August 30, 2008

Multichannel Forensics A to Z: Retention Mode

Starbucks. Wal-Mart. Home Depot. McDonalds. AT&T.

All are businesses that operate in Retention Mode, the desired Multichannel Forensics mode that marketers seek to achieve. For every 100 customers who purchased from those brands in 2007, more than 60 will purchase again in 2008. In many cases, more than 60 will purchase again each month, or each week!

So many of the marketing articles we read these days speak to strategies for customers who shop at brands that are in retention mode. Loyalty programs work when a customer shops the brand often. Loyalty programs have little impact on brands where customers buy once a year, or are in acquisition mode.

Know your customers. If your customer base is in retention mode, you have a whole new set of marketing tactics to take advantage of. But if your customers are not in retention mode, be wary. You operate under a whole different set of dynamics.

2 comments:

  1. hi Kevin,
    Assuming your customer/prospect is not in retention mode...
    I'd love to ask you what you reckon is the single most important dynamic operating for an online customer that has been exposed to your brand for the first time?
    regards
    Aka H
    www.sitetrackingforum.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'd simply say to make it easy for the customer to do what they want to do, or to find what they want to find.

    Products/Brands/Channels not in Retention/Hybrid mode do not have loyal customers, so make it easy for the customer to do what the customer wants to do, then let the customer go on their merry way, finding new customers to replace the ones lost.

    ReplyDelete

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