How loyal are your customers?
How much revenue do they generate and could this be improved?
Has this revenue per customer declined over the years?
Understanding your customers allows for value to be added to many different aspects of the customer process. As their experience is optimised, their loyalty to the business’ brand increases.
The concept of a brand isn’t just for business to consumer markets. It is equally important for business to business markets too, especially when delivering a service. Customer engagement just needs to be fostered in different ways when marketing to a business to business market.
Overall, brand loyalty can be defined in three ways:
- Repeat purchases and increased spend
- Attitude towards your brand
- An understanding of the value they receive
Your business is your brand. So whenever you meet a customer, take a call from a customer or interact online with customers, you or a member of staff are representing your brand in some shape or form. The service they experience matters because it contributes to how they feel about your brand and how they react when they see it online.
What are the benefits to brand loyalty?
- Increased turnover
- Increased amount of referrals
- Customers are more receptive to price increases
- Improved awareness of a business and what it offers
- Good customer relationships are difficult for competitors to copy
Customers will always want to feel like they’ve made the right decision by purchasing your products or using your services. As business owners you need to reassure them that they have made the right choice and give them a reason to keep coming back.
Keeping in touch and engaging with your customers has never been so easy. Online tools have made it simple to talk, gain feedback and to offer your customers tailored promotions that they will place huge value on. Amongst all of that, there is always room for some of the more traditional marketing methods and anyone who has worked with me will know I am a big advocate of integrating traditional and digital marketing methods effectively.
Developing brand loyalty doesn’t have to be difficult but it does have to be planned and well thought out. Confusing your customers doesn’t bring loyalty, it drives customers away.
So, what does your brand mean to your customers and what benefit do they get from using your business?
To create long term loyalty, we must understand what our brand means to our customers.
Once you have a good understanding, brand loyalty can be developed in these 9 ways:
- Keep communication personal. It will help customers to stay loyal to you.
- Go that extra mile. Show your customers that you care and that you understand what your product or service means to them.
- Make use of your customer data. Use it to really get to know your customers and target them with different promotions that you know will be valued.
- Make doing business with you simple. Any difficulties a customer experiences will devalue your brand and you run the risk of them never doing business with you again.
- Use online tools that your customers use. Take social media for example. If your customers aren’t on Instagram, don’t waste your time on it.
- Say thank you. It might sound obvious, but how many people actually say it? Send a card – it’ll stand out from an email and will be remembered more.
- Be consistent. Sending out confusing and mixed messages is a guaranteed way to switch people off.
- Use technology that your customers will understand. You might be excited by an app or another digital tool, but your customers might find it difficult to use and question its purpose.
- Add value wherever you can. Be creative and don’t just concentrate on discounts and promotions. Some services or products should never be discounted!
Brand loyalty is created over time.
There are no quick fixes but keep on track and you will reap the rewards making your marketing much more effective.
