5 Brands’ Effective Retention Strategies in Action

1. LSKD establishes two-way communication with customers

LSKD, an Australian activewear brand, embodies these retention pillars. As customer acquisition costs (CAC) and competition increase, LSKD saw an opportunity to create a single view of the customer that would allow them to engage with their shoppers more and help double down on their retention strategy.

The importance of building two-way relationships with customers at every touchpoint has been at the forefront of LSKD’s brand identity. Using SMS marketing, reviews, and a loyalty program, the brand has created a seamless customer journey that sparks genuine engagement.

Since launching their loyalty program and using SMS to power the communication and re-engagement of their Loyalty customers, their repeat purchase rate has skyrocketed to 83%. Plus, the brand’s CLTV from redeeming customers has more than doubled from the previous rate.

2. The Turmeric Co. creates tailored customer journeys

The Turmeric Co., a food and beverage brand focused on delivering functional and fresh nutritional products to UK shoppers, reflects these pillars. This past year, the brand boasted rave reviews from first-time shoppers. But the brand needed to keep them coming back. “We wanted to get better insight into why our customers were purchasing and push them into a tailored customer journey,” says Thomas Hal Robson-Kanu, Founder of The Turmeric Co.

The brand relies on a two-prong retention strategy: establish trust with reviews and foster connection with their loyalty program, Turmeric Tokens. “Not only do reviews help us understand why customers are purchasing, but we also use segmentation to develop additional flows to drive even higher engagement rates for the loyalty program,” says Robson-Kanu.

The result? Personalized, relevant customer journeys that offer customers a top-notch experience.

3. Bubble captivates Gen Z and keeps them coming back

Hitting the market in winter 2020, Bubble made a splash with instant fan-favorite Slam Dunk, a hydrating moisturizer. Their products resonated with a younger audience, an often-overlooked market in the skincare industry, and they wanted to cement their success.

For a new brand, acquiring customers and establishing trust are vital. But retention was top of mind for the brand, especially considering they were trying to capture the attention of a notoriously difficult audience: Gen Z.

First, Bubble ensures one of their first interactions with new shoppers — Google — immediately conveys the trust and enthusiasm established customers feel toward the brand. They make it simple for shoppers to submit their feedback post-purchase via email and ensure top-tier reviews appear as soon as shoppers make a Google search. And, Bubble collects both product and site reviews simultaneously, ensuring they adhere to Google’s strict requirements.

As Bubble’s customers are mostly Gen Z, developing a loyalty program that delights and captivates is essential for retention. Bubble launched a fully branded program that speaks to the brand’s youthful, effervescent personality and drives results.

By incorporating exciting campaigns, like birthday points and social media follow points, the brand speaks their customers’ language. Additionally, Bubble transitioned to realistic rewards values, which perfectly balance aspirational and tangible goals. Now, program sign-ups and engagements are at an all-time high.

To cement that hard-earned loyalty, Bubble uses SMS to engage with customers at key moments and establish one-on-one relationships. Texting directly with a customer, the brand can ask for post-purchase reviews, easily reward for that review, and remind shoppers of their points balance afterward.

Their results?

• Bubble doubled the number of reviews collected each month.
• They grew their SMS subscriber list by 71% in just six months.
• Bubble sees a 73% repeat purchase rate among loyalty redeemers versus 13% for non-redeemers.
• Their average revenue per redeeming loyalty customer is 171% higher than for non-redeemers.

4. Barefaced focuses on retention as they grow

Barefaced is all about trust and putting the customer’s best interest above all else. The brand already had a devoted following of customers who loved their products, but they wanted a better way to reward their loyal customers to bring them back, show real results from their customers to boost shopper confidence, and make one-on-one connections to stand out from competitors.

Barefaced wanted to establish long-term customer loyalty, as skincare’s business model requires an investment in products over a period of time to see results. The brand created a unique loyalty program experience to engage new and established customers alike. They work to keep their loyalty incentives fresh, with monthly brainstorming sessions to create new and engaging rewards.

Continuing to invest in customer relationships, Barefaced gives shoppers confidence in their products by offering real-life examples of others with similar skin types. Analyzing their reviews for details about skin type, age, and more makes it easy for customers to find products best suited to their needs. “We can say that our skincare works all day long, but when they can see a picture, or hear someone else’s real-life experience with [a product] — it sticks so much more in the customer’s mind,” said Tivnan.

Barefaced’s strategy leans into approachability, especially compared to other medical skincare brands in the industry. With SMS marketing, they send personalized, one-on-one messages to share updates and product drops. But, most importantly, Barefaced allows customers to text questions to certified skincare experts in real-time. “The conversational messaging really brings our Skincare Specialists to life. It makes the brand feel more real and accessible, knowing that you’re talking to a real person on the other side,” said Tivnan.

Reviews, loyalty, SMS marketing — they enable Barefaced to share valuable data across tools and create hyper-relevant, high-converting customer experiences. For example, Barefaced rewards customers with loyalty points when they subscribe to SMS, and sends texts with timely point balance reminders and perks. They also segment campaigns to send exclusive deals and promotions to their top loyalty VIP tier.

5. Tenderly Rooted drives retention with subscriptions & SMS marketing

Tenderly Rooted’s owner, Kaben Kramer, was tasked with managing the family farm, educating consumers on their signature product, building a brand presence, and managing customer satisfaction. In an effort to streamline his workload and have a reliable source of recurring revenue, Kaben started looking to implement a subscription program.

Retaining customers and increasing repeat purchases from his top shoppers was high on Kaben’s priority list, but so was the communication strategy around his subscription program.

Tenderly Rooted modernization strategy is still new. As such, having a base of recurring subscribers allows the brand to have a steady revenue stream to plan for business growth.

“We define success by building a loyal core of customers. We’d rather have 500 customers spend $200 than have 5,000 customers spend $20. To that end, we are moving toward that core group. We have nearly 500 subscribers, and now we are focusing on increasing CLTV.”

Tenderly Rooted encourages subscribers to adopt new product offerings by increasing the number of customers with multiple subscriptions. “This means there is a growing core of customers who are die-hard fans of our brand and we are able to more effectively engage that core.”

Now that the brand can pull in data from subscriptions, the team tailors SMS campaigns more specifically to various segments which in turn drive higher ROI on SMS campaigns. “SMS is massively successful. Probably the most profitable app in our tech stack”.

Tenderly Rooted’s SMS program is seeing amazing results with 89x overall program ROI. To drill down deeper, one of their Click-To-Buy campaigns, offering early access to a limited edition seasonal product, saw a 39x ROI with a 24% CTR. And by offering early access to their holiday promotions, they were able to achieve 200x+ ROI on two SMS campaigns!

With all these factors combined, Kaben hopes to grow to $1,000/day in recurring orders and eventually be known as the premier sprouted walnut brand in America.

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