The Shopping Minds Data Platform uses a Customer Lifecycle model (CLC model). This model incorporates all the steps that a prospective customer or current customer takes in their journey towards a repeat purchase. It concerns all contact points that a customer has with your service or offer from the first purchase.
Recognising and categorising customers is a must for generating more revenue. When a customer can be divided into a certain segment, you can use specific marketing techniques for a certain type of customer. In this article, you can read how this works, and how a CLC can help you with this.
The Customer Lifecycle model in our data platform includes all steps, from the first point of contact and phases that a prospective customer goes through during and after a purchase. By having a good overview of this data, you can increase your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) scores. This value tells you how much revenue a customer generates for your business throughout the entire course of the customer relationship. By having this information mapped out, you can optimise the customer experience and thus the conversion.
This Customer Lifetime Value is the key to tracking customer experience data. This is an important element, because it costs less to keep an existing customer than to recruit new ones. Increasing the CLV of existing customers is an incredibly good way to achieve growth.
Ultimately, you want to make each contact with your company maximally profitable. By focusing on each individual step in the CLC and measuring it accurately, you can identify the most valuable touchpoint and optimise the relevant process.
Within the Shopping Minds Data Platform, the following groups are distinguished from each other within the Customer Lifecycle:
- Prospective customers, website visitors who have not yet made a purchase and are therefore technically not yet a customer. But when it comes to targeting, they fall into the same category as the other CLCs.
- New buyers, visitors who have made 1 purchase in the last 0-30 days.
- Promising, visitors who have made 2 or 3 purchases in the past 0-60 days.
- Loyal, visitors who have made 4 or more purchases in the past 0-90 days.
- Drifting, visitors who have made 1 to 3 purchases in the past 31 – 90 days.
By distinguishing between these groups, you can determine a specific approach for each target customer segment. For example, offer a loyal customer a fixed customer discount, or try to get a new customer to come back to your website by means of a targeted promotion. You want to use your advertising budget as efficiently as possible. Recruiting a new customer is often more expensive than retaining a loyal customer. You usually target a loyal customer through cheaper channels, as they already know the way to your website or other sales channel. Google Ads, a more expensive option, is in turn more likely to be used for recruiting new customers, partly because you do not yet have an email address for that group to advertise via email, for example.
In addition to the above segments, there are customers who are inactive for a longer period of time. These fall into the following categories:
- Sleepers, visitors who made their last 1 to 3 purchases between 91 and more than a year ago.
- At risk, visitors who have made 4 or more purchases in the past 91 to 365 days.
- Red alert, visitors have made 4 or more purchases more than a year ago.
For the above segments, it is important to take action to get them to come back to your sales channel. Your approach will be different from the previously mentioned segments.
Suggestions are made for each segment on the Shopping Minds Data Platform regarding the best approach or strategy, as not every approach works for each segment:
In short, these are the reasons to focus on mapping a CLC:
- You can identify bottlenecks and carry out optimisations where necessary;
- It is a simple and effective tool to base a strategy on;
- Developing an “entry-level” strategy for new customers;
- Look for substance in the targeting methods instead of a “one-size-fits-all” approach;
- Develop your journeys;
- Constant analyses and optimalisations to improve the same journeys.
Shopping Minds can help you differentiate between the different customer segments and set up a suitable advertising strategy for each segment. Contact us to review the possibilities, or request a free demo.
