Loyal customers are desired since customers are an important component for any success of a brand. Building loyal customers does not come easily; it requires much work. Actually, brand loyalty is earned and does not come by accident.
Building a loyal large following is crucial for a brand to be remembered and recognized. Loyalty extends beyond convincing customers to make purchases to building relationships with them and having them return to do business with you.
Customer loyalty helps brands grow and gain during extraordinary times and also helps them during rough times. Further, retaining customers is easier than recruiting new ones and therefore brands seek to keep the existing relationship with customers.
Why Customer Loyalty
Loyal customers tend to spend more than new customers when making purchases. This is because of the existing trust in the business and the products/services it offers. Customers will keep spending on something they trust instead of something they don’t.
Customer loyalty also leads to higher conversion rates in that, more value comes from loyal customers visiting your site to check out the products or new services. This improves the websites’ ranking and increases the possibility of conversion as opposed to non-loyal customers.
The following gives a guide on what brands should focus on to solidify brand loyalty with customers.
Brand identity
This element speaks about the brand and communicates to the customers what the company does. Having a unique brand identity helps the company stand out and have it dwell in the users’ minds and make them think about the brand’s products.
Brand identity elements such as the name, logo, colours, typography and tone should communicate what the brand is about and send a strong message to the users that the brand bears what they want. Colours should evoke the desired emotions; the logo should be unique and remembered by people all the time; the tone should be positive and friendly to win over customers.
Brand consistency
Consistency in brand loyalty signifies trust. Brands should feel the same whenever users interact with them. This gives them the confidence to interact with it and its deliverables. A brand should mean what it says and say what it means in that; the experience in the delivery of service should be as promised.
Brand consistency gives users a better experience because they feel the same despite where they interact with it; website, social media, billboards or television adverts. The brand voice, tone and visuals should be the same to demonstrate the brand’s authenticity hence creating loyalty among the customers.
Brand Quality
The quality of the products/services given by the brand determines whether customers will come back to make purchases or not. Therefore, nothing less is expected of the brand in the delivery of its services. Brands should see to it that they stand out in the market by living according to their promises.
Brands should project themselves and fill out their message to convince the customer why it is worthwhile doing business with them. This could be done by exceeding customers’ expectations in order to stay relevant in the market. Brands should invest in quality control measures to test their products and services; training their teams on customer relations and communication to improve their quality.
Customer Experience
Customer service should be prioritized by giving customers the experience they long for. Brands should structure their way of operation to address customers’ needs and make their lives easier. This can be done through website optimization, search engine optimization and as well as focusing on mobile user experience.
The brand structure should be people-centric and not focus on technology alone in that; it should feed the emotions of the people. Customers remember when they’re treated well and therefore, having a great customer experience is key so that they can come back as well as share about your brand with others.
Brands should seek to improve their customer experience by offering policies that allow free returns and exchanges of products purchased, treating them with respect and making it easy for them to find information on the brand’s pages.
Customer engagement
Consistent communication and customer engagement keep the brand fresh in their minds. This makes your brand the go-to company whenever they want something that the brand offers. Also, customer engagement keeps them informed of important and new developments such as discounts and new products.
Customer engagement using the right channels i.e. email, social media, phone calls, text messages etc. creates a sense of belonging and community. This makes them feel involved in your company and that the company cares about them.
Brands should respond to social media comments and queries raised by the audience. These engagements will help the brand learn what the audience likes and how to improve its services. Finally, personalizing the responses as opposed to having them automated will create a human feel and keep them connected to the brand.
Encourage Customer Feedback
Customer feedback helps figure out what services they want and how to give it to them. Asking for feedback demonstrates you value customers by listening and your intention to invest in them for the long term.
Feedback also enlightens what is working and what is not and how to improve it. Use surveys, phone calls, monitoring ratings, online reviews and social media comments to obtain feedback from the customers. As much as possible, seek to address every feedback received and address the negative feedback privately to meet the customer’s needs.
Offer Incentives
Any good service offered will keep users coming back. Brands should ensure they offer a reason to make customers remain loyal. This can be done by establishing programs that reward brand loyalty for instance discounts and coupons.
The more customers are rewarded, the more loyalty the brand receives thus continuing in business. Brands can also give extra perks to loyal customers so that they feel valued and well taken care of.
Point programs spend programs, tiered programs, Exclusive VIP programs etc. Can be used to reward loyal customers. This will cause them to spread the word and possibly refer friends to become your new customers.
