Retention, Part 29: Have a Bag of Tricks

By Sanya Weathers

When you’re trying to increase retention, it’s tempting to throw all your resources at one particular method. Anecdotal evidence suggests that one trick ponies do pretty well, and certainly the more moving parts you’re dealing with, the more risk you have that something will go wrong. But that one trick pony will stop galloping as soon as he breaks his leg.

What you want is a broad array of retention tools that feed into and reinforce each other. Your customer loyalty program (or other point-based system) should give a big chunk of points for participating in the customer referral program. Logging in ten days in a row should open a popup directing users to the volunteer program sign up page. Volunteers should see their content included in the newsletter. Newsletter readers should get ten dollars off their purchase of a live event ticket.

The more your tools feed on each other, the more likely your customers are to encounter the kind of program that speaks to their needs.

You also need to know specifically what kind of customer you’re targeting with each particular tool. If you go into each program with your goal as “retention, you’re not going to get very fair. Don’t be afraid to drill down and say “I want this program to retain Twitter users” or “I want to create a mailing list of guild leaders.” I once ran a program where I pursued college students living in all-male dormitories. The more focused you are, the more success you’ll have.

So get specific, and get going!