Online retail is a tricky business. The Internet is ‘window shopping’ on steroids. Thousands upon thousands wander its streets, spending hours browsing the many digital shopfronts, from the comfort of their own homes and pajamas. It might sound like an entrepreneurial paradise – but the problem is: most have no intention of actually opening their wallet.
At Andzen, we use ‘Lifecycle Marketing’ strategies to solve that conundrum, and grow our clients’ revenue. With the right data and tools, it’s possible to create smart marketing solutions that help to nurture these prospects into customers. By following up your visitors with engaging, relevant content, you can show them the benefits of your product, and that your brand is one they want to do business with.
But the work doesn’t stop there. While others might be popping champagne corks and warming up the hot tub once the first cheque’s been cashed – we know there’s still much more to be done.
From customer to brand advocate
In his book Pricing for Profitability: Activity-Based Pricing for Competitive Advantage, John L. Daly states “Conventional business wisdom contends that it costs 10 times as much to obtain a new customer as it does to retain an existing customer.”
We humans are creatures of habit. Once we’ve found something we like, it’s easiest just to stick with it as long as it’s still enjoyable. So it makes sense to invest that little extra in treating your existing clients so well they never even consider hopping the fence.
Rather than constantly pouring money into generating new leads, our Lifecycle Marketing practices put just as much effort into pampering existing customers to ensure that they shop again. And again. And continue shopping with you for as long as you’re in business.
Not only is this a fantastic, cost-effective return on investment, but by working hard to give your customers the experience they deserve, it’s also a great way to generate new leads through word of mouth and referrals.
More happy clients, increased sales, and a bigger brand. That’s what we’re all about at Andzen. And as far as we can tell, it’s been working.
So how does Andzen work?
There’s no quick-fix to a truly effective Lifecycle Marketing strategy. Each business is different, so we can’t just roll Model T marketing strategies off the line. If you want to do things right, you need a thorough process.
Stage one: Discovery
So we can nurturing potential customers properly, we first need to understand your market and business – inside and out. So our first port of call for every new client is to send our dedicated Strategists and Researchers out to visit their business for a ‘Discovery session’.
Here, we’ll discuss product offerings, branding, market and everything that makes your businesses uniquely your business. That includes your existing marketing channels, best selling products, branding, and potential kegs of leads to be tapped.
Once our notebooks are full to bursting, and we’re confident we have enough to work with, it’s time to hit the drawing board.
Stage two: Customer Journey Strategy
This is where the magic begins. Our Customer Journey experts will pour over all the facets of the client’s market to figure out what really makes their customers tick.
What sort of emotions would the customer be feeling leading up to their first purchase? What data-points will we need to capture to tailor-fit each touchpoint to their unique interests? How best to make the warm, post-first-purchase afterglow last as long as possible? What opportunities are there to upsell customers to a better product or service later on down the road?
We’ll create a Customer Journey that answers all these questions and more. These Journeys cater to all different types of prospect – hot leads, feet-draggers, those who need more information to make a decision. With the right data, we can provide the ultimate experience for our client’s customers and nurturing them towards their first purchase, and beyond.
Stage three: Development
The next step is to create ways to collect customer information. You can’t ‘personalise’ without first knowing the person, after all. We acquire as much customer information as possible, then start putting it to work.
After years in the industry, our Development team are true data experts. If there was a book, they’d know every trick in it. Sales data, website traffic, email opens and clicks – we’ll track it all, then code integrations, website tweaks and more to ensure the behind-the-scenes of your marketing strategy is a thriving data ecosystem.
The result? You can send the right stuff to the right people. That means no more irrelevant ads, email spam, or annoying pop-ups a customer has seen a thousand times before. With the right data and code, we can create custom experiences for every individual customer, and give all your visitors the red carpet treatment.
Stage four: Creative
There’s a lot of hard science behind Lifecycle Marketing, sure. But marketing also requires creativity – and that’s why we have a full Creative Department.
Don’t worry. We don’t use any crayons or a Maypole.
Once we’ve finished our Customer Journey roadmaps and strategies, our Graphic Designers, Copywriters and Developers get to work crafting beautiful, branded content to match. We spend plenty of time familiarizing ourselves with your existing visual and content styles first. We want to ensure we keep your business’ communications as consistent as they are effective.
Our design and copy teams work closely to create beautiful, successful content and calls to action to drive each client’s unique audience towards conversion. Check out some of the results!
Stage five: Implementation
Once all the pieces of the puzzle have been created – it’s time to snap them together.
The last step is to create automated ‘flows’. These work behind the scenes to deliver the client’s new content to the right people, at the right time. Data and content goes in, and perfectly-timed, relevant marketing come out – helping to convert prospects to customers, and customers into brand advocates.
Stage six: Optimisation
The last step isn’t so much of a ‘step’ as it is a continued tweaking. We’re perfectionists, after all.
As each client’s business changes and grows, it’s important we monitor their flows and content to ensure they’re as up to date as possible. We want our automations to remain relevant, fresh and effective – so continued tender loving care is important to keeping sales high and customers delighted.
Wrapping it all up
Lifecycle Marketing truly is the bright future of online retail – and we love helping our clients get the best results for their business. If you’re interested in seeing how we can help you, we’d love to have a chat.