4 Strategies to Capture More Renewals

Lead with Data and What It Means

One of the most crucial things you can do to capture repeat business is to show your clients the results. After each campaign, schedule a time to review the results and, more importantly, what they mean. Most of your customers aren’t advertising experts, but you are, so explain what the metrics are and how they demonstrate performance.

When it’s time to renew, create a snapshot of what they’ve accomplished with campaigns in the last year. If the advertiser has concerns about spending or wants to try something new, talk about that in terms of the data. Showcase which tactics had the best ROAS (return on ad spend) and how they may want to reallocate.

Also, be transparent if the budget isn’t there. For example, if their budget is minimal, they aren’t a good candidate for SEM (search engine marketing) because it requires a bigger investment and a longer timeline. However, they could use their funds on geofence display ads to entice customers away from competitors.

Address Objections and Unease About the Economy

The current economy is a mixed bag, with recovery strong in some areas but inflation still impacting spending. It’s normal for advertisers to feel uncertainty. You can’t dismiss that, but you can talk about a few things, such as:

• The market’s specific economic conditions: The national view may look different in your market, so get more granular here on how things look at home.
• Downturns as opportunities: Businesses have learned that advertising shouldn’t be the first cut to their budget. In fact, 73% of organizations see economic uncertainty as an opportunity to gain market share through increased ad spending. It’s a solid point, especially if their competitors are slowing ad spend.
• Consumer trends: One key thing to look at is the Consumer Confidence Index. This number reflects consumer attitudes, buying intent and expectations. Each month, the index has new numbers, which you can find here.

Your customer’s decision to keep investing in advertising requires looking at different data types for context. Make sure they are well informed before they make any decisions.

Introduce New Tactics and How They Can Help the Advertiser Reach Their Goals

When talking about renewals, it’s a great time to introduce more digital tactics the client hasn’t used yet. Depending on the product/service, audience and advertiser goal, you can recommend new ways for them to reach their customers.

For example, if they’ve only been running display ads, talk to them about geofencing these to specific areas where their customers will be. You could also mention OTT/CTV, which is growing steadily for local advertisers. With this tactic, they can use many targeting options to find their audience, including cord-cutters. You may hear objections about producing videos for this, but there are many ways to do so without breaking the bank. Check out our post on overcoming advertiser objections to OTT for more ideas.

When you present omnichannel options to advertisers, they’ll realize they can buy all their digital advertising from you!

Ensure You’re Easy to Do Business With

The last strategy to capture more renewals is to assess whether you’re easy to do business with. Think about the logistics and all areas of the customer sales cycle.

• Is it easy for them to receive and pay their invoices?
• Can you pull meaningful, straightforward reports from your platforms?
• Are the proposals you send inclusive of linear and digital campaigns, and can you quickly make real-time changes as you discuss the client’s budget and goals?

The more convenient you can make it for customers throughout the process, the more likely they are to stay your customer. You may need new solutions if you think there’s friction in any of these areas.