Email - in the early days - was a great tactic for acquiring new customers. No longer. There has been too much abuse. But if you have a relationship with a customer, email is a superb tactic for customer retention.
According to a new Forrester Research report released by trade group Shop.org, paid search is the top acquisition tool, e-mail to house files is the top online marketing tactic as 92% of online retailers said they use it.
Now, some details:
- paid search accounts for 35% of new customers on average
- 53% of online retailers' marketing budgets are spent on customer acquisition
- 21% is spent on retention.
Online retailers report popular promotional tactics in this order of preference:
- 85% say they offer free shipping (conditions apply)
- 82% use percent-off promotions
- 69% prefer dollar-off promotions