Strengthening Retention and Loyalty: Strategies for Long-Term Customer Engagement

For SaaS businesses, conversion is only the beginning of the story. As SaaS products are typically sold with a monthly subscription, the marketing is not over when someone commits to the first month. To maximise customer lifetime value, you need to keep adding value, promoting new products, upselling and reminding existing customers of why they want to renew month-on-month, year after year.

The Cost-Effectiveness of Customer Retention

Some say it costs five times as much to acquire a new customer as it does to retain one you’ve already got. Others claim it’s seven times as much. Whatever the figure, it’s clear that keeping rolling subscriptions going is the most cost-effective way to maintain a stable income that allows you to invest in growing your business.

However, in 2024 with tougher economic conditions around the world biting, businesses of all sizes are looking for ways to tighten their purse strings and cut their budgets. Your marketing team will need to work twice as hard to convince subscribers that they can’t do without your solution.

• Use loyalty programs to reward customers for their continued subscriptions. This makes subscribers feel valued by your brand and might make them think twice before cancelling their subscription. Rewards for long-time users could include money off upgraded subscriptions, new products, or sneak previews of new innovations.
• Build a self-service support portal. Invest in customer education by creating an easily accessible library of in-depth articles and resources to help them explore and benefit from your product fully. This will reduce the likelihood of customers growing frustrated with your product if they don’t understand some aspects, as well as remind them of all the possibilities it offers them. Wrap AI around this to create a chat interface with your portal or offer the ability to share a screenshot and get an answer.
• Actively ask for feedback and take it on board. By asking users to fill in surveys or by making it easy for them to register complaints and ask questions, you can remind them of how valuable their experience is to your brand. However, you can also gather invaluable qualitative data to continuously improve your products and keep users coming back for more.
• Create a community. Whether this means actively responding to comments on your social profiles, joining relevant conversations on platforms such as Discord and Stack Overflow, or creating a user support forum on your site, gives users a place to share their experiences and ask questions that can turn your brand into an invaluable aspect of your users’ digital lives.

AI-Enhanced Retention Strategies in 2024

If such tactics have proven their value in the past, then in 2024, AI is likely to enhance retention and loyalty efforts. AI’s predictive capabilities improve personalisation, and enable proactive intervention, enabling SaaS companies to reduce churn and foster long-term loyalty.

Analysing usage patterns, engagement levels, and customer feedback with AI identifies customers at risk of churning. Making interventions may help control churn rates and boost retention, perhaps even leading to cross-selling and upselling opportunities. Deeper AI-powered analysis of behaviour improves the understanding of each user, boosting the value of CRM and providing the opportunity to improve CX.

Seek out ways to add value for your customers at no extra cost to your business, and watch those rolling subscriptions come in!

7 Smart Ideas to Market Your SaaS Business in 2024

This smart concept ‘strengthening loyalty and retention’ is just a glimpse of the valuable insights available in our latest guide ‘7 Smart Ideas to Market Your SaaS Business in 2024’. You can download your free guide here.

Build lasting loyalty and engagement with Xander Marketing

If you are looking for ways to boost your customer engagement and retention or if you need help with your SaaS Marketing partner with Xander Marketing; the SaaS marketing agency that has worked with over 200+ SaaS businesses since 2009.

We’re a perfect fit for B2B SaaS businesses with no in-house marketing or marketing managers who need a delivery partner.

Get started today with a free 30-minute marketing consultation.