How to Re-Engage Old Customers & Boost ROI

Most marketing strategies revolve around the traditional sales funnel, following the steps necessary to convert a lead into a customer. The processes within this can range from simple to complex, depending on what you’re selling. However, one thing that is common to the traditional sales funnel is that the effort and strategies typically stop once the conversion occurs, and the lead becomes a customer.

Neglecting your existing customers is a huge mistake. It costs five times more to attract a new customer than it does to retain an existing one. You’ve put all that effort into attracting them to your business and convincing them to buy your product over a competitor’s. Now, you have to focus on making sure they keep coming back. According to research from Bain & Company, increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%.

So how do you keep customers coming back? Try one of our top strategies below.

1. Email Them a Discount Offer

Sending an email is a quick and simple way to get in touch with an old customer. You can use your point of sale system to identify customers who haven’t made a purchase in a while. Or, if you don’t have a point of sale system, but you do have your customer email addresses in your database, you can segment your list based on customers who haven’t interacted with your emails for a while.

The key to a re-engagement email is to focus on “What’s in it for me.” This should be incorporated into the subject line so that you get their attention before opening the email. Typically the offer of a discount is effective, particularly if it is at a good discount. For example, if you would normally offer 10% off, consider upping this to 20% for lapsed customers.

2. Make the Most of a Google Display Ads Campaign

Google Display Ads will show to your audience in placements all over the Internet, giving businesses the opportunity to get in front of their audience, even if they are not actively looking for the company’s products or services.

The Display Network is ideal for reminding customers that you’re still there. Relevant product images work well on the Display Network. Using audience segmentation, you can show lapsed customers relevant products that may be of use to them, based on what they’ve previously purchased. For example, if you sell kitchen appliances, someone who has previously purchased a kettle from your business may want to buy the matching toaster. In addition, these ads are more effective when placed on relevant sites. Going back to the appliances example, you may want to place your ads on sites that are relevant to kitchens, food and cooking.

3. Make the Most of Facebook Custom Audiences

You can export the customer information that you have in your email system and upload it to Facebook to create a custom audience. Do this with lapsed customer data so that you can start a retargeting campaign that focuses on re-engaging them. Using a custom audience is key because it’s been long enough since they interacted with you that the users have probably fallen out of your funnel. As they are not actively browsing, they won’t be seeing your retargeting campaigns, and they won’t see the awareness campaigns that you have set up for the early stages of the funnel. This means that you can create one message, specifically for them.

A “We’ve Missed You” campaign can be effective here, where you address the fact that the customer has dropped off and offer them an incentive to come back.

4. Try Going Offline

If you have a customer’s physical address, reaching out to them through direct mail can be a great way to get their attention. Try sending them a postcard or a letter with an exclusive, exciting offer. In a world where everything is increasingly digital, this can be a great way to stand out from your competitors.

The drawback of sending direct mail communications is that the process is more manual, and it’s not as easy to track your success rates. Digital campaigns can track clicks and conversions, which makes evaluating the success of your campaigns much easier. In order to combat this, you can provide a dedicated landing page for the campaign and track visits to that page, or track the coupon or offer numbers that have been redeemed.

The main benefit of Direct Mail is that it can give your business another way to connect with your audience, particularly if they are older, or not as active online.

If you want to re-engage old prospects with an innovative marketing campaign, get in touch with the experts at Digital Squad, a leading digital marketing agency Auckland. They can help you effectively target and convert old customers through the sales funnel.