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The "R" Word: Retention
by Kath Blackwell
APPLYING THESE IDEAS TO YOUR SITE
Convenience, a balance between Quality and Quantity, Price and Customer Service - these are the topics we are going to focus on in this section. Making sure that you understand the importance of each, the different ways to apply them to your site, as well as the power that each of them holds, will help you get ahead. Here are a few ideas that have been used over the years within each area of importance that you can try with your site.
Convenience - A Web site isn't a brick-and-mortar business that needs to find a good location within the city or neighborhood, but making sure the site is designed for convenience is still very important. Is your tour easy to follow? Can customers find your JOIN button with ease and navigate your forms without a college education? Do you offer alternative methods of payment like online checks, by-phone payments and a variety of credit card services? What about renewals - do you send out an e-mail reminding your customers that their memberships are due to expire? Is that e-mail friendly, and does it offer an easy way to renew right away? Is the members' area easy to navigate - can they find the content and features they want to see? These are questions you will need to ask yourself as you check out the site in detail. Try to look at it from the customers' point of view and think about what features would make things more convenient for you!
Quality vs. Quantity - We already covered much of this debate above, but finding the balance between quality and quantity can be a tough subject if you are not in tune with what your surfers are looking for. If your pay site is an anime site, you will want to make sure that anime is your top priority. Don't provide over-used sets and leased content that is featured on all the most popular sites, look for something unique and exclusive that will please and surprise your members. Also, stay within your niche. Offering alternative options can seem like a good idea, but if you are offering 10,000 images to your members and only 2,000 of those are exclusive anime content, you will probably lose the customer after the 3-day trial or the first full month. Those 8,000 extra pics of blondes, general fetish and hardcore are a great "filler" but shouldn't be viewed as the main product of the site - and won't be viewed that way by your anime-seeking members. Offering 10,000 anime images, two recurring anime comic series and an interactive Flash anime feature with an extra "bonus section" of 2-5k or so in non-anime content listed AFTER the anime content - now that might work. The quality and the "true-ness" of the content focused to the niche will get you more recurring customers - and more referred customers as well. Happy customers ALSO tell their friends!
Price - Now this is where your investigative skills will come in handy. You need to find out what everyone else in your niche, rank and range is charging. I guess where we need to start is in finding out where you fit into the great scheme of things! If you're a new general hardcore site just out on the market with 2000 images, two video feeds and a chat room - don't compare your site price level with a targeted niche site OR with a big Daddy like CyberErotica, Kara's Playground or Private Gold. You need to check out sites that are as new as you are, have similar content offerings and are in the same "general hardcore" category. You don't want to compare apples to oranges - find some other apples and see what they've got going. Now there are exceptions to these rules. If you are offering membership to a very specific micro-niche that you have tons of exclusive you-shot-it-yourself content for - it will be hard to find a guide to follow. Then you just need to see if the all-around average monthly rate is at $9.95, $19.95 or $29.95 per month. You also need to compare different multi-month memberships like 3, 6 or 12-month deals - make sure you don't under- or over-price your site. You can even get ideas and opinions from fellow webmasters that you trust. It never hurts to get a second opinion.
Customer Service - We'll finish up where we started - the importance of happy customers. Customer service means so many different things to different people. Secure credit card processing might be high on the list of some customers - so offering a quality service like CCBill.com or Epoch.com is something to look into. Others want 24/7 customer service - via phone, e-mail, ICQ or maybe a chat room. Think about how you might like to communicate with a service that you use, and apply those ideas to your own site. Quick response - I can't stress this enough. Even if you just reply to their initial e-mail, advising that you'll be in touch with an answer soon - that little effort goes a long way. A weekly or monthly opt-in members' e-mail is another good idea. Opt-in is a MUST because some people don't like e-mail - no matter whether it's something GOOD for them or not. You'll want a database that's easy to update if they change their mind and want to opt out of the list. Deciding between a weekly and a monthly newsletter is a personal decision for many reasons. You might not have the time for weekly - and your members might think weekly is "too much" communication. Monthly can be good because you can highlight new content additions for the month, talk about new renewal options - maybe even offer special deals on renewals to your site or special sign-up offers to partnership sites, programs or products. Finding ways to provide quick, friendly, professional and quality customer service to your members should always be a priority.
When considering all the options and plans for the success of your site you should always remember to maintain retention as a top priority. Set a reasonable goal - a ratio of recurring members to one-time members, and work hard to reach it. Once there, make sure to put new plans in place to continue keeping those members happy, while working toward gathering and retaining new ones. Building up a solid base of regular customers is an excellent way to build your business to the next level. Who knows - with hard work and a strong force of recurring members, in time you could become the next Internet King!
Remember: Happy customers are recurring customers!
PART ONE: The Coffee House
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