When developing a strategy to attract new customers and build loyalty among existing ones, it’s common to see significant resources allocated to the early phases of the sales cycle. This is common because it’s necessary to build brand awareness, inform consumers of why your brand is their best choice and nurture prospects until a purchase is made.
It’s also common to see a drop-off of attention and engagement efforts after consumers make their purchase. This is understandably common because the primary goal of most brands is to drive revenue and turn a profit; accomplished by creating a steady flow of new customers.
However, post-purchase engagement efforts can present valuable opportunities for building trust and loyalty. This is especially important for brands offering a product or service with infrequent purchases, such as a car or a smartphone.
Sometimes it may be a brand’s strategic business approach to emphasize attracting and closing new sales opportunities. Although in addition to that, it’s sometimes a matter of the difficulty and challenge of effectively engaging consumers post-purchase in a way that yields a sufficient return on investment.
How does a brand engage or interact with a customer after the purchase has been made in a way that will not only add value for consumers, but will also serve the brand’s bottom line? This is a fair question, and one that speaks even louder to afore mentioned industries with infrequent purchases. There doesn’t seem to be much incentive to make a short-term investment in a customer that likely won’t repurchase for a number of years. But there is.
These post-purchase engagement opportunities don’t have to be overly elaborate or expensive, so long as they speak directly to your consumer base and add value to their daily lives.
Here’s a real-world example to further illustrate this concept:
U.S. Cellular, which is the fifth largest full-service carrier in the United States, is hosting a free Device Workshop at one of its North Central Region locations later this month. Since August is nationally recognized as “American Adventure Month” (apparently), from a marketing standpoint the workshop is focused on highlighting the brand’s wide range of communication services and expansive coverage.
While the business side of the workshop is to garner attention and showcase the brand’s features, the promotional approach presents the workshop as a way for adventure seekers to achieve the full value of their cellular service provider when heading out on a trip, hike, or any other adventure.
U.S. Cellular associates will act as adventure experts sharing trade secrets and helpful apps to be used not only while planning, but also while out on the excursion itself. This is an advantage of being a U.S. Cellular customer and is possible because of its expansive coverage and range of services.
Through this workshop U.S. Cellular is not only adding value to the lives of its existing customers, it is drawing people to a store-front location and building positive brand awareness among potential or future customers. The overall investment in this workshop is minimal, yet its impact and return on investment will likely carry more weight than any traditional advertisement could have.
For more on U.S. Cellular and its American Adventure Month workshop, click here.
If you’d like to explore ways your brand can capitalize on post-purchase engagement opportunities, give us a shout.
For over 30 years we’ve teamed up with brands to better understand their customers thereby providing the insights needed to build strong relationships and foster brand loyalty.
