Growing the Relationship After the Sale

So much thought, discussion and effort in the marketing world is focused on acquiring new customers. Coming up with the next disruptive, attention-getting idea to convert prospects is almost an endless obsession for agencies and advertisers alike. Because it’s where a lot of the fun, shiny, creative work happens, it’s no wonder that so much time is spent there. But anyone with basic business knowledge knows that it’s a lot cheaper to keep the customers you have than acquire new ones. This article discusses how interactive media is uniquely suited to maximize opportunities to grow your business after the sale.

The Real Opportunity is After the Sale
The full potential of interactive marketing isn’t really realized until after the prospect has engaged with the brand, and somehow opted to participate, for example by asking to receive email communications, by becoming a fan of the brand on a social network, by using branded web services, and so on. There are a few reasons for this. First, once the customer has opted in, the brand communications and services become welcome information rather than intrusive annoyances. Second, most often customers have provided some personal information that allows for more targeted, relevant expressions of the brand to be made in the right place, at the right time, which increases the perceived value of the brand measurably. Third, because the customer has chosen to engage with the brand, it becomes much less costly to communicate with them because they have requested that the information come directly to them, rather than the brand having to cast a wide net and compete in a vast arena of stimuli to get someone’s attention, as is typical on the acquisition side.

The Post-Sale Stages of the Customer Life Cycle
After the trial and purchase stage comes satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy. The objective is to move your customer through those stages to the point that they become advocates for your brand. A smart interactive marketing strategy can help achieve this.

Satisfaction
The idea here is to ensure that the customer is satisfied in every way with their purchase. The methods for doing this may vary for different industries and companies, depending on the nature of the products and services, but taking the time and energy to make sure that your customer’s experience with your product or service met and exceeded their expectations is an effort worth going to and helps them become loyal to your brand.

Loyalty
You want your brand to become your customers’ preferred choice. Many brands experiment, to varying degrees of success, with special loyalty programs to help increase the likelihood of this outcome. The most important thing is to deliver value at every touch point of the brand experience and interactive media can be a great means to do this.

Advocacy
The holy grail is to have your customers believe in your brand so much that they proactively recommend it to others. At this point, they have formed a logical and emotional connection with your brand to the extent that it occupies a portion of their self concept, however slight. People yearn to express themselves, to tell their community, the world, who they are and what they’re about. One way of doing this is to make their favorite brands known to others, to show them off, to wear them as a badge of pride. Once your customers have reached this level of connection, interactive media can provide them with a platform to get the word out and express themselves, and in effect, promote your brand for you.

Interactive Channels to Leverage
There are many creative ways to use interactive media to grow your relationship with customers after the sale. Following are a few interesting examples.

Email
The most obvious channel to maintain ongoing communications with your customers, post-sale, is email. Assuming that some useful data about the customer was gathered during the acquisition and sales process, you can communicate with them directly in a relevant way that serves their functional and emotional needs to ensure that they are satisfied, to help build loyalty and to eventually win their heart so they become advocates for your brand. At the satisfaction stage, email can be used to do things like send helpful reminders, and administer surveys. To foster repeat business, email can be used to send incentives, such as promotional announcements or coupons. Most email includes a “forward-to-a-friend” option, making it easy for customers to recommend your brand to people they know with a few simple key strokes.

Social Media
Social media channels are quickly becoming a gathering point online to engage with brands more deeply. From blogs to Facebook, to Twitter to streaming video sites and beyond, social media gives brands a new dimension by allowing conversation to take place, which helps build grounds well and increase mindshare. It is an easy platform to broadcast expressions of your brand out to a core community of loyalists and spectators standing on the sidelines. With the right content strategy, your brand stays top-of-mind for your audience and they keep talking about you in a positive light. The more they’re talking, the more the awareness, the more the sales.

Web Services
Another effective way to deepen your relationship with customers is to implement branded web-based services that extend your products/services, or at least maintain your brand presence in their mind by delivering a service that supports the lifestyle or activities associated with your brand. Web services are basically online tools, usually free - for customers at least, that people use frequently to conduct utilitarian tasks. An example might be an online diet-tracking solution for customers of Jenny Craig. Mobile apps are increasing in popularity, especially since the advent of the iPhone. There are many examples of brands developing apps, often free, that serve their audience in a relevant way. One example is a free surf report app from Oakley. Surfers love it, they check it every day and each time they do, the Oakley logo is right there. Small investment, huge reach. Revolutionary.

Making It Happen
Your customers are an asset and if you aren’t doing everything you can to mine the inherent opportunity, you’re missing out. Commit to forming a strategic marketing plan that goes beyond the scope of acquiring new customers and looks deeply at the possibilities of growing your business with existing customers. Most importantly, be sure to take advantage of the edge that interactive technology can give you in meeting these goals.