In part two of our three-part series, we’re exploring the post-sales marketing strategies the expert panelists at “Marketing Madness” covered during our roundtable discussion on eliminating customer churn.
You’ve successfully closed a deal with a high-value prospect obtained through an ABM campaign. But don’t celebrate just yet — getting customers through the door is only half the battle. The challenge continues after the ink on the contract is dry, when marketers are tasked with turning first-time customers into loyal brand advocates with lifetime value.
A successful post-sales relationship starts with a great customer experience (CX). When CX is embedded in the marketing phase, organizations are more likely to achieve success in client interactions. “The customer experience starts with the buyer experience,” says Showpad’s Global Demand Generation Director, Nicolette Cieslak.
So, if your customer doesn’t quickly engage with the materials you give them, you risk losing buyers to a competitor that has invested more thought and effort in the post-sales lifecycle.
Maintaining engagement is the difference between a one-time sale and a customer for life
There is nothing more frustrating than securing a high-quality lead and then losing the sale. But as marketers, how do we continue to wow and delight customers once they walk through the door? It’s no longer enough for just sales and marketing messaging to be aligned; the customer service team needs to deliver on what was promised throughout the buyer’s journey. Without a post-sales marketing plan, customers could lose trust in your brand and take their business elsewhere.
The trick to capturing repeat customers, according to Cieslak, is to provide value at every touchpoint and avoid pushing low-quality content through the pipeline. A simple “thank you” note or customer success story delivered at the right moment, for example, can go a long way toward cultivating brand loyalty.
Keep in mind, you’ll be speaking to multiple audiences during the post-sale marketing phase. Will Wiegler, SVP & CMO of SpringCM, says you’re likely going to talk to people who don’t know you in addition to existing clients who are looking for a reason to hang around after their initial purchase. Regardless of who you interact with, it’s important to not overwhelm your customers with too much content. You want to be a welcome guest in your client’s inbox, providing valuable touchpoints to continue the conversation — not a nuisance that gets sent directly to the trash pile.
It’s all about balance: how to engage customers without overwhelming them
The right content strategy gives customers something to talk about after they complete the sales process. Customers want to know how and why your product or service will continue to benefit them in the future.
It all goes back to providing post-sales content that answers your customers’ needs and illuminates how you are solving their problems. Ensono, for example, uses surveys to determine the types of content customers want to receive and how businesses can continue to provide additional value.
From developing customer case studies to posting how-to guides, here are a few ways marketers can leverage content to keep customers coming back for more:
- Develop a customer mantra to rally your employees. Organizations achieve customer success when everyone is on the same page. To keep marketing, sales and customer service teams aligned, G2 Crowd developed a customer mantra to focus employees on a shared end goal. Any marketing materials sent to customers should be standardized across every promotional platform, and a customer mantra can help remind employees to create content that addresses customer needs.
- Leverage newsletters for engagement. To hold buyers’ interest, SpringCM sends its customers newsletters containing information about new product releases, educational materials, success stories and more. Customers love hearing how other users take advantage of your product, and this type of content is more likely to be read in earnest than spammy advertisements.
- Establish a dedicated community manager. In the post-sales cycle, third-party validation matters. With a community manager onboard, marketers can continue to engage customers and nurture long-term brand loyalty. A community manager also gets to know the buyer demographic better, digging into customers’ specific preferences and what they like or dislike about a product.
In the absence of post-sales marketing, organizations risk losing market share. But excessive content and intrusive interactions can also turn off your existing customer base. Remember, you want to deliver value at every touchpoint — don’t produce content just for the sake of producing it. Only when businesses demonstrate they have their customers’ best interests in mind through post-sales content marketing will companies enjoy the fruits of their lead-generating labor.
