10 Ways To Use Email Marketing To Increase Customer Retention

Acquisition is about getting new customers. Retention is about maximizing the value of your existing customers.

According to every available statistic, one is clearly a better use of your time than the other…

Repeat customers have been measured to spend an average of 67% more than new customers.
It’s easy to see why 82% of companies say that retaining a customer is less expensive than acquiring a new one.
Retention is mostly successful, with companies stating that 65% – 75% of their business comes from retained customers.

If you’ve already got a customer base, it’s worth asking how you can maximize the value of those customers.

Here are 10 ways to use email marketing to do all of that (with examples).

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1. Educate & Encourage Engagement

Customers cancel subscriptions or jump ship (from your brand to another) for a lot of different reasons.

But one of the most common reasons is pretty simple: they stop using your product or service to its full effect.

Maybe they don’t know how to make the most of it.

Or maybe they’ve just forgotten about the subscription (and it’s doomed to be canceled once they remember).

Either way, it’s in your interest (and theirs) to actively educate and encourage all of your customers to keep engaging with your product and using it to its full potential.

Let’s look at some examples.

Headspace, the popular meditation app, sends the following email (according to Email Mastery) when someone signs up for Headspace Plus…

You can see how this email is showing the value their subscription provides with a CTA to go use the app.

Another email sent shortly after the first gives the new customer ideas for how and when to use the app…

The goal of these emails is to get people using (and better yet, building a habit of using) their new subscription.

Grammarly does the same thing.

Here’s one of the first emails they send after someone signs up for a Premium membership.

And here’s another…

See a trend?

The marketers at Grammarly and Headspace seem to be well aware that churn naturally reduces when customers are actually using the product to its full effect.

That should be your goal, as well, whenever you get new customers.

What emails can you send to onboard them and get them in the habit of using your product regularly to accomplish their goals?

2. Use Cart Abandonment Emails

The cart abandonment email. It’s one of the oldest strategies in digital marketing, and also one of the most effective.

Just check out some of these stats…

More than 40% of cart abandonment emails are opened
50% of these are clicked on
50% of the users who clicked purchased

When customers add items to their carts but don’t complete their purchase, it means they are interested in what you are offering. That’s why it is so important to send out cart abandonment emails to remind them of what they are missing out on.

Cart abandonment emails can be customized and personalized for each customer to make sure that the message resonates with each individual.

Using enticing visuals, relevant product information, and a strong call-to-action can help customers re-engage with you and complete their purchase. You might even consider offering a discount to incentivize them to come back.

Here’s an example of what this looks like…

Cart abandonment emails are a great way to reach out and remind customers of what they are leaving behind. Show them why your product is worth buying and encourage them to complete their purchase.

3. Share Case Studies

If you spend much time reading a lot of modern nonfiction bestsellers, you will have noticed that nearly every chapter begins with a story.

Why?

Because stories are how humans form their worldviews — and to believe that something is possible, it’s helpful to hear the story of someone similar who’s accomplished what we’re trying to accomplish.

That’s why we created the Two Comma Club here at ClickFunnels. To celebrate our most successful members and to tell compelling stories so that our new members understand what’s possible with our platform.

It’s why virtually every chapter of Russell’s Secrets Trilogy starts with stories and case studies of people making important discoveries.

And it’s why all of our sales pages have stories on them…

Stories won’t just help you make conversions during the sales process, though, they can also help you retain customers.

By sending case studies to your existing customers, you can remind them of what’s possible and light a fire under them to take massive action.

4. Send Personalized Updates

Think of the product you use most consistently, the ones that have become a part of your routine.

They are a part of your routine because they provide some sort of value… every single day. And at this point, you’ve probably engaged with them enough that you don’t even think about engaging with them… you just do.

I, for instance, use Ahrefs to track SEO rankings and results for my clients.

And at this point, I’m convinced that I’ll have an Ahrefs account for the rest of my life.

Every single morning, I check it to see how their rankings are doing and I pay close attention to the email updates they send me. Things like this, for instance…

If you offer a product that provides recurring value, then it would be extremely beneficial for your customers to form habits of using your products or services every day.

The more engrained those habits, the better.

One way to help your customers create these types of habits is through email updates on their progress.

I get quite a few emails from Ahrefs with ranking updates.

Grammarly also sends personalized updates to its customers…

I myself — and many of my writer friends — are addicted to these updates. It’s fun to see how our own writing habits compare to other writers.

But it’s not just fun.

It makes the thought of getting rid of Grammarly unappealing… because then we won’t get to see these updates that we’re so used to seeing.

How can you send personalized progress update emails to help your customers build a daily or weekly habit of using your product?

5. Segment Your Email List for More Relevant Offers

One of the best ways to increase the relevance of your emails is by segmenting your list.

Segmentation allows you to send more targeted email campaigns, tailored to different interests and behaviors.

For example, if someone on your list has just purchased a product from you, it makes sense to follow up with an upsell of a related product.

Likewise, if someone has been inactive for a while, you can target them with content and offers that may be more relevant to their current needs.

You could also send out special offers on birthdays or anniversaries for customers who have purchased from you in the past.

Segmentation will also help you determine which customers are more likely to respond positively and make a purchase, which will help you increase customer loyalty over time.

6. Create Special Offers for Existing Customers

Everyone loves discounts and special offers, so why not use those to encourage your existing customers to stay with your brand?

The most common way to do this is with loyalty programs, where customers can earn points that they can use towards discounts on future purchases.

You could also offer exclusive rewards for customers who have been with you the longest. Or offer special discounts to customers who have purchased the most from your business.

No matter what your approach is, the important thing is to make sure your existing customers know that you value their loyalty and want to reward them for it.

7. Send Out Relevant Blog Posts & Content

You can use email marketing to keep customers engaged by sending out content related to your business or industry.

For example, if you run a beauty blog, you could send out new blog posts or articles about makeup tutorials, skincare tips, and other relevant topics.

You can also use email to stay top of mind with customers by sending out newsletters that highlight new products, updates on your business, or featured content from other websites.

By giving customers helpful, relevant information, you’ll be able to keep them engaged with your brand and increase loyalty.

8. Ask for Feedback & Invite Participation

Another way to encourage customer engagement is to ask for feedback from your customers.

You can do this by sending out surveys or polls which will allow you to get valuable insights into what customers think of your products and services.

You can also invite customers to participate in online events such as Q&A sessions or webinars. This will give them a chance to interact with you and get their questions answered.

By consistently engaging with your customers, you’ll be able to build relationships with them and retain them for the long term.

9. Send Product Improvement Emails

Regularly improving your product or service?

Then send email updates to tell your existing customers about all of your hard work.

One of the top reasons that people cancel subscriptions is because they feel like they’re not getting enough value… and one of the best ways to combat that is by showing your customers that you’re dedicated to excellence through product improvements.

Here’s an email, for instance, from Headspace introducing their new podcast…

And here’s an email from Codecademy announcing a new course they created…

If you’re already dedicated to having the best product or service on the market, show that to your customers with product improvement emails.

This is a no-brainer way to provide more value for your customers and show them your dedication to helping.

10. Host Challenges or Competitions

REISift provides pretty sophisticated software for real estate investors to generate leads and find deals.

It’s the type of powerful software that, once implemented, real estate investors rarely get rid of.

Because it works well and it’s way better than anything else out there on the market for investors.

Only one problem…

The software is so sophisticated that it can be a lot to learn for new customers.

And it requires a good bit of work upfront to figure it out and implement it in your business.

So what does REISift do about that?

They have a 30-day challenge they host live every single month, called Data to Dollars, where they teach new and experienced users how to make the most of their software.

They encourage new members to take this challenge right away and they encourage existing members to retake it every six months because it’s always changing and adapting based on the new features that have been added to their software.

Community challenges or competitions are a great way to build deeper relationships with your customers and teach them how to use your product more effectively — which naturally reduces churn and improves retention.