Special Guest Blogger - Victoria Greene
Customer loyalty is a powerful tool for brand recognition and sales. Countless people feel so connected to a specific brand, that they will refuse to buy from its competitors.
Customer loyalty is a powerful tool for brand recognition and sales. Countless people feel so connected to a specific brand, that they will refuse to buy from its competitors.
It costs six times more to acquire a new customer than to convert
an existing customer, and with numbers like this, it’s no surprise that
companies work hard to establish brand loyalty from day one. But how can small
businesses build a brand with inbuilt customer loyalty?
Let’s talk
about brand loyalty: Coca Cola
The leading
manufacturer of soft drinks has created a loyal base of followers through its
brand and marketing. There are lots of people out there who would order a water
instead of another brand of soft drink if Coca Cola was not on the menu. This
is customer loyalty at its best - these customers have become brand
evangelists.
Coca Cola
has worked hard to promote a brand that millions of customers will vouch for.
It’s created a product that pretty much sells itself. Even when packaging
designs were altered over the years, customers remained strong and supportive.
The key to
their success? Consistency and product loyalty. Times have changed, but Coke
hasn’t. And people respond to that.
You’re
selling a lifestyle
Successful
entrepreneur Eric Bandholz takes marketing to another level with his online
beard store Beardbrand. His advice for creating brand loyalty is “it's
important that you walk the walk, i.e. the image you are trying to create of
your brand is something you actually eat, drink, sleep and live”.
He suggests
that the best way to build brand loyalty is remaining consistent across all
channels. Eric’s social channels, like Instagram, complement his online Shopify storefront which uses the same type of imagery, promoting strong branding
customers can identify with. Consistent branding and product quality is
something that your customers will come to expect from your brand - this is how
brand loyalty develops over time.
Customer
service is your secret weapon
Build a
brand interested in customer service to show your customers that you care about
their experience with your company. Customers will remember that time when they
called your customer service helpline and spoke to a helpful staff member, and
they will remember the time your company accepted their returned product, even
though they had missed the deadline by one day. Use customer service as your
secret weapon to promote loyal customers.
Spotify is
one of the leading brands for online customer service. It has won the
“excellence on the web” award for its customer support and assistance: an award
that it has snapped up two years in a row. SpotifyCares on Twitter will help
customers with technical glitches, general advice and will even offer customers
tailored music playlists for as a ‘thank you’ for their feedback.
Customer
service is so important to user experience as it shows customers the true
values of your business. It shows customers that your business cares about them
and wants to offer a good service. It’s also in a business's best interest to
invest in good customer service because acquiring new customers is more
expensive than converting existing customers. Nobody can build brand
evangelists and loyalty without first offering exceptional customer service.
Give
something back to show appreciation
How many of
you remember a time when a brand really took the time to reward you for being
loyal to their business? This is something that is happening less often, but it
always means so much. A small gesture can go a long way, like sending a
discount voucher code to a customer on their birthday or celebrating with an
email for the New Year. Sometimes it’s the smallest things that can go a long
way to building brand trust and loyalty among your fan base.
ASOS works
hard to show its customers that its cares and appreciates them. It generates
birthday emails, including discount vouchers, for customers on their
birthday, promoting a loyal band of followers who feel appreciated. Such a
simple gesture can go a long way in terms of customer experience and this will
promote dedicated customers in the long-term.
Building a
brand with inbuilt customer loyalty can be tricky. But as long as you put
customers at the heart of your business, you will be able to establish a
powerful brand that customers will be drawn to. Make a big deal about the
little things and offer an exceptional level of customer service to promote a
trustworthy brand customers will want to follow.
Victoria Greene
Victoria Greene is a freelance writer, brand marketing consultant, and ecommerce marketing expert. She works with
brands both local and international to extend their online reach. She loves
sharing her knowledge with other small businesses and entrepreneurs to help
scale their business online. For more details click here.
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