Using news as part of a customer retention strategy

Experience shows that for our clients, most enquiries are now made by telephone or via their web site. An analysis that tracks enquiries through to orders and sales value for a company selling capital goods with a long product replacement interval, highlighted two very important facts. First, the highest value was derived from previous customers and the second most valuable group was people already aware of the brand. A central proposition in our marketing strategy for this particular client is to retain ‘top of the mind’ awareness for the brand and reinforce the brand’s value during the long time interval before they need to replace or upgrade. This has the effect of reaffirming the correctness of their original decision to go with the brand in the first place and to prompt their recommendation to others who are actively evaluating options to make a purchase decision. Apart from a continuous press and public relations campaign in the trade press, on industry web sites and news portals, customers and prospects receive personal communications by e-News at intervals of 8 weeks and a news magazine twice a year. The e-News html format has a branded masthead and presents six recent stories, each with an image, headline and news summary, linking to a Virtual News Office on our client’s web site where the full story can be read, typically with additional images and links. The magazine format is designed to offer high retention value, to elevate the piece well above ‘junk mail’ status and to offer an interesting and informative read, with motivation to pass on to colleagues to share. Relevant content is vital and comprises a mix of user product experience and endorsement, product updates, expert opinions and industry and community news. It is designed to position our client as an authority and totally embedded in the user community. This subtle ‘soft sell’ approach is supported by positive customer feedback and most importantly – orders!