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Customers defecting at record levels: How to buck the trend

Found on BusinessBrief.com
by Julie Power

Now, more than ever, is the time to step up customer-retention efforts.

Here’s why: 52% of formerly loyal buyers either reduced loyalty, switched or completely defected from brands between 2007 and now.

And an average of one third of all loyal customers quit between 2007 and 2008, finds a study by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council.

The study, “Losing Loyalty: the Consumer Defection Dilemma,” tracked 34 million shoppers and 685 grocery and pharmacy brands over a two-year period at 24,000 retail stores.

“The wishful thought that ‘my loyals will stay my loyals’ is no longer a comfortable assumption,” says the report.

“Price and promotion have become so salient at retail, that what we thought was the loyal customer can be moved with discounts,” Eric Anderson, associate professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management, told The Financial Times.

While the study only examined consumer packaged goods, similar trends are being seen in nearly every industry, including business-to-business.

What can you do to stop loyal customers from defecting?

• Save them early. The study found it was easier to retain loyal consumers who were in the early stages of switching (i.e., thinking about jumping or grumbling about service) than after they had left.
• Ask sales and service for help. Consider asking reps or sales staff for feedback on the most common gripes they’re hearing.
• Try an online survey. They’re an inexpensive way to get feedback from customers. Try SurveyMonkey.com, for example.
• Do more to engage and communicate with loyal buyers. You may want to provide loyal or long-term buyers with special treatment or profile these accounts on your Web site.

You can download the entire study (registration required) by Catalina Marketing’s Pointer Media Network.

Julie Power is editor in chief of the Internet Marketing Report and the blog, The Internet Marketing Report Online.

The 10 Commandments of Social Media

by Lon Safko on Fast Company.com

As an author of The Social Media Bible, I am often asked, "What do I need to do engage my company, my products, and myself in social media?" The answer is easy: participate. Get out there and get involved. If you aren't in the game, you can't win. Here's your Ten Commandments or things you need to be doing to get in and win with social media.

1. Thou Shalt Blog (like crazy).
2. Thou Shalt Create Profiles (everywhere).
3. Thou Shalt Upload Photos (lots of them).
4. Thou Shalt Upload Videos (all you can find).
5. Thou Shalt Podcast (often).
6. Thou Shalt Set Alerts (immediately).
7. Thou Shalt Comment (on a multitude of blogs).
8. Thou Shalt Get Connected (with everyone).
9. Thou Shalt Explore Social Media (30 minutes per week).
10. Thou Shalt Be Creative (go forth and create creatively)!

Commandments 1. Thou Shalt Blog (like crazy)
Blog. Please. That's the first priority. Set up a blog, a personal blog, a business blog. It's easier than you think. Use an existing blogging site such as Blogger.com or GOingOn.com or install your own branded blogging site right on your own server by using WordPress. And, WordPress is free.

Commandments 2. Thou Shalt Create Profiles (everywhere)
Create your profiles; do it now before someone else takes them. Once they are gone, they are gone forever. That's called cyber squatting. So get out there. Use Open Social to make filling in your profiles as easy as a click of a button.

Commandments 3. Thou Shalt Upload Photos (lots of them)
Upload photographs. You've got them. Don't upload the one with you with a lampshade on your head…counterproductive; but other photographs? Absolutely. Customers want to see and participate. You want to give people a face to go with your company.

Commandments 4. Thou Shalt Upload Videos (all you can find)
Videos. You all have got videos. I don't care whether it's training videos or customer videos, grab your video camera and go interview some of your customers. What's better than seeing your customer's smiley face on your Web site? And it doesn't cost anything.

Commandments 5. Thou Shalt Podcast (often)
Podcast. If you're too cheap to get a camera, use the free audio software that's in your computer. That's what I did. I created 48 audio podcasts. If you take the podcasts I did for my book and played them back-to-back, they run 24 continuous hours of interviews. You can do that. It's free. It just takes time.

Commandments 6. Thou Shalt Set Alerts (immediately)
Set alerts. People are talking about you. You probably need to know what they are saying and you want to participate.

Commandments 7. Thou Shalt Comment (on a multitude of blogs)
Comment. Commenting is like going to a cocktail party. You wouldn't walk into a networking event, walk up to a group of people talking, and tell them your name and what you do in your business. That would be rude and unacceptable. Listen first. Read the blogs and add comments. You can be controversial, that's okay. But participate. Get involved.

Commandments 8. Thou Shalt Get Connected (with everyone)
Get LinkedIn. Put it in your email that you have a LinkedIn account, you have a FaceBook account, and that you have a Twitter account. Make it a part of your heading on your letterhead, because that's how you propagate. That's how you sell it.

Commandments 9. Thou Shalt Explore Social Media (30 minutes per week)
Explore social media. Give me thirty minutes a week, that's all I'm asking. Friday morning grab your coffee, lock yourself in your office, and give me thirty minutes. Just Google something. I promise you within the first 30 days you will be excited. You'll be as excited as I am. You will get excited because of the ROI.

Commandments 10. Thou Shalt Be Creative (go forth and create creatively)
And the most important commandment is creativity. That's all. It's just creativity and having fun. But you know what, that's what your customers want. They want to see transparency. They want to see authenticity. They want to see you having fun. They want to be able to relate and communicate.

Tps for Links on Your Website to Help with SEO

From Examiner.com --

Links on your website, and more important, the words used in the links on your website are very important to the search engines and your SEO efforts. Here is a quick guide to maximizing the click-throughs and effectiveness of your links:

1. Do not ever use the words "more info" or "read more" or "click here" as the text for a link. That information is pretty much useless! Make sure your link text uses keywords or longtail key phrases that tell the visitor more about where the link will take them.
     
2. Include more than one link to each page on your website. Do not rely on ONLY the link in the navigation to direct users to the pages in your site. Include links throughout the content of each page where appropriate to interlink the pages and make it more intuitive for the visitor to move through your site.
     
3. Make sure your links are appropriate and relevant. If the web page is about "tips for knitting scarves" a link for "best yarn for knitting scarves" or "learn to knit a scarf" would be great link choices. A link to a blanket wouldn't be.
     
4. Don't over do it! Too many links on your page can hurt your ranking as well. Make sure all of your links are purposeful and add to the ease of the users experience.

Women's Use of Blogs

From Bloomberg Marketing -- A must read is the BlogHer Second Annual Women and Social Media Study. Elisa Camahort, BlogHer, explains the history of the study. The research takes a close look at the habits and attitudes of heavy users - women who participate in any social media activity at least weekly.

Participants, who were online were more likely to spend less time engaging in traditional media activities like watching TV (30%), listening to the radio (31%), and reading magazines (36%) or the newspaper (39%).

A few more findings - Women are nearly twice as likely to use blogs than social networking web sites as a source of information (64%), advice and recommendations (43%) and opinion-sharing (55%), while they are 50 percent more likely to turn to social networking sites as a means of keeping in touch with friends and family (75%).

World's Most Creative People

Have you ever wondered what makes the world's most creative people tick? FAST Company has come out with their 10 Most Creative People in the world. It is a great glimpse into the minds of people who have brought you items like the iPOD. Check it out here at http://www.fastcompany.com/100/2009/jonathan-ive?partner=homepage_newsletter#

5 Low or No Cost Ways to Build Your Brand in a Down Economy

A down economy provides the best opportunity to build and promote your brand. The worst thing you can do is pull your head back into your shell and cut your marketing budget. Check out this blog on five things you can do to build your brand in this economy. Read the full story here.

Twitter

Twitter is quickly becoming its own phenomenon. Here's a fun and informative interview Biz Stone, the co-founder of Twitter, on Stephen Colbert's show. View the video here.

Starbuck's Launches New Campaign

Starbucks (SBUX) is launching a multi-million marketing and advertising campaign "focused on the quality, value and values Starbucks offers" despite the fact that on Wednesday the company reported abysmal Q2 earnings — a 77% profit drop. In this economy, you need to be advertising, no matter how small you are. This is the time when you can make the biggest impact. Read the entire story here.

Online Advertising Expected to Increase

Online advertising is expected to continue its increase, with companies shifting their budgets from traditional to online advertising. And why not? With online you can geo-target, track where your viewers are coming from, what they are doing on your site, whether or not they are buying, and get and actual ROI. You can be nimble, changing messaging and targets at will (not that you would, but you could). This can't be done with a newspaper. Check out these new stats that came out today.

A STUDY IN CONTRASTS FOR FALL 2009...

Subtle contrasts, like those found in a painter’s masterpiece, make up the diverse color palette for fall 2009. Designers play with a broad spectrum of unique color combinations this season, resulting in distinct, yet cohesive color palettes. “The fall 2009 palette is more unique and thoughtful than the typical autumnal hues of years past,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute

recognize the desire for fundamental basics that speak to current economic conditions, but also understand the need to incorporate vibrant color to grab the consumers’ eyes and entice them to buy.”  (Click HERE for the Full Story)