Through a stream of industrial advances, technology and business strategies, it’s been found that repeat business is typically the more sustainable method of generating revenue than acquiring new consumers. But how do you repeat business in a pool is competition?
Loyalty among customers can not only provide businesses with a solid stream of sales and interactions but can also improve feedback, communication and marketing efforts. Just like relationships in real life, meaningful connections between consumers and businesses are what keep customers coming back and recommending goods and services to others. Focusing on building these relationships and their experience will therefore improve brand loyalty and maintain customer retention.
Here are a selection of strategies to improve brand loyalty.
What is brand loyalty?
Brand loyalty represents a consumer’s tendency to keep choosing a specific brand, even when they have the opportunity to invest in other competitive offers or services. This act of loyalty is often a result of business efforts in regards to communication, marketing, advertising and customer service. For example, maintaining a solid support system for customer queries and complaints is a key way in which businesses can retain their customers and get on top of competitors.
Brand loyalty differs from customer loyalty as it is a stronger, higher connection with a specific brand. Customers who are brand loyal will have an emotional link with this brand, rather than a preference for more general features such as pricing or value. The three characteristics included in brand loyalty include:
- Brand value: goods and services provide value in the current market
- Brand quality: are they better quality compared to alternatives?
- Brand trust: are customers happy with their products and rely on their purchase?
Why is brand loyalty important?
Attracting new customers can be up to 25 times more costly than keeping an existing one. Building brand loyalty drives growth and an increase in sales. New customers who purchase products and become loyal will become repeat customers, simply meaning they will spend more money and interact with your websites and content. A huge part of this is that they’ll also recommend you to their peers, becoming a sort of external ambassador for your products.
Identifying frequent and loyal customers can also help reduce marketing and advertising finances, as businesses will require fewer resources when it comes to influencing purchases. Notably, brand loyalty can become a self-sustaining machine as long as brands manage experiences across the board. Once they have mastered the buyer’s journey and preferences, customers will begin buying more and more.
Strategies to improve brand loyalty
Personalisation and targetted marketing
Due to companies having access to more data and analytics, it is now much easier to get personal with customers and build more meaningful relationships. This could include simple things such as sending discounts for their birthday, including names in newsletters or keeping up with current trends that a specific age group are interested in. This makes customers feel as though the communication is more direct and they are gaining something from the brand.
Customer service and support strategies
Customer service can be a make or break for businesses. If a customer feels as though they don’t have the support or help in place, they are most likely to go with a competitor or someone that prioritises this element. With so many people now buying online, there is always the risk of damage, incorrect sizing, late delivery or just a change of mind so having the support in place is crucial. Businesses are now creating modern channels when it comes to communication, ensuring response times are quick, questions can be asked and processes such as returns are simple and efficient.
Highlight values which are in line with your customer
One of the best ways to build brand loyalty is to form strong relationships based on common values and morals. Through data, questionnaires and research, businesses can discover what a customer cares about, whether that’s industry-related or hobbies and interests. Engaging in the community can create lifelong partnerships that extend far beyond one sale and many businesses will invest time and money into charity, events, discounts and community benefits.
Valuing your employees
You may be wondering how employee happiness is linked to brand loyalty, but there’s no doubt that happy staff make for a successful business. Let’s take customer service as an example, a business may have a team of people working on online support through direct messaging, phones and email. If these employees don’t feel valued or satisfied at work, this will show through their customer service as they could lack enthusiasm or be putting in minimum effort.
Giving back
There is always going to be lower prices and offers about, so making sure you’re giving back to customers will ensure they remain or become loyal. There are a number of ways in which this can be done such as hosting competitions and giveaways, participating in seasonal sales, providing personal discounts, giving free gifts at checkout or hosting a membership scheme in which loyal customers get access to limited features.
Memberships and customer programmes
As mentioned above, creating membership schemes is a simple yet hugely effective way to draw customers in and retain them for years to come. These memberships typically include things such as free delivery, sales and discounts and limited offers. Customers may also be able to collect points through frequent purchases which then lead to a reward of some sort. Being a member of a brand also gives this sense of community and can often be a great way to build connections both internally and externally.
Get creative
Marketing is everywhere and every brand, no matter the industry, must have a marketing strategy in place in order to make their mark in the market. However creating static, basic content is not enough. Businesses are going above and beyond with their marketing budgets and these features are what draw customers in and improve customer retention. When trying to attract brand loyalty, there is always a need for creativity to ensure that people know you’re still around but are also working hard to stay above the competition.
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