Conversions Should Not be the End Goal for Your Marketing Strategy

Even if, for some oddball reason, you don’t think that customer loyalty matters to your brand… it does. That’s why you’re a fool to think that converting traffic into customers is the whole reason you’re marketing and advertising to begin with.

Customer acquisition is a milestone.

Customer retention should be the end goal here, and it should be backtraced all the way back to the first impression of your brand. It’s in the promise you make—and how well you keep it. It’s in the expectations you want your audience to have, and then it’s in the way you fulfill, surpass, or disappoint based on those expectations.

Converting traffic means you’re doing something right. Awesome! As an internet marketer… this can be considered a job well done. Until you start losing customers. Until you see a spike in returns, cancellations, and negative reviews or feedback. Negative experience could be a problem with the business model, the product/service quality, or many other issues but marketing should also be held accountable for setting the stage for failure.

More importantly, when your marketing efforts focus on closing leads… it is an aggressive transaction-oriented approach and you’re already setting yourself up to lose customers to a better competitor. In the digital age, consumers have more choices than ever before and you’re only one of them.

This is why brand is the key element when marketing. Rather than selling your product or service as a solution for a common problem, you should be selling loyalty-to-your-brand. Think Apple vs. Microsoft. Eventually, consumers need to upgrade or purchase a new computer and they are going to stick with the brand they know and trust.

You don’t have to be as big as Apple or Microsoft to incorporate a more sustainable approach to your marketing and advertising strategies. As long as you define what sets you apart then it won’t matter. Converting traffic is only the first step… maintaining a lasting relationship with loyal customers is the end goal here.