By Brian Meert
Acquiring new customers is a must for growing your business, but building a relationship with your current customers is just as important. It is not enough to be the brand of choice for a one-time purchase – you have to become the brand for the product or service you want.
How do you become the chosen brand? Let’s examine how you can maintain loyalty with your customers.
1. Establish a unique brand
It’s difficult to become a customer if you don’t have a strong, unique brand identity. You need to stand out from your competitors and improve the “stickiness” of the brand towards your target audience. Otherwise, over time, people will forget you. However, if you have a unique brand identity, customers will likely remember you and come back to you for your product or service.
To create a strong brand identity, define your company values and mission and make sure they align with the values of your target audience. Integrate your values into your visual elements like your logo or newsletter and create a visual presence that makes your brand memorable. Also, create a unique brand voice that you can use to communicate with customers, be it through social media posts or press releases.
2. Create valuable, high quality products
A report by Yotpo on the state of customer loyalty shows that 55.3% of US internet users cite quality products as the most important factor in deciding whether to remain loyal to a brand. For 51.3% of US internet users, poor quality products are the number one reason for brand dropping. Because of this, it is important to sell good quality products – this is what makes people come back to you.
Of course, you can’t sell a good quality product and expect customers to promise their loyalty. According to the same study, 37% of US internet users take more than five purchases to decide whether to remain loyal to a brand. Meanwhile, 12% state that they only make two purchases. When you offer high quality products, customers will have more confidence in your brand.
3. Provide excellent customer service
Referring again to the same study, 7.1% of US Internet users say that excellent customer service contributes to brand loyalty. That’s not surprising. Customers are unlikely to return to a brand after having a difficult or uncomfortable experience. However, they are likely to return to a brand when customer service has been able to meet their needs or solve their problems.
There are many ways to provide excellent customer service. For example, when customers need to return a product because it was defective or not received in the mail, request a full refund, offer a free exchange, or ship a brand new product for free.
4. Offer a personalized experience
Personalization helps customers feel special. You’re not just one in a million big money makers. These are people. Contrary to popular belief, personalization is not just about addressing customers by name in every email, but also about tailoring the entire brand experience to their needs and wishes.
For example, if you know that part of your customers would like to buy the release of your new line of lipstick, send email updates only to that part of your audience, not the audience who are more interested in your perfume line. Of course, in order to create a personalized experience, customer data must be recorded. Make sure you follow my local regulations when handling your data.
Other items from AllBusiness.com:
5. Be ethical
It is important that you run your business ethically. How can consumers expect to trust a brand that doesn’t have a moral compass? Consumers admire brands with ethical standards that put people before profit. Encourage the way you help the community. Show how you treat your employees as people, not money makers.
Again, refer to your company values. Does your company value sustainability? Does it value employee safety before profit? Make it known on social media, ads, on your website, and in newsletters.
6. Be diverse and inclusive
There is a generation growing in purchasing power: Gen Z. According to the Pew Research Center, this generation is the most racially and ethnically diverse. Because of this, it’s important to focus on diversity and inclusivity.
To foster loyalty to Gen Z, your communications should be diverse and inclusive. For example, show more people of different races, genders, sexual orientations, or sizes in your ads and social media posts. If your brand shows diversity and inclusivity, this generation will be more responsive and loyal.
7. Offer convenience
It is important to ensure that customers can easily purchase your product or service. The faster they can get their products, the better. There are many ways to provide comfort. You can offer express shipping. In addition to telephone or email support, you can also offer live chat services. If you want to target a tech-savvy audience, you can even offer mobile payments.
When customers remember that their interaction with your brand is enjoyable, they are more likely to buy from you again.
Maintaining customer loyalty takes time. Some customers are more difficult to acquire than others. Be steadfast in your strategy, put your customers first, and it will all come together.
RELATED: 14 Unique Ways to Build Brand Loyalty Through Social Media
About the author
Contribution by: Brian Meert
Brian Meert is the CEO of AdvertiseMint, a Hollywood, California-based digital advertising agency specializing in helping successful businesses advertise on Facebook. Advertisemint has managed millions of dollars in digital ad spend in the entertainment, fashion, finance, and software industries. Brian is the author of the bestselling book The Complete Guide to Facebook Advertising. Prior to founding Advertisemint, Brian built and sold Gofobo.com, an online ticketing system that revolutionized the entertainment industry and is now used by Warner Bros. and Disney.
Company: Advertisemint
Website: www.advertisemint.com
Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Comments are closed.