for the Customer Lifecycle

Your guide to putting yourbest marketing foot forward

TOP DIGITALMARKETINGSTRATEGIES

introductionacquisitionconsiderationpurchaseretention

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07

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introductionAt 8AM I wake up to an email from a cosmetics company Irsquoll open the newsletter scroll through it and usually click on the first call to action Often itrsquos a reminder about something Irsquove left in my cart or a moisturizer Irsquom about to run out of or better yet a product theyrsquore introducing that is similar to something Irsquove bought before

Throughout my day Irsquoll see an ad for that product on my iPad as I scroll through news and another ad on Instagram Is that enough for me to purchase No but with some careful persuasionI might be ready

Letrsquos dissect what I mean by ldquocareful persuasionrdquo and evaluate tried and true methods

After all it is a new year and a new beginning and with good planning this could be the most incredible year of marketing for your business

How are we going to do this By creating a customer lifecycle journey comprising 4 pillars acquisition consideration purchase and retention

3

acquisitioncustomer lifecycle

4

Customer Lifecycle - Acquisition

5

Before we can sell a product or a service we have to have to find customers who are interested Think about your acquisition process how are you generating followers on social media What happens when they get to your website How are you enticing them to leave their information

The easiest way to gain interest is through onsite email capture mdash a place on your website for customers to leave you their email address

How My recommended way of doing this is through a popup But popups are annoying you might say but like the age old saying ldquotiming is everythingrdquo

If the first thing I see is a popup the likelihood that I will enter my email address and convert is unlikely However if Irsquove clicked on a few pages then get a popup asking me to subscribe the likelihood to give my email address will be much higher Better yet if Irsquove added a product to my cart and then I get a popup offering me a perk if I subscribe well Irsquom sold

What are other effective places you can put an email capture form At the bottom or top of your website or on the checkout page

Once yoursquove acquired some converts itrsquos time to showcase your brand and get to know your subscribers We call this the ldquowelcome emailrdquo

Source

If you offered a perk in your email capture form the first email you send would be an email with the promo code But this email isnrsquot just a simple HTML file with the promo code attached saying ldquohere you gordquo This is your chance to put your best foot forward and make an impression

My favourite welcome series is from AdidasIn big bold lettering it says ldquoThe Journey Starts Nowrdquo with an image of runners walking into the sunset Underneath the bold lettering it says ldquoWe are the pioneers in sport fashion and performance which you are soon to witnessrdquo and a big bold call to action ldquoshop nowrdquo Short and simple - but so powerful In a few seconds Adidas made me feel motivated to workout they told me exactly what their brand represented and they made me look forward to my purchase

This is what a great welcome email should be bold branded and clear

This is who we are and this is what you should expect

thewelcome email

Customer Lifecycle - Acquisition

6

considerationcustomer lifecycle

7

As Marketers we need to live by the motto ldquopatience is a virtuerdquo especially when it comes to the ldquoconsiderationrdquo stage of a customer lifecycle We are building relationships Take my Adidas example using my hard earned $250 for a pair of running shoes is something I really have to consider It takes some coaxing

So what can we do while we wait for the client to purchase My favourite approaches include the following

Get to know your customer

The more you know about your customer the better you can sell them exactly what theyrsquore looking for

Letrsquos go back to my Adidas example After noticing for several weeks that I had opened their welcome email but had not purchased anything Adidas emailed me again ldquotell us what you like and wersquoll send you things yoursquoll loverdquo At this point as a fellow marketer I am as giddy as a child on Christmas Day

YES I absolutely only want to receive emails about this specific sport that I am partaking in in particular these shoes I went through the survey and told them everything about me I received another 15 promo code (my first one had expired) for my survey feedback

Think about how you want to segment your customers What do you want to know about them And then ask Your customers want to hear from you but they donrsquot want to receive irrelevant information Good segmentation and personalization will help you stay relevant

Customer Lifecycle - Consideration

8

Sometimes I add things to my cart and forget about them especially when it comes to app based retail (example Sephora or Lululemon) An abandon cart campaign is an email or a series of emails that remind me therersquos something I left behind

Irsquom often told that ldquore-targetingrdquo annoys customers to which I say ldquoyoursquore just not doing it at the right timerdquo If I have only looked at a product or a service once I probably donrsquot qualify for retargeting However if Irsquove been on the website a couple times now and have clicked on the same product and done some research on the product Irsquom likely a good candidate for retargeting Timing is everything Where are your customers in their sales cycle

Perhaps the easiest way to convert a customer in the consideration stage is to just ask them ldquoare there any questions I can answer for yourdquo Especially in times of COVID I have found myself not purchasing products because I canrsquot figure out what the companyrsquos return policy is or because the website isnrsquot giving me enough information A follow up ensures that a customerrsquos questions are answered

Customer Lifecycle - Consideration

9

abandonedcart

retargetingthrough ads

follow ups

Are your customers still not biting Remind them of the benefits of this productservice - why they need it When therersquos a sale on it let them know about it

Source

purchasecustomer lifecycle

10

Back to again my Adidas example The next couple of emails I received from Adidas were amazing They were all tailored specifically to me with the exact products I wanted They knew I was interested in womenrsquos shoes they knew that my favourite colour is pink and they knew I was interested in running

I thought about my shoes everyday and I opened every single email from the company The email that officially converted me came 2 weeks later mdash it had exactly what I was looking for 40 off

The purchase process was seamless I had a question about returns which I was able to live chat and ask them about They emailed me when they confirmed my order and they also emailed me when they shipped my order along with the tracking number Fast and easy

What can we learn from my experience We donrsquot want a customer to just buy We want them to be involved in every single way to knowexactly where their product is and when they will receive it

Customer Lifecycle - Purchase

11

Selling a service Send tutorials after the purchase perhaps an email on ldquogetting startedrdquo another email on ldquotips and tricksrdquo After a week send them a survey ask them how theyrsquore finding their service if they need any help ask for improvements and feedback The point is people like to be involved

Source

retentioncustomer lifecycle

12

Converting a customer to ldquopurchaserdquo is not the end Like in a relationship with someone we truly like we want them to keep dating us We want the customer to stay involved to come back and purchase again Loyalty is extremely important

Are you rewarding VIP customersSending personalized messages

By far my favourite retention email comes from Sephora They know it takes me approximately two months to use my mascara and at the 15 month mark when my mascara is starting to dry I get an email from them telling me itrsquos time to restock

Customer Lifecycle - Retention

13

Let me give you another example

I stay subscribed to Starbucks because every year on my birthday I get a free drink from Starbucks I look forward to it and it makes me feel very special

Source

Nespresso also does something similar They know I drink 2 coffees today and that every month I drink 60 pods When I hit 50 pods they tell me itrsquos time to restock and tell me what I bought last month I can either repurchase the same order or I can pick something similar or check out their new selection

Retention is everything

Customer Lifecycle - Retention

14

Irsquom in the longest email relationships of my life with some brands

Do they know me better than I know myself ProbablyDoes it scare me that they have my behaviours likes and dislikes down to an algorithm DefinitelyHave I ever thought about hitting that unsubscribe and saving myself from those inevitable purchases YepWill I ever actually do it Never

Why Because theyrsquove got me on an incredible customer lifecycle journey

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Cheryl YeungPrincipal Solutions Owner Marketing Automation

Incloud Business Solutions

in-cloudca