Make your after-sales experience memorable.
Because it’s a waste to forget about new clients once you’ve acquired them, post-purchase marketing should be at the forefront of your strategy. Acquiring a new customer is five times more expensive than keeping an existing one. The success of your aftersales marketing is dependent on the customer experience, just like it is at any other point in the lifecycle.
Every brand today competes for the attention of their customers not with a product or a price, but with a tailored experience. Consumer expectations have skyrocketed, with their demands for personalised one-on-one experiences now fully online. According to McKinsey, the pandemic has changed people’s lives, and buyers have “traversed a decade in days” in terms of digital adoption. Traditional offline buyers have been forced to switch to internet shopping almost overnight, putting pressure on firms to digitally duplicate that personal in-store experience. If businesses want to compete in this new “home-demand” economy, they must perfect their message and customer experiences.
Marketing vs. transactional
Everything from transactional communications like order confirmations to marketing efforts like upselling product recommendations falls under the category of post-purchase marketing. However, keep in mind that your customer receives all of your messages in the same way: it’s just marketing. With this in mind, it’s critical to maintain communications similar in appearance, as a unified brand experience will help you gain a competitive advantage. Customers will be more satisfied with your brand and will place a higher value on it.
Furthermore, the post-purchase experience establishes the foundation for a long-term positive relationship between the brand and the customer. Customer retention is a critical business pillar for every company, especially when acquiring a customer is significantly more expensive than keeping one. Even though there are a plethora of sales chances in their post-sale marketing that will convert faster, many marketers focus on pipeline and acquisition. After all, your current consumers are familiar with you and have a relationship with you.
So, what is post-purchase marketing, exactly?
It’s the transactional and marketing messages you send to customers after they’ve made a purchase. Because of all the background noise in our digital world, hand-holding customers is critical. When a shopper places an order online, they want confirmation that it was completed successfully as well as an estimate of when it will be delivered. They’ll probably want updates on when it’ll be delivered as well, just in case they forget.
It’s a secret! You may deliver transactional updates through SMS in the app with Brainstorm Design’s marketing automation services. You can also send transactional emails from CRM lists using our Microsoft Dynamics 365 interface. You don’t have to go with generic transactional templates; brand your post-sale emails to match the rest of your marketing communications.
Following up with a thank you and review, possibly with a small reward, is usually after a client receives their order. You may improve your online shopping skills and items by asking customers about their experiences and purchases.
Promotional and editorial content is the next step. Customers who have previously purchased from you are more likely to do so again. As a result, combine relevant product recommendations based on previous purchases – such as “also bought” and “best next” – with engaging journalism like product help guides and inspirational stories.
Programs that automate marketing once a customer has made a purchase
Post-purchase marketing entails much more than simply confirming an order. Automation solutions are a terrific method to schedule all of your client lifecycle messages in advance. Consider the following effective after-sales programmes:
Program of growth and development
Pre- and post-purchase, build engagement and loyalty over time. Deliver on your subscription promise by including both promotional deals and top editorial picks in your content.
Program of loyalty
You can enrol clients in a loyalty programme once they make a purchase or the more they make. Simply define your criteria and begin enhancing the value of your customers’ overall experience with incentives that are only available to them.
Program for VIPs
This is a premium programme that you should save for your consumers that spend a lot of money and do it frequently. You’ll want to highlight your most exclusive content, invite-only events, and restricted product lines in this section.
SMS is a powerful post-purchase marketing technique.
When combined with email marketing, SMS marketing may be a highly engaging way to communicate with clients. The channel has unrivalled engagement rates and outperforms email in terms of cutting through the noise. You don’t even need an internet connection to communicate with your customers.
Because text messages are highly contextual, using them as part of a larger marketing campaign helps to increase relevancy and engagement. For transactional notifications or loyalty series for product drops, for example, SMS might be incorporated into your aftersales programme. Similarly, SMS can be used to supplement your email-based product suggestions.
After everything is said and done, SMS is a simple tool for marketers, a fresh experience for customers, and a sensible way to communicate after the transaction. Sending transactional and broadcast SMS via API is straightforward with dotdigital.
It’s past time to start thinking about post-purchase marketing.
If you’re a marketer that doesn’t have control over transactional campaigns, now is the time to take control and centralise all post-sale communication. Keep your email design consistent, your SMS and email messages on the same page, and your content up to date. This will contribute to a more comprehensive and individualised post-marketing experience, pleasing clients on a large scale.
