Stage Four: Sustained Engagement
The Sustained Engagement stage continues to build long-term loyalty and encourages customers to come back.
Retention Marketing Manual
With your immediate follow-up covered, you have to keep customers captivated. However, this does not mean bombarding customers; rather, your Sustained Engagement stage should hinge on relevance.
How do your customers want to be engaged?
In our State of Loyalty & Retention 2023, we found that when it came to post-purchase engagement, customers wanted to know sales and discount information (57.5%), reward status updates (45%), and new product launch information (35.4%). Further, 53.9% of customers feel like a brand knows them when they recommend products based on previous purchases. Further, feeling like a brand knows them influences 82.5% of customers to buy again.
Customers expect brands to know:
Focus on sustaining engagement through regular communication and personalized experiences.
Loyalty, Referral, and Subscription Programs
Loyalty and referral and subscription programs are effective ways to sustain customer engagement. By offering rewards and incentives, you can motivate desirable customer behaviors.
Loyalty programs can include points-based systems that allow customers to earn rewards for purchases, social media follows, referrals — whatever best aligns with your brand’s retention goals. Subscription programs can offer exclusive content, early access to products, or other benefits.
Download the Loyalty Program Welcome SMS Flow above for messaging ideas. You can also look to this VIP Tier SMS Message for inspiration.
Social Media
Social media is another effective way to sustain engagement and build relationships with customers. By regularly posting content and engaging with customers on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, you can keep your brand top of mind and encourage ongoing engagement. Social media can also be used to promote loyalty and referral programs, as well as to provide customer service and support.
Tailored Product Recommendations
By analyzing customer data and purchase history, you can recommend products that are likely to interest individual customers. Through one-on-one communication channels like email and SMS, you can send customers curated product recommendations for a seamless path to purchase. Given that 76% of consumers say convenience is a key priority in selecting a retailer, and nine in ten will prioritize using a retail site that offers a seamless experience, this not only improves the customer experience but also increases the likelihood of repeat purchases.
The key to Sustained Engagement is using your customer data holistically to inform your marketing efforts. In short, ditch generalization!
