In an ideal world, everyone who shopped with you would come back and make repeat purchases time and time again. But, even if someone has a positive experience of spending their money with you, they might still be tempted to go with your competitors next time to see how they measure up.
A lot of businesses make the mistake of focusing all of their efforts on attracting new customers, but working on retaining existing ones should be part of your strategy, too.
The rate that you lose customers is called your customer churn rate, and there are a number of ways you can get this down and boost your customer retention. Here, I’m going to walk you through how you can use content marketing to help with this.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing involves publishing written guides, blog posts, videos, quizzes, and more on your website. All of these assets should focus on topics relating to your business and industry, so they attract your ideal customers to your website, where they’ll then learn about your products or services.
There are lots of reasons why you shouldn’t neglect content marketing. It can help to boost your search engine rankings, increase awareness of your brand, allow you to show your expertise, and build trust with your ideal customers. Plus, as I’m going to cover, it can reduce your customer churn rate.
Here’s how you can use content marketing to retain more of your customers.
Create buying guides so your customers always make the right purchase
One type of content you should definitely be creating is buying guides or comparison pieces.
If you can help customers make the best possible purchase to suit their needs, they’ll trust you and be more likely to return in the future. Buying guides and comparison pieces assist with this! They show all of the pros and cons of different products and services to help the reader make an informed decision.
Let’s take a look at some companies that do a great job of creating buying guides and comparison pieces to give you some inspiration.
InVPN is a website that’s full of guides that compare different online tools and software. Not only does it aim to help people decide on the best type of program to suit their needs, but it also compares a wide range of popular products to ensure readers spend their money in the best way.
People who are shopping around for a specific type of product will find these types of guides particularly helpful because they weigh up all the pros and cons of each option. You can replicate this on your own website by grouping together similar products and walking your customers through the process of choosing the right one for them.
For instance, if you own a computer store, you could round-up all of the latest models and talk through the specs, while outlining what kinds of applications each of them is best for.
Best Nursing Programs does something similar. The website is designed to help aspiring healthcare professionals find the best training courses and schools to help them pursue their dream careers.
Their round-ups of schools and classes are very extensive, which is important, as it helps to show that the company is a trustworthy and knowledgeable source of information. They list each school and course, along with all of the essential details, such as any entry requirements, the cost, and what the resulting qualifications of each are.
There aren’t paragraphs upon paragraphs about each option, which is important — this guide gets straight to the point and focuses on providing people with the information they really need to make a decision. To keep your readers engaged, it’s a good idea to take a similar approach with your buying guides or comparison pieces.
If you only have one product or service, it might not make sense for you to create buying guides. But, to ensure you keep your customer churn rate down, you should look for other ways to help your clients make an informed decision about whether your company is going to be the right fit for them.
If possible, take a leaf out of InsightSoftware’s book and offer a range of ways your customers can learn more.
The company is a provider of financial reporting software, and they offer free demos, an in-depth overview of how their service works, and the chance to speak to an expert about their platform.
If you want to remain competitive, you need to keep your customers happy by ensuring they only ever make purchases they’re going to be happy with. This will help you to earn more positive reviews, repeat purchases, and word-of-mouth recommendations. Providing as much information through buying guides, demos, and in-depth overviews can really help with all of that.
Produce post-purchase content so customers return for more information
If you want your customers to make repeat purchases, you need to show that you care about them even after they’ve checked out! A great way to do this is by providing them with post-purchase content like user’s guides, maintenance guides, or troubleshooting guides. Think about what questions your customers might have about your product after they have made their purchase, and go from there.
Here are a couple of companies that produce great post-purchase content, from which you can take a lot of inspiration from.
Take a look at how Lodge Cast Iron does this effectively.
Cast iron, as the company knows, is a difficult beast to clean. You can’t just throw it in the dishwasher and call it a day. In their cast iron cleaning guide, they help customers clean their skillets in three easy steps.
Plus, in the article, they have links to different cast iron cleaning products. Not only will this attract repeat purchases from people who’ve spent money with the company before, but it can also lead to sales from people who didn’t even buy their skillets from the company.
Dell provides post-purchase content in the form of troubleshooting guides that can help to rectify a lot of the common problems people might encounter with their new computers.
For instance, they have a free guide to help people if their Dell PC isn’t properly booting to Windows. This provides actionable steps people can take to fix the issue. If someone’s concerns are rectified quickly with this guide, they’ll be far more likely to give the company positive reviews and shop with them again in the future.
Think about what kinds of queries your customers might have after they buy a product from you. Styling guides, maintenance guides, tutorials, troubleshooting articles, and user guides are all great options.
Create content that answers your customers’ FAQs
Get ahead of the game by creating FAQ webpages that answer all of your customers’ common queries.
Think about what questions your customer service team keeps answering, and use these as your starting point. Answering these on your website will save your workers time, show you understand your audience, and improve the shopping experience you offer. Of course, this can help to increase repeat purchases, too.
If you need more ideas for FAQ content, you can start conducting keyword research, too. This will give you an idea of what your ideal customers are typing into their search engines. By basing your content on keyword research, you can boost your search engine rankings, reach a wider audience, and drive more high-quality traffic to your website.
When you’re researching what to cover with your FAQs, you’ll want to pay special attention to question keywords. These will give you the best idea of what your customers’ pain points are. From there, you can make videos, how-to guides, and more that will answer those questions.
Answer the Public is a keyword research tool that’s been designed to show you what questions people are plugging into their search engines. So, it’s a great tool to start with if you want to better understand your audience.
Make your content as engaging as possible so your customers want more
You’ll want your target customers to visit your website over and over again, so you’ll want to create engaging content that keeps them coming back for more. This will increase their brand loyalty and the chances of them buying from you again.
One way you can make your content more engaging is by adding eye-catching visuals. According to Venngage, 63.5% of marketers say that 71-100% of their content already contains visuals so, if you aren’t using this tactic, you could end up trailing behind the competition.
Infographics are ideal for making your content more interesting because they’re colorful, engaging, and great for getting a lot of information across in a digestible way. High-quality photos, graphics, or videos can also work very well.
You can also create some fun, interactive content for your customers, like a calculator or quiz. Take a look at how Nordstrom’s Trunk Club, a clothing subscription box, implements interactive content for their customers by asking them simple questions that will influence the products they receive.
This helps Nordstrom put together a wardrobe for their customers. It’s personable and helps the customer feel like they’re getting personalized attention. If their needs or style changes, they can come back and adjust the quiz for their preferences. Not only can this keep customers engaged and coming back for more, but it will also ensure they’re happy with the orders they receive.
Neil Patel, a content marketing pro, uses helpful videos to make his content more engaging. They help to attract his ideal audience by answering coming digital marketing, SEO, and content marketing questions.
Because his videos are so engaging, informative, and genuinely helpful, they encourage people to stick around on his website to learn more. The longer they’re on his website, the more likely they could be to eventually pay for his services. So, it can be a very effective technique.
Is your website content as engaging as it could be? If there’s room for improvement, think about what you could be missing — do you need more visuals, interactive content, or videos? The more interesting your content is, the more time people will spend on your website, and this can help to boost your repeat purchases.
Show your customers behind the scenes of your company
You can also help your customers feel more involved in your company and more connected to your brand by showing them behind-the-scenes content. This can help them relate to your business and build a sense of trust with your staff, processes, or products. If you’re able to build this bond with your customers, they’ll be more likely to shop with you again.
There are several different ways you can do this, whether it’s through your social media channels, live streams, or meet the team pages. You could even create content that explains the thought process behind business decisions.
For instance, when Powered by Search decided to become a B2B SaaS Marketing Agency, they put together an article that communicated their line of thinking.
It outlines all of the factors the company took into account, why they thought this decision would fit their expertise best, and what this means for the business’s customers. Content like this can help to build trust with customers and show that you’re going to offer a good level of transparency.
If you’re planning any big changes within your company, consider letting your target customers in on the action by writing about it, or even filming vlogs that show your processes. It will help them to feel more connected to your work, while also showing that you’re passionate about what you do.
Purple, a unique mattress company, also shows people behind the scenes of their business. This time, they do it by creating videos that show their production processes.
They’ve also filmed a factory tour that shows what makes their mattresses unique and introduces you to the scientific minds behind their products. Again, this helps prospective customers to feel like they have a strong bond with the business and will create a sense of trust that will attract both new and loyal customers.
Social media is also a great tool for showing behind the scenes of your company on a daily basis. You could show the day-to-day happenings at your workplace, allow your customers to join your meetings, and introduce your staff.
Don’t spread yourself too thin, though — creating regular behind-the-scenes content can be very time-consuming, so you’ll want to focus on the platforms that provide you with the most engagement.
If you need help working out what social media channels you should be posting on, there are lots of great social media analytics tools out there you can use to monitor your accounts and posts to see where you’re performing best.
If someone feels a strong connection to your business, they’ll be far more likely to keep coming back to you for more of your products. And, by letting them behind the curtain and showing them how your business works, you can really help them to feel like a part of your community.
Summary
No one said being in business would be easy. Even after you have brought people into your territory and convinced them to buy something from you, you need to build your customer loyalty and keep your churn rate as low as possible to increase your online sales.
Content marketing can help you do this. Take a look at where you can make additions to your website and start building that relationship with your customers — provide them with guidance, answer their questions, ensure they find your website engaging, or give them a look behind the curtain of your business.
You’ll show your customers that you know who they are, and what they’re looking for — ultimately, that’s what drives customer loyalty.
Author’s Bio
Adam Steele is COO and co-founder of Loganix, which is an SEO fulfillment partner for digital marketing agencies and professionals. The company provides the SEO services that businesses need to grow and achieve their goals. If you enjoyed this article, you can find more SEO guides and templates on the Loganix blog.
