Customer Retention Strategies in Place Prove to Be Unsuccessful

According to research released in March 2012 by Acxiom and Loyalty360, 84 percent of companies incorporate customer retention marketing strategies into their campaigns. In February 2012, Loyalty 360 surveyed 129 executives across business-to-business and business-to-consumer companies to gather information and gauge how brands are using customer data.

While the vast majority of companies execute retention marketing, less than half (48.8 percent) believe their strategies are effective. Twelve percent of the remaining respondents feel their strategies are not working at all, while 39 percent are unsure. Lack of budget and effort in this area of marketing could account for the difficulty companies are having creating successful retention strategies, according to the research.

Thirty-nine percent of companies with retention marketing strategies in place dedicate less than 10 percent of their marketing budgets to this area, and an additional 21 percent dedicate between 11 and 20 percent. Unfocused customer retention strategies may also contribute to less than successful efforts. Forty-five percent of respondents say less than 10 percent of their employees focus part of their time on driving retention strategies, and an additional 14 percent say just 11 to 20 percent of employees communicate strategies to retain customers.

While the majority of companies have customer retention marketing strategies in place, most are reported as unsuccessful. To boost success rates, companies may have to invest additional employee time and marketing dollars into this particular channel.