One of the first things you learn in marketing is that it costs more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an existing one. While exact figures may differ, research shows the cost may be anything from 6-7 times more. Not to mention that returning customers spend 67% more than new customers according to research done by Silverpop (part of the IBM marketing cloud).

An article in the Harvard business review outlines three more reasons why you should be retargeting existing customers as opposed to predominantly focusing on attracting new ones:

  • These customers have already shown a need for your service
  • They are already familiar with the company and don't require as much education
  • You already have data on these customers, which can be used to run more targeted & effective campaigns

But how do we bring back the love to win-back lapsing customers?

Here are 3 techniques to re-engage those customers who've been giving you the cold shoulder.

Consider your subject line:

Emotional vs. straightforward subject lines had a minimal difference in open rates. "Miss you" with an open rate of 13% was just as effective as "Come back" with an open rate of 12.7%, according to Return Path (a leading data management and insight firm). However, do something different from your everyday marketing communications, so your customers know this mail is something to pay attention to. While emotional vs. rational appeals might not make a huge difference, be clear about what you want to tell your customers. We love the quirky-ness of these emails while the messages remain crystal clear.

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Incentivise:

It's no secret that incentives are more likely to entice a lapsing customer. It is, however, important that these incentives (whether vouchers, discounts or a chance to win something) are given away strategically. It may be tempting to offer a % off as opposed to a Dollar value off, to protect margins but an article by Adobe shows that specific monetary value discounts are double as effective in terms of winning back customers.

Truth takeaway: Incentives are a good idea, but think long and hard before investing in discounts and vouchers which may not play to your customers wants and needs. We suggest spending more if necessary to get the desired response i.e. getting them back in store. If possible, tailor your offering to specific customer segments, win back coffee drinkers with a free coffee, or parents with a free kiddies meal. Also, ensure that regardless of the customer segment the offer is attractive; this win-back mail from the New York Times offers readers 50% off for the entire year.

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Patience is a virtue:

So you've tried everything to win them back, but there is still no love. Looks like it must be time to remove them from your database and stop wasting your breath right? Wrong! Return Path showed that the average amount of time between receiving a win-back email and reading a subsequent mail is 57 days and that 75% of subscribers clicked on another mail within 89 days.

Truth takeaway: Don't write off your customers as lost causes after a non-response to your win-back email. Remind them of your value proposition rather than make demands, which requires immediate action. And, please don't overdo the communications or you will end up "unsubscribed".

For more information about Truth's 6 week loyalty course visit https://truth-customer-academy.thinkific.com/

Article provided by Truth.