3 Tips to Understanding Customer Retention
The majority of companies say that retaining a customer is less expensive than acquiring a new one. Customer retention is a critical sales cycle factor that you should track!
Customer retention is a metric that measures customer loyalty, or the ability of a specific company to keep its buyers over time. It goes beyond identifying the number of loyal customers; customer retention can reflect or predict customer satisfaction, repurchase behavior, customer engagement, and emotional ties to a brand.
Below, you will find 3 key tips that will help your company better understand your current level of customer loyalty and what steps you could take to improve your retention rate.
- Collect Current Customer Retention/Loyalty Analytics:
Looking at your customers’ data over time can give your company many valuable insights to mold and shape your business into one that nurtures a loyal consumer base!
There are countless variations on how you could collect this information but start with determining your customer retention ratio, repeat purchase ratio, net promoter score, customer effort score, customer satisfaction score, etc. Once you obtain this information, you can choose to compare numbers to similar businesses in your industry as well as your company’s past performance.
2. Focus on Increasing Customer Relationships and Experience:
One key element to retain customers is to focus on providing excellent customer service. This includes not only interactions at brick-and-mortar locations, but online interactions through social media. To do this effectively, you must respond quickly and transparently to complaints or concerns from your customers.
3. Reward your loyal customers:
Providing consistent and desirable rewards for doing business with your company can help incentivize loyal customers. As you plan your promotions, how can you use them to gather insightful feedback about your business? Take the time to track the effectiveness of each promotion to see what matters most to your customers.
Maintaining a consistent text/app/email reward service will also aid in keeping your product/service relevant to the consumer. For example, a passenger-based motor-coach business could offer a church organization 20% off every fourth trip booked.
Try out these tips today to keep your loyal customers lined up and ready to buy! Are there any other tips we missed? We would love to hear from you in the comments below!
5 Key Strategies to Utilize Hashtags
Hashtags have been ruling social media sites since 2007 and are a fine form of modern-world communication! Brands use keyworded hashtags across their online presence to optimize their potential reach.
Consumers come across hashtags in many ways. Primarily through tags they choose to follow on social media, trending hashtags, personalized content hashtags, and more.
Hashtags allow users to easily brand the post and position them clearly in the online space.
Here are five key strategies for how to efficiently use hashtags to get the maximum amount of optimized leads for your brand.
- Find niche and related hashtags to differentiate your business: Avoid overlapping your hashtags with your competitors, while still creating relevant and meaningful hashtags. Hashtags should help to demonstrate the value you are bringing with your product or service. If you had a limousine service, an example of an oversaturated hashtag could be #Limo.This type of hashtag doesn’t directly state anything about your services and doesn’t differentiate your brand. A better hashtag could be #NashvilleLuxuryLimo for potential customers looking for their city and type of desired experience.Of course, when you are first beginning to understand hashtags, it may be worth using longer clumped word hashtags as well as separating each word. Example: #Nashville #Luxuxry #Limo #NashvilleLuxuryLimo!
2. Determine the best hashtags through trial and error: After you have selected some of the hashtags you think could be the most beneficial to your brand, take time to integrate them smoothly into posts. The amount of hashtags you incorporate is entirely up to you and your personal social media strategy. A good number to start with is anywhere from 8-15.
With a smaller amount, you can compare which hashtags are helping your content perform best. One week after posting, compare your engagement (likes, comments, shares, etc.) to each post. This can help you determine how well different hashtags are working. From there, replace less efficient hashtags with ones with more engagement potential and repeat.
3. Hashtags encourage interested viewers to interact often: Hashtags can get you on the home page of people looking for your type of content! This convenience of directed marketing will excite interested viewers, encouraging them to like, comment, and follow your brand’s page.
4. Research which hashtags are being used throughout your industry as well as other relevant industries. Searching through different brand-relevant hashtags for inspiration can be extremely helpful to create your best content!
Similar brands and creators are most likely doing what you’re dreaming of already, so take a look through the posts under hashtags to gather ideas for your page.
5. Create lists of your used or planned hashtags: Creating lists of the hashtags you use across several social media sites can have many advantages. It can help you stay organized, note which hashtags are more efficient than others, and easily copy and paste when it comes time to post or update your profile!
Are there other important facts about the benefits of hashtags for brand promotion that we missed? Comment down below!
5 Facts to Connect with Gen Z Buyers
Did you know that when surveyed, 67% of Gen Zers said they were more likely to buy from a brand that asked for their input on marketing or product decisions? Gen Z is arguably one of the most self-aware generations to date, and they value authenticity and sustainability above all in brands.
Gen Z is the name given to the current generation of young people. Generation Z consists of people born between 1997 and 2012. The oldest of this generation are reaching 25 years of age, with many now out of college, getting married, and starting families. To keep innovating within your business, it’s important to consider how to reach this younger demographic.
Below, you will find 5 facts to gain a powerful connection with Gen Z to your brand!
1. Your tone is key to communicating with your Gen Z Audience, no matter the media form. They want to feel like their general challenges and values are understood and respected. How your company presents itself concerning specific issues plays a massive part in how Gen Z may perceive your brand.
2. Gen Z wants brands to ally in mental health challenges, healthcare, and social/environmental causes. For example, if you had a Vanpooling company, it would be worth it to make posts highlighting how your company benefits the environment while connecting with Gen Z viewers! They want to see brands taking action through their work rather than passive PR events.
3. They are leaning towards “Usership” over “Ownership,” which could be a key factor for the passenger-transit-based industry. Gen Z uses a revolving door of subscription services alongside the rise of Uber, and Lyft is becoming more financially attractive compared to purchasing a vehicle. Extending your services to these individuals could have your business enter a profitable untapped market.
4. They want the public transportation “aesthetic” based on social media posts across TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and others. Videos of “mysterious” individuals taking the subway or bus to work, all existing in the same place but in their own world, stirring up inspiration and desire in their curious minds. You can profit from this desire by showing them you have what they want – but make sure you connect with them as authentically as possible, appealing to their internal aesthetic desires.
5. They want to be a part of something larger than themselves and feel a part of a special community. Tying into the second fact on this list, when Gen Z decides to support or use a brand, their desired feeling is to feel a part of a community that goes beyond them as an individual. They want to support something that has a positive impact in the world. You can achieve this by responding to questions or comments across social media, consistently posting uplifting content related to your business or what your business is advocating for, and contributing to relevant social causes.
Use this information to form new and meaningful customer relationships with your brand’s Gen Z audience, and watch how the shift in approval will affect your online presence and profitability!
Is there anything else on this list? Comment below what you would add to better understand Gen Z Buyers.
Benefits of Internships for Students and Employers
Did you know that completing internships related to your desired field, on average, increases job offers by 16%? Employees with internship experience also experience an average of 9-12% higher salary than students who did not complete an internship. 70% of employers offer their interns a full-time job based on their work, creating opportunities for both the employer and intern that align with their long-term goals.
As someone who currently has an internship with On Your Mark Transportation, LLC., I have experienced firsthand the exponential benefits relevant training can make on your personal career, goals, and ambitions. I chose this internship because I was hoping to gain more marketing and sales skills to support my aspirations of entering a sales career. Still, the experience I have received has exceeded my expectations of what this role could offer me.
Within three months, I have gained extensive lead research and acquisition experience, numerous networking opportunities, learned how to cold call and set meetings, helped support a growing business, and increased my business knowledge, gaining confidence for my future career. It’s been a great experience so far, and I can tell from Mark’s feedback that implementing this new internship into his business model will help them grow in new ways and continue innovating.
A few significant positives this internship is providing to his company are a new lead generation and contact strategy, a structured learning environment providing optimal business goal optimization, additional blog / social media content creators, and utilizing local university talent from some of the brightest minds within Middle Tennessee to implement a younger and fresh new perspective for the business. Many other employers see similar benefits from their internship programs but are missing an essential factor of how to acquire more interns.
For 59.4% of students, not knowing how to find an internship was the main reason for not taking one. Employers are beginning to combat this statistic by contacting students via direct school emails, applications like Handshake, a University recommendation, getting referrals from existing interns, and adopting creative recruitment strategies to optimize their talent pool.
To summarize, you may want to consider implementing a company internship program to gain an extra set of valuable hands, bring a new and fresh perspective to your strategy, gain a more substantial online presence, provide mentorship opportunities, and train interns in a way to optimize their talents in hopes they could be a potential solid hire for a full-time position. I enjoy my internship because of the opportunities I’m receiving, the knowledge I gain through trial and error, and the confidence I have gained in my future career opportunities.
Top 8 Transportation Industry Trends
Do you want to use current transportation industry trends to your company’s competitive advantage? Staying on top of the growing number of industry trends can be difficult with a busy schedule, but not to fear. In this post, you will find the 8 key transportation industry trends of 2022.
1. Cloud-Based Systems (SaaS)
The adoption of Cloud-Based systems (Software-as-a-Service) used to manage your business has become widespread across every industry. Owners within the transportation industry can use Cloud-Based Transportation Management to help increase profitability and efficiencies within their company by using applications such as 3G-TM, 3T Event, and Cloud Logistics. This innovative software can help across many facets of your company, such as sales and marketing, freight settlement, route optimization, shipment consolidation, and more.
2. Self-Driving Trucks
Looking at the number of significant truck accidents and deaths caused by these accidents, the idea of the autonomous driving truck was born. Autonomous Trucks are a notable industry trend because the technology over the past few years keeps increasing, making the idea even more feasible in 2022.
Not only does this idea help improve driver efficiencies, but it can also be more fuel efficient, send accurate real-time statistics, and decrease the need for truck drivers over time. There has been a trend of truck drivers quitting at a higher percentage this past year, so if you think this idea may benefit the future of your transportation business, it may be worthwhile to implement it now.
3. Blockchain in Logistics
Globalia Logistics Network describes Blockchain as “… provides a localized network that allows peers to transact and communicate without requiring a centralized authority.” Why does it matter to the transportation industry? Blockchain has expanded and is helping owners in the transportation industry improve efficiency, maintain an efficient pricing strategy, provide data transparency, improve security, and more.
4. Drone Delivery
Tiny Robots are doing work for you. Cool right? This innovative product has grown into a powerful tool that you can use to benefit the transportation industry. People use it for Outlook, Airfreight, Supply of Medical Goods, and Parcel Delivery to help organizations save money, improve efficiency, prompt material deliveries, and more. A recent study shows that 48% of drone usage in the transportation industry is for Mapping & Surveying, with other factors including Inspection and Delivery.
5. Increased Interest in Active Transportation
A high percentage increase in the number of people in the United States is interested in living a more active lifestyle. They want to implement more activity into their daily commute, which can benefit you!
You can use this information to implement a more active transportation approach within your advertising/marketing strategy, create a more active-focused service approach, or invest in implementing more sidewalks/related infrastructure nearby to your business. Public transportation, such as the Bus or Cab, can still be considered active transportation due to the activity occurring because of choosing that activity.
6. Autonomous Vehicles
Related to Self-Driving Trucks, Autonomous Vehicles have been taking the transportation industry by storm. IBT claims, “North America is the largest market for autonomous delivery vehicles, currently at $4.8 billion, rising to $40 billion by 2030″. With so much growth potential, the early implementation of autonomous vehicles into your company could be a wise investment for both service differentiation and ROI opportunities. Consider switching some company vehicles over to autonomous vehicles or expanding your offerings to a self-driving taxi.
7. Focus on Transportation Accessibility
Did you know that 25.5 million Americans age five and older have self-reported travel-limiting disabilities? About 7 out of 10 people with disabilities report using transportation less because of their disabilities. There has been a movement to provide an increase focused on groups with disabilities. Still, it is also a key trend that could be both beneficial and profitable to your company.
Being the first organization to provide directly for users with disabilities increased their likelihood of using the service despite their disability, reaching into untapped market potential. You are solving their travel limitations through your offerings, encouraging them to travel more. Consider adding more accessible features to your existing services to increase your number of users with a disability.
8. Technology Improving Overall Efficiency
As previously discussed, the growth in overall technological innovation has proven to be an extremely crucial asset in taking your business to the next level. To succeed, you must be willing to jump to the next curve, and the technology we have seen has proven to be the transportation industry’s future. It’s all about choosing the “right” software for your specific needs.
It can help you in every department of your business, from decreasing costs to improving efficiency, organizational methods, accurate diagnostics, and more. Look into new software programs designed for the transportation industry to reap the benefits of the new-age innovation.
“Your comfort zone is a place where you keep yourself in a self-illusion, and nothing can grow there, but your potentiality can grow only when you can think and grow out of that zone.”
― Rashedur Ryan Rahman
Try being ahead of the curve and implementing these emerging trends in your company today! Subscribe to our blog, the On Your Mark Blog, for more related content.