If you’ve read our blogs you’ll know we are big fans of applying happiness psychology to tackle marketing problems – in this case we’re looking at ‘savouring’ and how to use savouring to increase lifetime value (LTV).

So what is savouring?

Savouring is defined as any thoughts or behaviours capable of “generating, intensifying and prolonging enjoyment.”*

Savouring has a past, present and future element which makes it perfect when we’re thinking of long term relationships with customers.

The starting point is that customers love to savour. 

Let’s use an easy but useful example of a holiday. Starting with the future, think about the months of planning, dreaming, savouring that even take place before you’ve put your out of office on – that moment itself is a mega moment if you can influence it. Then comes the present, the holiday itself where  you want to savour every single moment: the sun on your skin, Kindle in hand, cocktail in the other – (sorry I was off then – but you get the drift). Finally, you get home and you’re now reliving your past until you go full circle on your savouring the next holiday. 

Imagine being a travel company and  leveraging savouring. How much richer would your customer experience be if you could enable the planning phase, build memories in the holiday (beyond the obvious insta moments) and be part of the memory sharing experience? Wow. Then you have a starting point for true lifetime value, you’ve genuinely added to their happiness experience.

How to create celebratory and lasting memories

Every category is different and we develop joy provokers for each category – so here are a few starters for 10, helping you to use savouring to increase lifetime value:

 

Past: Reliving the moment – how can you prompt a memory or recreate the habit – eg purchase anniversaries

Future: How can you help customers look forward to the experience? This can be seconds as well as years. For example, in FMCG how evocative can your packaging be, so someone genuinely can’t wait to take a bite?

Future:  How could you transport someone to the experience?

Present: How could you amplify and enhance the first touches/experience/usage – eg unboxing

Present: How could you encourage savouring with friends and family? Social interaction is also crucial to our happiness.

Present: My favourite use of sense is to intensify the memory – could you create a soundtrack? A smell that’s only yours? 

Present/Past: Simple sharing memory capture mechanism, #handles. Even the smallest nudge to remind people to do it helps.

How savouring works with the central premise of happiness - Sonja Lyubomirsky

According to Sonja Lyobomisrky around 40% of our happiness is down to how we behave, not our circumstances, that’s 10%, or our set point (what we were born with), that’s the other 50%.  

 

So what makes us happy?

  • Optimistically looking forward
  • Actively engaging in the present moment
  • Positively remembering the past.

Essentially applying savouring techniques increases your opportunity to make customers happier, and that is proven in many studies to lead to improved LTV, NPS, engagement scores and commercial success.

Interesting in understanding more happiness thinking?

Here’s how to build competitive advantage into your brand and customer journey!

Be one of the first to have LTV built on genuine customer happiness

Applying happiness psychology to branding is a new specialism and we’re thrilled with the results we’re getting so far; it unearths new and fresh thinking around UX and CX, that genuinely provides lifetime value.

If you’d like to find out more about our happiness workshops just get in touch with Sue@thebehavioursagency.com  

 

After all, what CMO wouldn’t want happy customers?

Get in touch

By Sue Benson

Managing Director