Did you know that it costs more to attract a new customer than it does to retain an existing one – but how much can you really afford to spend to attract a new customer?
Knowing the lifetime value of your customers is the key to creating a workable budget for marketing.
That number should dictate how much you spend. Spend too much and you’re losing money in the long run. Spend too little – and you’re missing out on an opportunity to grow your business.
The resulting number is your average purchase value.
The resulting number is your average purchasing frequency rate. (Note: If you make a log of cash sales and don’t request an email, then this number may not be accurate).
That gives you the customer value per year.
If you’ve been tracking unique purchases this shouldn’t be difficult. This number is the average customer lifespan.
Let’s look at an example. Here are the raw numbers:
Your average purchase value would be $400. You would then take that number and divide it by 150 to get your average purchase frequency rate, which is 2.67.
Next, you would subtract your average purchase frequency rate from your average purchase value to get $397.33, your customer value per year. If you keep your customers, on average, for 10 years, your customer lifetime value would be $3,973.30.
That’s a very simple example but it illustrates the point. The business would have a lifetime customer value of nearly $4,000!
You know your customer lifetime value – now what?
The short answer is that you’ve got a piece of information that can help you attract MORE customers and make better use of your marketing budget.
Every customer you have contributes to your company’s success and profitability. Understanding just how much each customer is worth to you can help you do a better job of attracting new customers, increasing their lifetime value, and maximizing your profits!
Level Up is a leading edge digital marketing company in Rockwood, Michigan. We deliver revenue-generating results for clients with our customized marketing solutions. Our team of web designers, SEO specialists, content writers and social media experts want to help you create a Next Level marketing strategy to help GROW your local business online. Give us a call today at (888) 754-5164 to speak with a marketing strategist.
