P&G’s former CEO, A.G. Lafley, is credited with turning around the company under the mantra “the consumer is boss” – putting the customer at the centre of everything they do.

It sounds obvious, doesn’t it? Keep your customers happy, be in touch more often (not to sell, but just to show them some love), offer exceptional customer service and then just reap the benefits.

Or in other words, invest at least as much to retain your customers as you did to acquire them.

Every marketer is familiar with the cost advantage associated with retention (acquiring a new customer can cost up to 10 times more than retaining an existing customer…), so one would assume that all companies are focusing on building relationships rather than obsessing about reach and frequency. But the reality is different.

Mass marketing still gets more dollars

One of the most surprising findings of the Econsultancy / Responsys Marketing Budgets 2013 survey was that just under a quarter (24%) of client-side respondents indicate that retention and engagement will be a stronger focus for investment than acquisition in 2013, while 31% will focus more on acquisition. – href="http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/62068-the-relationship-era-is-well-under-way-but-are-marketers-doing-enough?utm_medium=feeds&utm_source=blog">The ‘relationship era’ is well under way, but are marketers doing enough? by Monica Savut

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