Due to the nature of retention, there’s a lot of confusion about the approach.
How should a brand prioritize and work on improving its retention?
Should it focus on –
Product Quality?
Customer Support?
Building Community?
Brand Mission?
Loyalty Rewards?
We can get a good answer using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in prioritizing retention efforts.
You can read more about Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs over here.
To use this framework for improving customer retention, we can start with –
Physiological Needs
Every retention starts from a good product delivering its promise.
For a cosmetic brand, that would include keeping a consistent product quality.
All the great brands like McDonalds, Starbucks, Apple, and Amazon meet this criteria.
Without this, you can’t expect to create any retention or loyalty.
Safety Needs
Safety is about peace of mind.
About the transparent return and shipping policies.
Robust customer support to solve any issues.
Real-time order tracking to ensure customers feel informed and in control.
Amazon is the biggest example of meeting customer safety needs.
Casper provides a 100-night trial and free returns, giving customers peace of mind.
Love and Belonging
Once you have these two dialed up, then comes the building community and sense of belonging.
Creating content, videos, and tie-ups with influencers is helpful in creating a sense of belonging.
Loyalty programs, engaging with customers on social media, surveys, polls etc.
Glossier, Sephora, and GymShark have built active communities around their brand.
Esteem Needs
Make customers feel valued and respected.
Provide them with a sense of achievement and pride while using your product.
Exclusive offers, advanced access to new products, or special memberships can elevate the customer’s status.
Highlighting their journey and amplifying their voice.
Warby Parker highlights their customer stories or images on their platform.
Self Actualization
Last is aligning with the customer’s personal values and goals.
Also, include supporting or donating to a cause.
Gymshark and Peloton help customers achieve their personal fitness goals.
Allbirds allows customers to make environmentally responsible choices with their footwear.
Again, it’s not about the exact order but understanding how each effort helps with a customer’s need.