So, even in these austere times... Companies still seem to be focusing more on customer acquisition than retention.
Perhaps it's because retaining customers is seen as less interesting and 'glamourous' than the various customer acquisition processes and tools out there. Or maybe it's because the tools and techniques for retaining customers have now reached a decent level of maturity (e.g. Email is usually the main eCRM tool and best practice around: creative, delivery and measurement are all understood pretty well).
Either way, I think there needs to be a shift in the marketing priorities of a lot of companies and away from acquisition. The race to be top of Google via PPC and SEO techniques can put a big dent in marketing budgets. These £'s spent might be palatable now... but maybe not when compared with the pence to retain customers.
Please note that I'm not completely advocating a radical diversion of all your marketing budget across to retention activites. What I am suggesting however is that if it costs many times as much to get a new visitor compared to getting back an existing one... That companies should balance their marketing spend accordingly.
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