The key to thriving in travel marketing: Prioritising customer retention

Travel marketers must be skilled jugglers, ensuring none of the balls they have to keep in the air get dropped even as all around them the hubbub of business’ circus ring attempts to distract their attention.

What’s often overlooked – and what can make their act so spectacular – is that they’re juggling those balls while also trying to balance on a constantly shifting seesaw with ‘customer acquisition’ at one end, and ‘customer retention’ at the other.

That acquiring new customers is important is a no-brainer. It’s how you grow your market share. But doing so is time consuming and expensive – up to five times more so than retaining the ones you already have. Targeted loyalty schemes, carefully curated email campaigns and personalised journeys can ensure you win that revenue for a fraction of the cost.

And speaking of revenue, investing in building a loyal customer base will be music to the ears of any CFO. According to Bain & Co, increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can increase revenue per booking by up to a factor or five. Repeat customers are more likely to spend more on their purchase, upgrade, and by additional products – and also recommend you to their friends via social media endorsements and positive reviews. In a travel industry itself attempting the tightrope walk between trust and profitability, that’s a win – win – win.

Lastly, happy customers come back for more. Customer retention is tied closely to customer satisfaction and Net Promoter Scores. This requires the Marketing, Operations and Service teams to work closely together to develop a strategic approach that puts a curated, continual and consistent level of two-way communication with customers at its heart. They want to know they’re valued, and that someone is there to help if they need them.

By balancing the retention and acquisition seesaw – whatever commands the business Ringmaster is calling out – travel marketers will find that keeping all the balls they have to juggle in the air is much easier.