You hear a lot about how inbound marketing is a wonderful way to generate leads and gain customers. But it’s also a great way to retain the customers your have. That’s critical to business success because return customers are what really builds your business (and it’s easier and cheaper to keep customers than it is to acquire new ones).
How can you use inbound marketing to retain the customers your already have? Here are a few ideas to get you going.
Provide Educational Content: Creating great content doesn’t have to be restricted to your prospects. Provide helpful educational content for your current customers to help them better understand your industry. A benefit of doing this is that it establishes you as an expert. When they need additional help, they’ll turn to you first! You can blog about important topics or host webinar training sessions.
Solicit Feedback: We all know that we should listen to our customers, but it’s surprising how few companies actually do it. You can set yourself apart by using online survey tools, email and social media to collect valuable feedback from your customers quickly and easily. Make sure you let customers know how their feedback will be used—and then follow up!
Create a Community: Your own customers can be the best customer support representatives you’ve got. They use your products and services every day in real life situations. Consider creating online forums that help your customers work together to resolve issues. And make sure you acknowledge their efforts!
Host Virtual Events: In these days of tightened budgets, many businesses are hesitant to send employees to conferences and workshops. There are some great online tools that allow you to host virtual conferences and workshops. You can even bring in outside experts to talk about things that will help your customers. Here are some examples of the kind of events you can host. And remember—successful customers are the kind of customers you want. Invest in them and they’ll invest in you!
Inbound marketing: It’s not just for acquisition anymore!
What would you add to this list?
Blog Post Written by Wes Powell
Wes Powell is the President of TMR Direct. TMR Direct’s desire is to provide you with the practical advice you need to be successful using direct mail and inbound marketing to generate traffic, leads, and ultimately customers.