If you’re not preparing to evolve your marketing strategies, you’re not putting yourself in a position for success. This is becoming truer than ever as we begin moving closer and closer to a world in which e-commerce dominates the business landscape.
The rapid rise in advertising costs is one of the most pressing marketing changes you need to be planning for going forward. Overall, customer acquisition costs have gone up nearly 50 percent in the past five years. This rise in cost means you’re likely set up to fail if you’re stuck in a mode of thinking about things the same way you did 10 or 15 years ago. Back then, there was a booming influx of major marketing channels with much lower advertising costs. This environment made spending a great strategy. You simply got a lot of value based on what you were spending.
That is obviously becoming increasingly less true as costs rise. So much so we’re at a point where customer retention is becoming just as valuable of a plan as customer acquisition.
As a result, nearly all the power has essentially been placed with the consumer. This means you have to be creating an exceptional customer experience. You have to listen to them, thoughtfully engage with them, understand their wants and needs, and develop a plan accordingly. Your relationship with the customer is your key to growth. The cost of acquisition is too high for your business to have success with high customer churn rates. You need a base of loyal consumers with a high affinity for your brand rather than relying on one-time purchasers.
One place to start is with a focus on content marketing. According to ProfitWell, companies that use content marketing experience higher growth than those who do not. Furthermore, content marketing that is focused on customer success can be particularly effective in improving retention rates.
This article originally appeared on Engine eCommerce’s website: enginecommerce.com. It is presented in partnership with AMP. Read the rest of the article here at Engine eCommerce.
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