So What Exactly is Lifecycle Marketing?
Lifecycle Marketing.
Here’s another term to add to your digital marketing lexicon: lifecycle marketing. This subject is being talked about in detail at our upcoming “Grow, Automate and Thrive” 1-Day Business Summit in Milton Keynes on 24th April 2019.
This can be one of the best goodwill generating concepts in the world of digital marketing and, when properly executed, one that nets ongoing returns. What’s even better is that ‘Lifecycle Marketing’ as a concept used to be mainly accessible to just the larger businesses, but now through continual advancements and a significant reduction in the cost of technology, this is easily affordable for Small Businesses now too.
First, what is it? Lifecycle marketing is the process of providing your audience the communication and experiences they need, want, or like as they move from prospects to customers then, ideally, to ‘Raving Fan’. So we are really talking about ‘Lifecycle marketing, sales and customer services.
Basically, a good Lifecycle Marketing system will allow your business too;
- Get more and better-qualified leads and prospects;
- Increase your conversion rate with your prospects to sell more;
- Give excellent customer service to your customers to create more ‘Profitable Raving Fans’;
There are a myriad of different types of strategies and communication your small business should be conducting to develop an effective Lifecycle Marketing system. Although this will differ slightly depending on your Industry and uniqueness within your business, there are some common areas, which are explained below.
Lifecycle Marketing – Doing It Manually vs A CRM…
The ‘Nine Key areas of Lifecycle Marketing can be done either manually or through using a CRM – Customer Relationship Management software. There are many advantages in using a CRM versus conducting these tasks manually. Capturing your data and activity on one simple system, which can then be largely automated is a huge productivity enhancement.
There is a myriad of CRM systems out there, we always recommend ‘Keap‘ for the ‘Service Providers, who are self-employed or have 1-2 staff. For Businesses with 3 or more team seeking a ‘Higher-Growth’ opportunity, we would recommend Infusionsoft by Keap. Keap is extremely cost-effective for small businesses costing less than a day’s wages for an admin person and enhancing your business follow-up and results significantly.
To be a master of customer lifecycle marketing, one must possess a genuine understanding of their target audience and be ready to work toward retaining and growing customer value over the long term.
Three Main Phases & Three Sub-Phases
Generally, a lifecycle marketing plan is a three-phase framework, Attract, Sell, and Wow. Each phase consists of three stages that include basic strategies and tactics that coalesce into a single, self-sustaining process. Rolling out a customer lifecycle marketing plan is a lot easier when done in these phases and can be done quickly and affordably with easy-to-use automation technology.
The ‘Attract’ Phase
The goal of the Attract Phase is to get the attention of the consumers you want to buy your products or service. The stages include Target, Attract Interest, and Collect Leads.
- Target – Targeting is when you identify specific types of individuals then address them directly with your marketing. Most common ways to target an audience are by interests, behavior, demographics, location, context,(targeting by topic on the page which is matched with the corresponding message of your ad to reach and connect to an audience with an interest in your product or service), device, etc.
- Attract Interest– Attract visitors to your website with great content like ebooks, infographics, research reports, webinars, social media, and blog posts.
- Collect leads – Use a web form that includes offers, free consultations or premium content to encourage visitors to sign up for your email list.
The ‘Sell’ Phase
Sell is the second phase of the Lifecycle Marketing model. This is your unique strategy that makes your product or service the obvious choice when those you’ve attracted are ready to buy. Sell Phase stages are Educate, Offer, and Close.
- Educate – Create a consistent campaign of useful information with automated, personalized follow-up messages.
- Offer – The best way to craft an offer is to observe past customer actions and create a buying process map, then provide an irresistible offer.
- Close – Closing the sale is more than the transaction. The close involves clear communication, good presence, and written documentation.
The ‘Wow’ Phase
Getting to Wow involves three key stages: Deliver and Wow, Offer More, and Referral.
- Deliver and wow – Fulfill your commitments on time, follow through when and where it is required. Offer to provide additional value that surprises and delights customers.
- Offer more – Always be developing strategies, tactics, products, and services to help generate additional sales and recurring revenue.
- Referrals – Encourage referrals by creating incentives for customers and partners.
Nothing to it, right? The truth is, there are no “secrets” to creating successful customer lifecycle marketing strategies. Many small businesses have been practicing these tactics in some form for a very long time. At Libabun we have literally over 400 hundred different Lifecycle marketing strategies in our portfolio of business strategies. We coach small businesses on identifying the best strategies for their industry and uniqueness to help them grow, automate and thrive.
Are you a lifecycle marketer? Do you plan your sales and marketing as a single process, or as a collection of activities?
Download free lifecycle marketing planner
Do you want to discover the best ‘Lifecycle Marketing’ strategies for your business? Then claim your complimentary ‘Business Processes Blueprint’ where we will identify the best Lifecycle Marketing strategies for your business and how to correctly implement them.
We also provide you with more detail and see some short videos about ‘Lifecycle Marketing’ here on our website.