Do you know loyal customers are likely to spend 65% more than new customers?
Customers’ loyalty is an important game-changer factor. The businesses that have more brand loyal customers consistently improve revenues. Customer loyalty is the action of picking one company’s products or services continuously over the other alternatives available in the market (the competitors). When a customer becomes loyal to a company, they are not easily affected by price or availability. Instead, they would be willing to pay more and ensure the same quality service and product they know and admire to use and recommend.
The power of customer loyalty
Increasing customer loyalty is vital to sustain market competition and expand business growth.
It is undoubtedly less expensive to retain loyal customers than to acquire new ones because of the high customer acquisition costs. Besides, the longer you retain a customer, the higher their lifetime value becomes.
Also, loyal and satisfied customers are more likely to recommend your business to their friends and family. This type of word of mouth marketing helps in getting in more customers who already have a positive image of your business (and possibly the newcomers will contribute to customer loyalty in the long run).
Now, let’s explore the top marketing strategies that help in increasing customer loyalty. Once you have a large base of loyal customers, you can sustain lucrative business growth efficiently.
Purchase Rewards
Rewarding customers is one of the easiest ways to attract frequent buying. Adding freebies or rewards points with a product or purchase encourages customers to stick with the brand. However, when you are choosing rewards for the customers, make sure you know their preferences. If you are giving them valuable rewards, then only they will make frequent purchases.
Whether you pick rewards points, membership opportunities, or special discounts, offer them an invaluable shopping experience. This will surely help in improving customer loyalty for your business.
Superior Customer Service
Specialized customer service is the key to win over customers. In the current scenario, customers can find many alternatives of the same products or services. But, they stick with the brand, which provides value-added services. According to a study conducted, more than 90% of customers are likely to repeat business with the companies that outshine in customer services. It means that the satisfied customer will be loyal to your brand, and they will bring in other customers through word of mouth marketing.
Consistent branding experience
Consistency is an indispensable factor in building loyalty. Your brand needs to feel the same to potential customers every time they associate with it. The consistent branding experience helps to build trust, emotional connection, and greater brand equity with brand recognition. The audience’s interaction with compatible branding experience entices them to stay connected with your business and make frequent purchases.
Communicate frequently with potential customers
Regularly interacting with your customers helps strengthen the bond between you and your organization, and your client and their organization. Use social media channels actively to know how customers are reacting and using the networks. You can quickly get updates on their preferences too. In this occurrence, you are looking for the client to like you personally, and there is no better alternative to doing this than catching potential customers’ interest.
Promote existing loyalty program
If you are using a loyalty program for your business, it’s time to promote it. The customers will only attract to the loyalty program after they know about it. Promoting an existing loyalty program is also a great way to entice customer engagement with your business. You should opt for the strategic promotional goals that publicize the customer loyalty program and entice customer participation. Choose social networks like Facebook to promote the existing loyalty program and attract more customers. Also, you can develop a separate mobile app for the loyalty program to track customer participation and get insightful statistics.
Partner up with other business
According to a survey, approximately 55% of companies agreed that partnering with other firms to acquire new customers. Partnering with non-competitors and who share a similar target audience will help in gaining customer loyalty. You can promote each other’s businesses on social media and through other digital platforms to make a win-win situation. This will help in establishing an ideal image among potential customers. Also, cross-platform publicity through business partners can potentially drive more loyal customers.
Foster explicit customer experience
Customers will become loyal to a brand if the product or services are closely related to their concerns. When customers come to your place, give them a remarkable experience. You should not step back to try different methods to make your customers feel valued. Here are some examples;
- Send your most loyal customers, free merchandise.
- Grant them early access to certain sales or special events
- Offer exclusive discount coupons or credits on their birthdays, anniversaries, and at various times throughout the year to the VIP customers.
- Keep your customers’ updates about the new product launches before anyone else (you can also let them be the first to try the product!)
Apart from the above-mentioned strategies, being socially responsible also creates an impression on the customers. Performing CSR helps to cultivate customer loyalty. You can try the following tactics for CSR;
- Opt for sustainable practices (such as green packaging, waste reduction, or tree planting).
- Inform your customers about health safety while taking your own socially responsible behaviors related to that issue.
- You can make donations to a charity or community organization for the betterment of society.
But, remember to take these actions because you are genuinely invested in your efforts, and not just to show off.
On the whole, customer loyalty depends on strategic marketing actions. Whether you want to increase customer retention or boost customer loyalty, certain marketing strategies are crucial. Launching a customer loyalty program is always an option. However, other measures like consistent branding experience, business partnerships, and superior customer service attract customer loyalty quickly and efficiently.
Follow the smart marketing strategies with specific business goals, which will surely drive-in customer loyalty for your business.
About the author
Shobhit Srivastava is a content marketer at LoyaltyXpert, a loyalty program company in India. He holds spectacular skills in loyalty programs, marketing, and customer retention. Connect with him on twitter here.https://twitter.com/i_shobhit23