Acquiring a new client can be extremely costly, whereas retaining current clients and reaching out to previous clients can cost little or nothing. Not only is it less expensive and more profitable to stay in front of current and past clients, but it also decreases the risk of wasting precious marketing dollars on new prospects who might not even react to your campaign. And you don’t have to waste time finding out where these new prospects are because you already know where to find your previous clients.
Instead of seeing the gold mine in front of them, too many businesses exhaust their energy and their budgets going after new clients (I’ve been guilty of this as well). This isn’t to say new business isn’t important to company growth—it is crucial. But to solely focus on gaining market share and bringing in tons of new clients, well, that’s not always the best strategy.
A few weeks ago, I sat down to work on my marketing plan for the coming months. I noticed my plans involved marketing to new prospects, and not one ounce of energy was planned for how I was going to stay connected, stay in front of past clients (hence the reason for this post). I decided to rework the strategy and create my upcoming marketing campaigns to touch prospects, current clients, past clients, and key influencers.
I now have a well-rounded marketing plan. And guess what? It’s already started to bring me more clients—new and previous. In fact, of the business that’s come in during the first few weeks in August, about ¾ of it is past clients I marketed to in July. And the amount of referrals I’m receiving from current clients has drastically risen.
I’m not telling you all of this to brag. I’m showing, through example, why creating marketing campaigns that also touch previous and current clients, as well as key influencers, will help you save marketing dollars while increasing your revenue.
When you have loyal clients who understand the worth of your products / services, it’s much easier for them to turn into your key influencers and referral sources than those who have never purchased from you. It’s also easier for them to say yes to purchasing from you again and again and again. Attaining loyal customers also allows for deeper relationship building, which often results in an increase in shared suggestions and comments about your brand from your customers.
If you haven’t reached out to your past clients in a while, I challenge you to do so today. And, we’d loved to hear about the results.
