The power of retention marketing–marketing to past customers–is a well documented fact. It is far less expensive to retain a customer than to attract a new one. But what about pre-customer retention marketing?

Like its more popular cousin, pre-customer retention marketing involves staying in front of the consumer. It means reminding him what you have to offer and that you want his business.

Many consumers begin shopping for a product or service long before they are ready to buy. They want to learn about their options, the possible costs, and which companies might best meet their needs. The Internet has made this increasingly easy.

Let’s say that Bob plans to buy a new widget in about six months and hops on the Internet to do some research. He comes across your web site, finds your information useful, and intends to contact you when he is ready to buy. But will he? He could easily forget about your company in the meantime.

But what if you offered Bob a free report that provided Bob with an abundance of information about your product and company? And what if you then emailed him once a month with more useful information and tips. Do you think that he would forget about you when it comes time to buy?

Technology makes this very easy and inexpensive to do. In exchange for your free report Bob must give you his email address. You then use auto-responders to send him an email once a month. You can use a service like AWeber to automate the entire process. The result is that you are marketing to Bob before he has ever called you or bought from you.

This very targeted marketing. The low cost and ease of set up means that very few sales must result for it to be profitable. And that’s a good thing.