3 Powerful Retention Marketing Strategies Your Favorite Brands Are Using

Over the years, brands are realizing that obtaining customer’s loyalty is more important now than ever.

With more and more competition from competitors and the rise of new businesses, retention marketing is becoming the “go-to” strategy for some of the biggest brands including Lululemon, Sweetgreen, and HelloFresh- and quite frankly, it's working.

What is retention marketing? 

If you are new to the marketing world, you may be asking yourself, “what is retention marketing”? Retention marketing is a strategy that focuses on engaging customers to become repeat and eventually loyal consumers.

Most companies will target their current customer base to lure them in for a repeat purchase. Instead of focusing on obtaining new customers, retention marketing looks for ways to engage pre-existing customers.

Retention marketing strategies can focus on email marketing, newsletters, loyalty programs, special offers, and so much more. 

Why is retention marketing so important?

Why is retention marketing gaining so much traction for brands?

The more engaged customers become within a brand, the more likely they will be to choose that product or service, without having to think twice about it.

Brands with higher retention rates are more likely to have an increase in sales and overall brand loyalty overtime. 

Large brands are realizing that their customer base is already familiar with their brand, products, and services and now they need to shift gears into focusing on ways to retain their customers to keep them coming back for more.

Here are 3 big brands who are hopping in on the retention marketing bandwagon

Which brands are taking advantage of retention marketing?

Lululemon

This year, Lululemon hosted a retention marketing campaign called “Dupe Swap”.

The campaign encouraged people who had Lululemon “dupe” leggings, to trade them in for a pair of their very own align leggings at a location in LA. 

This campaign tackled retention in an interesting way.

While Lululemon dupes have become a new trend on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, customers were resorting to cheaper options like Amazon, to find their align leggings at a more affordable price, with thousands of views on social media.

The brand invited customers into their LA location, to trade their duplicate leggings for their very own align leggings.

This allowed customers to holistically decide if the quality was different from their dupes and give them a feel for what it felt like to wear a pair of Lululemon leggings- and ditch their dupes!

Lululemon was able to remind customers that their leggings were top quality- and there was a clear difference in the dupes versus the align leggings themselves.

Not only was Lululemon able to focus their retention marketing strategy on pre-existing customers, but they also leveraged new customers who have never had the Lululemon experience.

This retention strategy was genius. The brand was able to meet customers where they are at in their shopping journey and remind them that their brand “feels” better and maintains their customers lifestyle.

They were also able to provide justification for their prices being higher than normal- ( after all, you get what you pay for!)

Sweetgreen

Another brand paving the way for some great retention marketing strategies is Sweetgreen, Sweetgreen recently introduced Sweetpass, a loyalty program where customers who sign up are able to access special offers, specific menu items, and gain rewards. 

This retention marketing strategy has created a more personalized experience for customers and reinforces Pavlov’s theory of classical conditioning- a common tactic used in marketing.

The more a customer spends with their Sweetpass, the more rewards they will be able to access, creating an incentive for the customer to choose Sweetgreen over competitors.

Some of these incentives include free sides with a meal, access to seasonal menu items, $3 off a purchase if you eat more than 4x a month, and a free meal on your birthday. 

Sweetgreen’s loyalty program created the ability to access a deeper connection to their brand.

While Sweetgreen’s loyalty program does a great job at retaining customers, the subscription model opens the door to endless opportunities to expand upon their retention marketing strategies. 

What could make this retention marketing strategy even better?

Make the Sweetgreen subscription a full user experience, with an app where customers can create their own digital profiles.

Users can engage with each other, or have access to Sweetgreen meal plans and other health tips. 

Hellofresh

Interestingly, HelloFresh has suffered from retention issues, while being a subscription based business.

Over the last 6 months, the brand has decided to focus heavily on retention marketing strategies to gain more loyal customers. 

HelloFresh has introduced personalized meal plans for vegans, vegetarians, low calorie diets, gluten free and even the keto diet.

In addition to having personalized meal plans sent to your doorstep, they offer a grocery list essential kit that customers can choose to add onto their subscription. 

Customers are now able to access a whole new experience of grocery shopping, and even become reliant on the HelloFresh brand to provide meals and meal ideas for their busy weeks.

Hellofresh also offers multiple discount codes and special offers for customers based on their lifecycle subscription with the brand.

For first timers, they offer a coupon code for their first month of meals. For customers later in the life cycle of their subscription, they are able to access surprise gifts and meal plans. 

Is retention marketing the future?

The biggest takeaway from this, is that retention marketing is key to sustaining a great customer experience and a rising trend in the marketing world.

More and more brands are focusing on quality over quantity when it comes to their customer base. 

The increase of retention marketing could mean great news for not only brand’s sales, but also for customers.

Customers can shop with more meaning and choose brands that offer them an experience that is more satisfying than just placing an order at convenience.

Retention marketing is the future of marketing- and of the new customer experience.

 ✍️ Written by Nicole Troyer