Guide to Improve Customer Retention in Your Marketplace

One of the biggest ways to ensure success for a business is creating and maintaining a strong online presence. Digital marketplaces are the go-to platforms for businesses interested in growing and retaining their customer base online.

It’s no secret that online spending is increasing at a high rate. If you haven’t already, it’s time to get on board. Marketplace marketing gives companies a wider reach by using fewer resources which results in savings.

In addition, digital marketplaces are gold mines for rich data. Optimization software offers instant marketplace analytics so you can easily monitor the behaviors of customers to learn how to better engage them and increase sales.

Marketplace optimization software can give you everything you need to grow your business online and reach a larger audience. But to be profitable, you need to retain your customer base and increase repeat buyers.

While retention techniques can vary by industry or product, the following four essential factors can help you turn visitors into buyers. 

Be Trustworthy & Transparent
Trust is a pillar which can vary based on the goods or services sold. For example, selling books versus selling childcare services.

Building trust can stem from a variety of factors. The main factors buyers base their level of trust on include:

• Verification of a company and their rating
• A quality interface
• Good customer care
• Relatable and fresh content
• Transparency
• Data protection
• Insurance coverage
• Secure payments

Factors related to transparency include:

• Clear transaction costs (i.e. no surprises)
• A policy on handling user personal data
• Who’s responsible during a dispute or transaction issue

Keep It Simple
Your user interface should be intuitive and easy-to-use with clear language buyers understand. When you offer a friendly environment with simple buying steps, your buyers will develop more confidence in your marketplace and become frequent customers. Review your marketplace analytics to discover how buyers are using your website and where they may get caught up.

Build Relationships
Your marketplace success depends upon building good relationships with your customers. Buyers will have more confidence in your marketplace when they know good people are behind the platform and will help them if they have any problems. While you may never hear from most buyers, the ability to easily contact you if they need something reassures them.

As part of your marketplace marketing, include fresh content to educate customers and put their minds at ease. Another simple tool is posting an FAQ which answers the most frequent doubts of customers to eliminate any uncertainties.

Secure Payments
Submitting payment on an online marketplace can be a big source of concern for buyers. It’s important to immediately reassure buyers about how payments can be done on your site. Select a trusted payment platform with secure transactions.

At Kahuna, we offer marketplace optimization services for businesses to solve tough marketplace challenges. If you’re looking for professional marketplace marketing and detailed analytics, learn more about our marketplace optimization software today.

7 Marketing Automation Platforms for Your Business

Did you know marketing automation software can be a lifesaver for small businesses? Marketing automation tools give you time back to focus on more important things like running your business. 

Once you create initial content, marketing automation platforms send out emails and social media posts based on your set schedule. The software can also help you keep up with customer needs through analytics showing your customer’s interests and behaviors. This allows you to instantly visualize if your campaigns are being effective. 

Curious to learn more about marketing automation tools? Let’s look at seven top marketing automation platforms helping businesses improve their campaigns and customer base.

• Act-On

Act-On offers great customer service with training opportunities, basic tips, and strategy development. Their pricing structure is higher than most at $2,000 per month for the advanced Enterprise Plan allowing for 10,000 active contacts and six marketing users. But their training and customer service may make the product worth it for fast-growing businesses.  

• GetResponse

GetResponse is known as the “world’s easiest email marketing platform” with over 350,000 subscribers around the world. They offer all-in-one marketing automation tools for small businesses. Its ease of use gives them an advantage over well-known companies like HubSpot or Marketo, which require a full-time CRM manager. 

GetResponse features a landing page builder, webinar tool, email marketing, and an auto-responder while coming in at a lower price than most competitors. The only downsides are the limited newsletter templates and the user interface can feel clunky.

• HubSpot

HubSpot is likely the most well-known name in marketing automation software. They offer strong training programs with respected certifications throughout the industry. HubSpot’s platform is easy to use and learn. The drawback is the price creep that occurs quickly as your contact list grows. In addition, A/B testing is only available at a higher price point. 

• Infusionsoft

The all-in-one functionality of Infusionsoft allows you to track actions, behaviors, and purchases in the same system. It’s important to note, there is a strong learning curve for responsive email marketing. This system is more expensive than other similar options for small businesses, and the lead tracking can be spottier than other marketing automation platforms. 

• Kahuna

Kahuna Marketplaces is all about connecting buyers and sellers. They offer tools to manage your marketplace health and empower you with services to grow your client base. In one dashboard, you can view and analyze marketplace health through a variety of indicators and target problem-solving based on buyer or seller needs. They also help manage content with a full suite of optimization tools to ensure every message is personalized. The Kahuna marketing automation software is easy to use and their results speak for themselves. 

• Marketo

Marketo offers a wide range of tools and analytic options, including A/B testing and an easy-to-use interface. However, the naming conventions can be confusing compared to other marketing automation platforms, and if your sales team is using a different CRM, using Marketo could pose challenges. 

• Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Salesforce is most recognized as a CRM, but they also offer an email marketing automation program. Marketing Cloud allows you to create the customer experience journey linking email to social platforms to ads on your website. This platform is an enterprise-grade product with complex levels which may be hard to manage when limited resources are available.