comScore’s latest research found that online retail spending was up 12% in Q1 compared to last year, and that this spending is nearly double of offline retailers. While much of the growth was due to an uptick in the number of buyers (7 percent), the research firm found that the number of transactions per buyer were also up (9 percent). More buyers, making more purchases can mean dollar signs for smart online retailers who are ready to take action. Applying the lifecycle approach to your interactive marketing will give you the foundation for creating marketing campaigns that deliver the right message, to the right customer, at the right time. Here are a couple of ways to approach this lifecycle: 1. Map it out.
Create a lifecycle map and contact strategy that puts all your communications in one, simple view. Highlight segment, date and goals for each message. This exercise will help you identify opportunities for new programs and see where over-contacting and frequency may be impacting results.
Create a lifecycle map and contact strategy that puts all your communications in one, simple view. Highlight segment, date and goals for each message. This exercise will help you identify opportunities for new programs and see where over-contacting and frequency may be impacting results.
2. Acquire.
As the number of online buyers grows, so does the importance of capturing data. In order to nurture customers through the lifecycle, driving additional purchases and incremental revenue, you must have their contact information. Ensure that all points of contact (website, check-out, customer service, social media) are optimized to drive customers to sign up for your email, SMS and/or direct mail program.
As the number of online buyers grows, so does the importance of capturing data. In order to nurture customers through the lifecycle, driving additional purchases and incremental revenue, you must have their contact information. Ensure that all points of contact (website, check-out, customer service, social media) are optimized to drive customers to sign up for your email, SMS and/or direct mail program.
3. Activate.
Give your customers a reason to shop with you. Special promotions, coupons, events all drive sales (at the cost of margin), but delivering highly relevant communications do too. Deliver content that speaks to an individual customer’s preferences: past purchases, browse history, profile attributes. Create triggered communications such as Abandoned Cart or Abandoned Browse email campaigns to drive sales with customers when they are highly engaged and ready to buy.
Give your customers a reason to shop with you. Special promotions, coupons, events all drive sales (at the cost of margin), but delivering highly relevant communications do too. Deliver content that speaks to an individual customer’s preferences: past purchases, browse history, profile attributes. Create triggered communications such as Abandoned Cart or Abandoned Browse email campaigns to drive sales with customers when they are highly engaged and ready to buy.
4. Grow and Retain.
The all-important period where you gain a customer’s loyalty and they purchase from you over and over. Easy? Hardly. This is the time where smart marketers can step up their game. Create a Rate and Review program to solicit customer feedback and post valuable user-generated content to your site. Looks for ways to integrate social media across all your campaigns, cross-pollinating customers from one channel to another. Keep loyalty program status front and center; reward your loyal customer and lure back lapsed customer with special offers and unique content.
Online sales are booming and ecommerce continues grow in importance for businesses around the globe. Focusing your marketing efforts on a lifecycle approach will give smart marketers an edge in the marketplace.
The all-important period where you gain a customer’s loyalty and they purchase from you over and over. Easy? Hardly. This is the time where smart marketers can step up their game. Create a Rate and Review program to solicit customer feedback and post valuable user-generated content to your site. Looks for ways to integrate social media across all your campaigns, cross-pollinating customers from one channel to another. Keep loyalty program status front and center; reward your loyal customer and lure back lapsed customer with special offers and unique content.
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