Thread by @GrowthTactics

THREAD: How to keep users around longer.

Surprise: Acquiring a new user costs 5x more than retaining one.

Here's how to keep the customers you already have:

Customer retention comes from:

1. Loyalty: Build affinity through a quality user experience

2. Incentives: Align your value prop w/ users' desires

3. Frictionless experience: Make it easy for customers to repeat buy

7 insights that'll help you keep customers coming back 👇

1) Consider ditching promotional giveaways & limited-time specials—these do NOT build long-term customer loyalty.

• They might get users to try something—but not stick around

• And they train customers to ONLY buy from you when you're running a promo

Instead of short-term promos, consider creating an enticing rewards program.

Check out @thredUP's:

• Gamifies experience w/ multiple ways to earn & redeem points
• Creates urgency through expiry dates (E.g. "Use by Aug 24")
• Progress bar encourages continued engagement

2) You'll lose customers if they have to repeat their problems to customer experience bots—so improve this:

• Refer to notes from previous conversations
• Use real names/faces—they're comforting
• Escalate to your team quickly if your bots can't solve the problem

3) Surprise current customers w/ freebies.

Important notes:

• Don't wait for birthdays—that's when customers receive gifts from lots of other brands
• Relate gifts to your core offering for more affinity

E.g. @chewy randomly sends customers pet portraits

4) Before customers churn, you'll likely see a dip in engagment.

When you start seeing low engagement, offer a downsell (lower-cost alternative) to keep customers from churning.

You'll gain trust by selling only what they need—and not what they can't afford.

5) Churn isn't always intentional—it's often caused by an expired credit card

For subscription companies:

• Retry the card on-file again
• If you need to contact customers, send a mobile-friendly link to collect card info
• Follow up w/ SMS

Tools like @churnbuster can help

6) Instead of greeting all visitors the same way, show returning customers a personalized welcome popup and remind them of your value prop.

Booking includes a "welcome back" message for returning visitors (tracked through cookies).

7) Make your checkout process frictionless.

3 tactics to try:

1. Enable one-click checkout using tools like @Fast.
2. Reduce options on your navbar to prevent distractions.

Existing customers already want to buy from you. Remove friction for repeat purchases 👇

3. Encourage account registration—but don't require it.

First-time buyers may not be ready to commit.

Wait until after they purchase to send an email explaining registration perks, like tracking shipments, viewing order history, and rewards.

Recap:

• Reconsider short-term promos
• Improve CX interactions
• Surprise w/ freebees
• Downsell when necessary
• Avoid unintentional churn
• Personalize popups
• Make checkout frictionless

Improve retention by building loyalty, removing friction, & aligning incentives

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