It’s common to read that acquiring a new customer (known as Acquisition Marketing) can cost five to seven times more than retaining a current customer*. Why is this? Much more has to be spent to advertise and market to a potential new customer who may know little to nothing about a brand or company. They often require multiple marketing touch points, education and time!
A current customer, especially one that has had a good experience with a company and/or their products/services, has a higher chance to purchase again, oftentimes requiring less touch points, less education and less time. This is where the cost savings come in and is often the bread and butter for Lifecycle Marketing programs.
Because of this, most companies today incorporate a lifecycle marketing program within their marketing division. Yes, Apple, LinkedIn, Nike, Starbucks, etc. have lifecycle marketing programs. Some lifecycle marketing programs focus on the complete lifecycle of a customer from first being a potential customer through purchase and repeat purchases while other programs may just focus on the latter, once someone is a customer. That means pretty much every brand/company has lifecycle needs and this field won’t be going away soon. However, the tools needed to be successful in this field may change but the same principle still applies. Lifecycle marketing seeks to provide relevant and personalized content to produce a purchase.
Some of the main tools used in lifecycle marketing strategies are:
- Email Marketing
- SMS Text Messaging
- In-App/App Marketing
- Onsite Push Notifications
- Direct Mail
Quick reminder, lifecycle marketing costs companies less (five to seven times less than acquisition marketing) but has a higher return on investment. So companies need this arm 💪🏽 in their overall marketing strategy. And over the years, I’ve seen an expansion of lifecycle marketing as a field. You may see other terms such as retention marketing, customer relationship marketing (CRM), and loyalty marketing to describe lifecycle marketing.
Today, with many companies cutting their budgets and spending less on advertising and marketing due to fears of a potential recession, lifecycle marketing is a key area companies can continue to expand into that doesn’t require the same large budget as some acquisition marketing tactics. Plus, it’s not going anywhere I predict!
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