Why SMS is your nifty customer retention tool

Are you only focusing on growing your customer list? Don’t forget about what’s in front of you too: your existing customers.

These customers are some of your greatest assets. You worked hard to educate them about your products and services. You brought them across the sales line. It’s time to hold onto them.

This is customer retention, your ability to retain your customers. It’s about providing them real value over the course of their lifetime journey so they keep choosing you over your competitors.

In fact, it can cost 5 to 25 times more to attract a new customer, than it does to retain an existing one.

Let’s unpack this a bit more and explore a customer retention tool that’s easy, effective, and affordable: SMS.

Why SMS is the perfect tool for customer retention

Nurturing your customers through SMS is highly effective for retention, and here’s why:

• Visibility – With an average open rate of 98%, SMS is front of mind for your customers.
• Digestible – SMS is short and sweet, so you’re texting customers with valuable content without bombarding them.
• Personal – Text messages are often more personal than a cluttered inbox or social media feed. It feels more private and ‘one-on-one’. Plus, with Burst SMS, you can send your SMS to segmented contact lists, making your message more targeted.
• Resourceful – A text message doesn’t take much thought and time. At just 1-2 sentences plus a call-to-action, it’s an ingenious retention tool to boost your wider marketing efforts.

How to increase customer retention

Keep your existing customers happy, and they’ll develop a deeper trust in you. Being loyal to your brand means they’ll not only spend more on your business over time but also refer friends and family through word-of-mouth. That’s essentially free advertising. And in turn, with lower marketing costs, you wind up driving customer acquisition too.

Better yet, you can gain deeper insights into their customer experience by asking for their feedback to improve your products and services.

So, when you’re thinking about how to enhance customer loyalty, be sure to have retention strategies in place.

To get started, here are five ideas to increase customer retention with SMS.

1. After-sales communication

When a customer makes a purchase, use this opportunity to engage them more. With SMS, you can offer more discounts on their next purchase, send them educational content about their product or service, and much more

2. Drip campaigns

Set up automated SMS at specific times and dates throughout their customer journey. This is triggered by their engagement and purchasing behaviour, whether it’s starting off on the right foot with a ‘welcome on board’ incentive or cross-selling by recommending matching products.

3. Celebrate special days

Anniversaries, birthdays, Christmas, New Year – the list of events to piggyback off are endless. These occasions are opportunities to make your customers feel like you’re celebrating their milestones with enticing offers.

4. VIP offers

Give your most loyal customers extra special treatment. Perhaps it’s an exclusive deal for SMS subscribers, invitations to VIP-only launch events, or early access to Black Friday sales.

5. Reviews

After you’ve helped a customer, now’s the time to ask for their feedback. Reviews are so powerful that 90% of customers say positive reviews influence their buying decision. Getting fab feedback while they’re happy will reinforce your brand in the minds of your existing customers and help with retention.

Customer retention will ultimately help increase your business' bottom line. Check out Burst SMS’s handful of SMS templates for ideas on customer retention strategies.

To enhance customer loyalty, use SMS to engage them. It’s short and sweet, personal, and highly resourceful.