Most business owners know their customers very well. In fact, many know what their customers purchase and why they purchase it. Some even know personal information such as a birthday, anniversary date, or favorite product. This data is the most important tool in your company’s marketing toolbox – your customer database. Using it effectively will generate greater customer loyalty and profitability.
What is database marketing?
Database marketing can be relatively simple, yet highly effective. It is the process of using your customer data, and marketing to them directly based on the information you have captured. Building your database also helps to guide advertising dollars, targeted communication, and product development.
Your customer database can be used to drive loyalty as well as profitability. How?
- Capturing personal data. One of the best things a business can do is wish a customer happy birthday. Your customers will appreciate it, and your brand is once again in front of them. You don’t need to send an offer, just a happy birthday does the trick!
- Monitoring trends in purchasing. Notice a customer orders the same product on a regular basis? Email a coupon as a thank you for their loyalty or a recommendation for another product you think they’d like.
- Learning about customer behavior. What are their spending habits or repeat purchases? Even product returns can shed light on consumer behavior.
- Forecasting and purchasing. Your database drives advertising strategies, future purchasing plans, and builds brand ambassadors for your business.
Your customer database is an abundance of information ready to be utilized to grow your business and increase consumer loyalty. IF you use it to communicate with your customers on the things that are important to each of them.
How do I build my customer database?
There are many ways to build a customer database. At Cox Marketing Solutions, we can assist you in creating a database. We can do it from scratch or use your existing systems to improve what you already have.
Utilizing your Point of Sale (POS) system is vital. Many retail businesses utilizing a POS system aren’t maximizing its advantages. It can show you purchasing trends, personal information, behaviors, and seasonal spending.
How about direct customer interaction? There are simple and cost-effective tools you can use to capture information such as birthdays, email addresses, and product interests. Even easier than that? Ask them. Interaction builds rapport, customer trust, and loyalty.
NEVER underestimate the importance of profitable customer loyalty.
The greatest ad campaign in the world only works if you know how to turn customer visits into customer loyalty.
Depending on which study you believe, and what industry you’re in, acquiring a new customer is 5 to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one (Harvard Business Review). It’s logical. As customers, we visit businesses we’re loyal to much more often than those we don’t know. If you aren’t doing everything you can to increase the loyalty of your customers, you aren’t realizing your full potential.
Ready to use your consumer information to build customer loyalty?
At Cox Marketing Solutions we love data! Building data, using data, and creating customer loyalty with the knowledge from that data is our happy place.
Let’s schedule some time to look at your customer database, or help you build one. Marketing is our passion and your business is your passion. Let’s combine these and make something great!