Lifecycle Marketing 101: 5 Main Stages to Implementation

Customer retention is critical to building long-term revenue that can sustain the business and help it expand. Several marketing strategies can assist companies in improving retention rates, and one of the most popular is lifecycle marketing.

What Is Lifecycle Marketing?

So what is lifecycle marketing? Lifecycle marketing is a hands-on strategy meant to attract and retain customers — accomplished by creating content that resonates with prospects at each of the lifecycle marketing stages.

Main Lifecycle Marketing Stages To Successful Implementation

Most strategies consist of five lifecycle marketing stages that customers pass through during their interactions with a company.

• Attracting Prospects

To attract customers through marketing strategies, you’ll need to understand who your target audience is. You’ll also want to determine which marketing channels your clients will likely use and create effective lead magnets specifically for each channel, encouraging prospects to learn more about your company’s products or services.

• Converting Leads

There are various ways to nurture your leads and guide them toward conversion, such as delivering content that meets their needs. For example, if you have an email subscriber list, you’ll want to send regular marketing emails that advertise ongoing promotions or new products. Of course, handling your lead conversion processes can be time-consuming, so consider marketing automation tools for the best results.

• Closing Sales

To close sales, you must incentivize customers to purchase from you. Sometimes, offering a discount on your products is all that stands between your organization and a sale. If you don’t regularly offer discounts, consider sharing customer testimonials or showcasing your company’s dedication to superior customer service.

• Delighting Customers

According to a PwC study, nearly 60% of customers will stop purchasing from a company following a bad experience — highlighting the necessity of providing excellent customer support. To this end, implement a customer feedback system to monitor reviews and ensure you continually meet expectations.

Another strategy to consider is a loyalty program, which encourages customers to return when they need your products since they’ll build up points they can use on future purchases.

• Retaining Customers

Finally, one of the most important stages of lifecycle marketing is to get customers to return. Consider offering incentives for them to make further purchases, like ongoing discounts and promotions. You can also create referral programs that provide your existing client with a benefit if they refer a friend who purchases with your company.

And finally, if you develop content for your customers, you’ll want to deliver valuable materials that provide consistent benefits for them. Consider a beauty brand that sends makeup application tips to email subscribers, providing high-impact content that customers value.

Creating an Effective Lifecycle Marketing Strategy

To create a lifecycle marketing strategy that delivers, follow these tips.

Identify Your Target Audience

To determine your audience’s characteristics and behaviors, perform market research. Once you know your customers, you can create customer personas that allow you to market directly to their needs.

Mapping Out Your Customer Journey

A customer journey identifies all the touchpoints your clients encounter when interacting with your brand. It can also identify pain points that might cause them to delay a purchase. Once you have a clear customer journey map, you can determine the right strategies to move prospects through your funnel.

Developing Your Marketing Plan

A marketing plan is your comprehensive strategy to attract and retain customers. It will include your budget for advertising activities and identify your marketing channels. Your marketing plan should consist of objectives (like SMART goals) that your team will work to accomplish.

Creating Your Content Strategy

A successful marketing plan must prioritize high-impact content during each stage in the customer journey. Ideally, this content will be personalized. You should also implement tools that help you analyze the results from your lifecycle marketing strategies.

Best Practices for Lifecycle Marketing

When creating your lifecycle marketing strategy, keep these best practices in mind.

Data-Driven Marketing

It’s important to analyze customer data to determine appropriate marketing strategies. You may benefit from predictive analytics, which relies on your data to predict specific outcomes. You can also implement A/B testing to determine which types of ads lead to the most conversions.

Marketing Automation

Implementing marketing automation can save a lot of time and provide valuable results. For example, automated lead scoring can inform you of customers most likely to convert, drip campaigns gently nurture customers during their journey, and triggered emails can encourage clients to take specific actions, like resuming an abandoned cart order.

Create Consistent Messaging

Your brand’s voice should remain consistent across all marketing channels, and you should regularly review your value proposition to ensure it remains attractive to clients. Finally, maintaining a content calendar ensures you don’t miss a beat.

Measuring and Analyzing Your Results

You need to know whether your lifecycle marketing strategies are actually working. To this end, use key performance indicators (KPIs) to benchmark your results against your goals. That way, you can make data-informed decisions to optimize your campaigns.

Challenges of Lifecycle Marketing

Implementing lifecycle marketing isn’t always easy, and there are a few challenges you may encounter.

Ensuring Consistent Messaging Across Channels

If your brand relies on multiple marketers across various platforms, it can be difficult to standardize a voice and tone. Consider creating a brand guide to ensure your team understands your brand voice and stays on message.

Keeping Up with Emerging Marketing Technologies

Marketing is constantly evolving, and you’ll want to keep your team updated on any changes that impact your strategies. That way, they can pivot accordingly.

Building and Maintaining Customer Relationships

It’s important to keep customers satisfied and ensure retention, but their needs might change, and you might lose clients despite your best efforts. Try to re-engage them, but realize that they might be at the end of their journey with your brand.

Balancing Marketing Strategies with Customer Privacy Concerns

Customers value their privacy and don’t want their data used for nefarious purposes. So while customer data is essential to marketing, use only first-party information for your advertising activities.

Lifecycle Marketing Helps Retain Customers

With an effective lifecycle marketing strategy, you’ll find customers who stick with your brand for the long haul. You’ll also see higher ROIs for your marketing spend. Get help organizing your marketing assets with MarcomCentral.