5 Reasons Why You Should Spend Marketing Budget on Retaining Existing Customers

Sophia Belnap

If you run or simply work in a marketing department, you are quite familiar with the constant struggle of attracting new business to your website or brick-and-mortar location. However, you could be spending too much of your time and budget on attracting new customers when you have a valuable customer base right in front of you. If you're having trouble enticing new visitors to engage with your company, here are five reasons why your existing customer base may be a key to your success.

It Costs More To Attract New Customers

It can cost five times more to attract a new customer than it does to retain an existing one. This means that you could be spending countless dollars and much of your precious time trying to entice someone who will likely only visit your site or store one time and may not even make a purchase. If you utilize any type of search engine marketing, you know that every time a customer clicks on the link to your website—whether they delve into your site for an hour or jump out immediately—you are charged the same amount of money. Why focus efforts on marketing to people who may not be valid leads when you have an entire database of people who you know are already interested in your company?

Current Customers are More Reliable

Companies are leaving money on the table if they are not actively mining their existing CRM implementation for marketing opportunities. Customers who have purchased from you before and are happy are likely to be responsive to cross-sells and upsells. In fact, 65% of your sales will come from existing customers. Do you have a new version of a popular product or an add-on? Offer it to existing customers and you will be surprised by how receptive they are. After all, customers who are deeply invested in your company and your suite of products are much less likely to move onto another solution because the more of your products they have, the tougher—and more time and money intensive—they will be to replace.

Current Customer Purchases Have High Margins

Current customer purchases have higher margins than those of new customers. New customers require time and money spent explaining your company, your offerings, and why your products can make their life easier. You can skip this step with existing customers since you’ve already proved your value to them. As a result, any sales you make to existing customers cost you less than sales to new customers (even if they are large sales), which leads to higher company revenue. Work on selling products to current customers that enhance products they already have. They will be more likely to add onto something they are already using than to purchase something totally new (though it is also worth telling them about brand-new offerings).

Your Customers Are Your Evangelists

Happy customers are the best customers because they can do something for you that is essential to your company's success—give you free advertising. You know how tough it is to get company and product reviews, but sometimes all you need to do is ask your best customers for their feedback on review sites and you'll be thrilled with what you receive. Your customer base may need a bit of a push to write reviews, and this is the perfect time to offer a little incentive in exchange for some positive feedback. Offer a small gift card for a purchase in your store, or if you happen to have a new product release coming up, let customers "beta test" the new offering before it is available to the public. Exclusive access to some of your upcoming releases may be enough of a push for your company's biggest fans.

Existing Customers' Value Only Increases

As customers procure more and more of your products and spend more years with you, their overall value increases. As mentioned above, a customer who has been with you for years and who utilizes multiple products is much less likely to ever want to move onto something else (as long as they are relatively happy). Who wants to spend time and effort learning something entirely new, particularly if your offerings are not for personal use but actually are used in larger organizations? Treat your long-standing customers well and you'll have loyalty for life.

Attracting new customers is a daily struggle for most businesses. Ensure you are not forgetting about some of the most important people of all—your current customers—and you'll have a successful sales strategy.