Keeping customers on board via predictive analytics
While keeping current customers on board is universally said to be easier than acquiring new ones, it’s still not exactly easy to do.
Once more, predictive analytics can make the whole process that much easier.
As we mentioned earlier, predictive analytics helps marketing teams determine the shopping patterns of both individual customers and customer segments as a whole.
In this same way, predictive analytics software can analyze the pre-defection actions taken by customers who have churned and uses this data to identify other customers who are at risk of churning (or weaning off of their normal purchase routine, as the case may be). The marketing team can then develop email messages to be automatically delivered to customers who exhibit such at-risk behavior in the future.
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On the other side of the spectrum, predictive analytics can also help companies solidify their relationship with loyal customers, as well.
In the same way that the software can identify behaviors that are indicative of potential churn, it can also identify actions taken by customers as they’re about to ramp up the amount of business they do with the company in question. This allows the marketing team to shoot these soon-to-be-loyal customers an email regarding loyalty or VIP programs at the exact right moment (as opposed to sending these messages way too early in the relationship and coming off as pushy or desperate).
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Lastly, predictive analytics can help companies determine when loyal customers are most likely to go a step further and recommend the brand to their friends.
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Again, sending such an email before a customer is ready to make an honest referral could end up backfiring (or, at the very least, end up falling on deaf ears). With predictive analytics, though, marketing teams will gain a better understanding of where the “evangelism threshold” is (e.g., most loyal customers tend to make referrals after x amount of purchases or x amount of time spent as a customer).
Whether you’re looking to keep at-risk customers from churning or to strengthen your relationship with your long-standing customers, predictive analytics can help you determine the exact right time to send out a perfectly-tailored email to help you accomplish your goals.