO -- Fear Of Missing Out. If it looks like your brand has this great community with people who love to share their stories and be a part of your success, your users might be intrigued.

You can use testimonials to create this sense of community. Research the best testimonial tools and find the one that allows you to implement testimonials on your website without too much hassle. 

Conclusion

Turning a first-time buyer into a returning customer isn't easy -- and it shouldn't be.

The competition is fierce. Online shoppers now have so many opportunities to choose from, that having someone stick with you for years is almost a luxury. It means that you've managed to provide your customers with a truly unique experience that gives them just what they need.