Lengthening Customer Lifetime Value: The Importance of Customer Engagement

Many people like to think that they are valuable to marketers and that there is no time limit to how worthy they are. Can we quantify the customer value over an unknown value built over an extensive period? To answer that question, Marketers, whether through social media marketing, SEM or SEO, need to be able to do that to strategize how they package campaigns to appeal to a wider audience. Great marketers know that the value of customers lasts for a lifetime. Aging does not necessarily mean customers disconnect to products because it is no longer appropriate but they can turn into unlikely marketers when they have a good experience with a certain product and they can promote products that are no longer appropriate to the young people around them. This is why it is important to improve customer engagement.

The concept of Extended Lifetime Value 

Companies like Simon Data have been taking the customer lifetime value to another level. The approach that this company involves has opened up the scope of how customers are classified or viewed. Instead of zoning in on specific aspects about customer preferences, they believe it is much more helpful and effective if marketers zoom out. In the last Social Media Week held in New York, the Founders and CEO of Simon Data, Joshua Neckes and Dr. Jason Davis delivered a powerful presentation on the future of customer engagement.

Most online marketers judge the success of their campaigns by the number of clicks, the conversions made and new users drawn through online platforms. In the race to get more clicks and potential customers, marketers forget the importance of customer retention. This should be part of Marketing 101 but the internet has changed a lot of the old rules that marketers live and work by. The truth that all online marketers know is that it takes more work and more time to get a new customer than it does a new one. In the scramble to increase the customer base, marketers forget about that one customer who might feel neglected.

Putting a price of customer presence (existing and potential)

Customers need to feel important and when they cannot get that feeling; they become easy targets for other marketers. Online marketers need to have a customer retention program so that in the process of getting new customers, they don’t lose the ones they already have. It is important to put a lifetime value for every customer that signs on. A lifetime value should be quantified, recorded and a relationship should be cultivated with the existing customer. A happy customer who feels highly regarded is likely to become an indirect marketer.

We live in a digital age that has so many marketing channels that it might seem cluttered and noisy. Some platforms are useful like the social media networks; others can be disruptive and confusing if not handled correctly. It is important for marketers to have a standard platform that zones in on the customer’s characteristics without limiting him or her choices. It is important that the platform can draw relevant information and record specific touch points. Having a central platform makes it easier for businesses and marketers to optimize customers’ extend lifetime value and update information about experiences that customers have, which will eventually have an effect on their touch points. This might ensure a higher retention rate and the cash flow that every business wants to see.

Optimizing Lifetime Value

The first step involves keeping records of existing customers and potential customers. The recording process should highlight customer touch point data.

Recording the points that are important for a customer and noting which points separate one customer from another.

Marketers of new products might rely on the results of one campaign like hypothesizing that people who bought sweaters might not like pants. This is a hypothesis that needs to be tested but when marketers have a product to introduce into the market. Marketers need to go beyond the minds of the customers; whether or not they are seeing something good but they should be able to measure performance and consider other factors.

The internet might have advanced the marketers’ reach but it has become an important tool to assign money to every interaction and relationship formed. That monetary value should take into account the time spent and the resources used to cultivate a relationship. Every relationship with a customer needs to be smart and worthwhile.

For more information on customer engagement and how you can leverage your marketing tactics – may it be through social media marketing, SEO, or SEM just tune in to our posts or subscribe to our newsletter. You can also visit our main resource of good information at Tangy Lab.