We had the pleasure of speaking with Val Geisler, previously the Director of Retention and Lifecycle Marketing at ByHeart and currently the VP of Customer and Lifecycle Marketing at Digioh. Val is an email marketing conversion copywriter and strategist immersed in customized, successful retention strategies on a daily basis.

For about a decade, Val Geisler ran a consulting firm that worked mainly with subscription-based ecommerce businesses, focusing on what she calls “the big 3”:

1. Customer experience
2. Customer onboarding
3. Customer retention

During her tenure at ByHeart, an infant formula subscription service, she saw customer acquisition costs (CAC) increase, necessitating a robust and operationally efficient retention strategy. 

To combat these rising costs, ByHeart led with a no-cost/low-cost CAC strategy. Val and her counterpart in customer acquisition created a constant feedback loop that drives down both CAC and operational efficiencies in the customer lifecycle.

Here’s how they did it.

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Acquiring new customers with existing customers

Want to attract new customers? The simplest place to start is with the ones you already have. Creating customer avatars and mapping audiences is a great starting point, but you can do even more. Dive deeper into your data to pinpoint which customers have the most lifecycle success and what you need to do to attract more like them.

But there’s more potential out there.

Imagine someone compliments your watch band. If you got it from a marketplace, you might brush it off with a “Thanks.” The brand isn’t important to you, so the conversation typically stops there.

Now imagine someone compliments your socks, and it was a brand that gave you a great experience. Then, you’re ready to tell them all about their phenomenal customer service. You tell them the package never arrived, so they sent a new one without questions. Or you can say how funny their emails are (something Val might say) and share their latest pun-filled email about socks. They left a lasting impression on you that’s now turned into a full-blown conversation about a sock brand.

That’s the goal, says Val. You want to create experiences that allow customers to have those conversations. The product and the customer experience work together. 

To elevate these experiences into something truly phenomenal, here are three impactful strategies that ensure every customer feels uniquely valued and compelled to share their positive interactions:

‍Personalized customer engagement:

Lean on advanced data analytics to craft messages and offers that resonate on a personal level with your customers, enhancing their connection to the brand and making every interaction feel explicitly tailored to them.

Exceptional unboxing experiences:

‍Transform the routine act of opening a package into an event worth sharing by using creative, sustainable packaging and including unexpected delights such as personalized notes or small gifts. This approach turns the unboxing experience into a memorable highlight that customers are eager to talk about.

Proactive and accessible customer service:

Ensure customers can always access support through multiple channels, including instant responses from 24/7 chatbots. Effective, omnipresent customer service resolves issues quickly and reinforces the customer’s value to the brand, promoting loyalty and advocacy.

This will turn your customers into brand advocates—your “free” marketing channel.

Your “free” marketing channel activates their friends organically on social media—with even non-influencers sharing their favorite brands. Around 23% of people talk about their favorite products with friends and family daily, and 78% rave about their favorite experiences at least once a week, reported Semrush.

The low-CAC/no-CAC strategy works in two ways: it drives customer acquisition, and it makes your current customers stickier. Now that they’ve vouched for your brand, Val has seen that they’re more likely to continue using it.

Now, how do you turn those brand moments into opportunities?

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Capture attention with engaging content

Once you draw potential customers in by the stories and experiences of your current customers, it’s your job to capture those eyeballs.

Create engaging content like quizzes to pull customers in and get them on your email list. Quizzes engage, educate, and provide a fun, interactive way for potential customers to connect with your brand. 

Creating a quiz that connects with your audience and gives you insights into their preferences can be a fun and effective way to engage with them. Here’s how to keep it light, enjoyable, and insightful:

1. Start with your end goal: First, figure out what you want to learn from your customers. Are you curious about their style, their favorite products, what they read, etc? Make sure each question helps you gather this info along the way.

2. Organize thoughtfully: Lay out your questions so they flow naturally. Start broad, then get more specific. This keeps it easy for your customers without overwhelming them.

3. Customize the results: Tailor your quiz results to each customer. This personalized touch can make them feel special and more connected to your brand.

4. Keep the conversation going: Send follow-up emails with personalized suggestions or offers based on their answers. It’s a great way to continue the conversation and guide them toward a purchase.

5. Offer a little something: Give customers an incentive for taking the quiz, like a discount or access to new products. It’s a small thank you that can encourage participation and lead to sales.

Take some tips from Moon Juice, a company that makes supplements, skincare, and food that elevate consciousness and well-being. Their quiz helps site visitors find the right products—but the quiz is just the start. It also leads to a personalized shopping experience.

• Personalized suggestions: Every quiz taker gets recommendations based on their quiz answers.
• Fun follow-ups: After the quiz, Moon Juice sends a beautiful email with a “prescription” for customers’ needs.
• Nudges that feel natural: If someone isn’t ready to buy right away, Moon Juice keeps in touch with gentle reminders about personalized recommendations.

By understanding your customers’ needs and preferences, you can tailor the customer journey from the very first touchpoint.

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Boost brand reach with strategic loyalty and referral programs

Are you using your referral and loyalty programs effectively? Just like marketing campaigns, loyalty programs should be informed by current customer behavior.

Val said that on frequent ByHeart customer surveys, the top response to the question, “How did you hear about us?” was through a friend. Customers were already telling people about the product—they just needed to capitalize on it.

Val and her team had to discover how to ensure customers did that more often. She knew asking customers to tell their friends about ByHeart wouldn’t work. It turns the task into a favor, into something they have to do. But if they offered to reward something they were already doing, that changed the conversation. She shifted from a push to a pull strategy, which made it much more compelling from the customer perspective. 

A loyalty program strategy is just as important as a strong ad strategy. Instead of going out into the unknown to find your next customer, you’re turning inward and tapping into the people who already like what you do. This approach is much more operationally efficient — you’re not creating more work for your team but leveraging the work you’re already doing.

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Identify the right loyalty tactic: Memberships, referrals, or discounts?

How do you pick which loyalty tactic works best for your company? It’s about knowing your customers and your brand really well. First, understand your customers’ buying habits and re-purchase rates. This shows them you value their preferences while setting your business up for success.

For example, ByHeart’s product (infant formula) has a natural time limit, but that doesn’t mean churned customers stopped using it because they don’t like the product. Val said they often want to continue to support it through referrals. While some retention marketers may turn to a win-back campaign that targets the same customers over and over again, a referral makes more sense for the brand.

The same goes for a t-shirt company or a mattress company. You don’t want to spend money on targeted ads for someone who already has 15 t-shirts (you only need so many). Instead, turn it into a referral program. Make the prize an exclusive t-shirt or something from the vault—whatever makes sense for your customers and your brand.

Offering more products isn’t a good incentive for ByHeart customers. Instead, they offer commissions to keep engaging with customers who’ve aged out of the product.

Here are some ideas for rewards you can offer your customers. Don’t forget to be creative:

• Exclusive products
• Products from the vault
• Cashback
• Store credit
• Discounts

Simple discounts like “Give 20% off, get $20 off” are lackluster and may have run their course. Be creative and come up with something meaningful for your customers. 

You don’t have to start with a large membership program right out of the gate. In fact, it wouldn’t be operationally efficient to do so. Instead, start small and evolve as you go.

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Refine outreach with segmentation and optimized channel messaging

Email marketing is the communications anchor for ecommerce businesses, but that doesn’t always mean it’s the best for your marketing efficiency. For companies with a mobile app, push notifications stand out in the digital communication mix, offering a unique way to grab customer attention. That goes double for time-sensitive content.

The path to marketing efficiency lies in a brand's ability to send the right message to the right audience at the right time. Inherently, each channel should have its own vibe and its own offer. 

Think about it: If you send content in an email, then in an SMS, then in a push notification, one customer may receive the same offer three times within an hour. At that point, it becomes white noise. 

Instead, you need thoughtful segmentation between channels, customers, and offers.

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Optimize customer reach by segmenting SMS, email, and push notifications

Each channel—whether it’s email, SMS, or push notifications—has its strengths and caters to different user behaviors and expectations. Here’s how to play to each channel’s strengths:

• SMS: This channel is great for making a big splash. Use SMS to alert your customers about major events like big sales, the launch of new collections, or exclusive offers. Since SMS messages are brief and read almost immediately, they’re perfect for grabbing attention quickly.
• Email: Email is ideal for delivering more detailed and educational content. You can use this space to share in-depth product information, stories behind your collections, or helpful tips related to your products. Emails allow for richer content that educates and engages your customers at a deeper level.
• Push notifications: For your top customers, blend transactional and non-transactional messages. Push notifications are particularly effective for time-sensitive announcements—they pop up directly on the user’s phone screen and are seen instantly. Use this channel for urgent alerts, reminders for promotions ending soon, or personalized offers based on the user’s app behavior.

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Optimize conversions by segmenting based on customer behavior

Many brands segment based on how new customers came into the list, with the default being the date and season. But that doesn’t really tell you anything about those customers’ habits. 

One segmentation opportunity is to identify customers by the type of offers they respond to. Do they ignore subscription offers but engage with one-time offers? 

What about which channels they convert with? Instead of sending the same message across multiple channels, segment customers based on the channel on which they’re more likely to engage and convert. Then you know you’re getting the most out of that marketing spend.

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Building a win-win strategy for customer engagement

You don’t have to go out into the great unknown to attract new customers. Embrace marketing efficiency by turning to the people who already believe in your brand: your existing customers.

Remember, best practices serve as guidelines. The key takeaway here is to build a customer acquisition and retention strategy that is both a win for you and your customers.

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