Have you ever wondered why some people prefer a given product over others? Even though, on the surface, the different items look the same? This is generally due to the brand’s ability to engage customers and instill brand loyalty in them.
While you might survive in the short-run without customer engagement and loyalty, be warned that you won’t go far. This is because distinctive advantages, in the form of pricing or a unique idea, disappear after some time as competition catches up to you. What remains is the brand you create. And loyalty and engagement help in building this.
Are you struggling to do either? Don’t worry; we are here to show you how you can effectively build customer loyalty and engagement.
- Offer samples
How would your customers know whether or not your product is worth their money? Remember, there is always a risk associated with every purchase. This is especially prominent when you run an online business. After all, how can customers gauge your product? This is why offering free samples is a must.
This helps in ensuring that customers engage with your business. It also establishes trust. People find you much more credible when you offer them samples. Why? Let’s say you provide free pipeline template or an email signature sample. This showcases that you are confident enough about your product to allow people to test it before you charge money for it.
Even if not all those who use your sample purchase the service, that’s okay. They are likely to remember you because of the better customer engagement.
- Focus on customer experience
Why do you think Amazon has been so successful? It is because it goes to extreme length to deliver the best customer experience. To build loyalty, you also need to take the same approach as Jeff Bezos. Make sure you treat your customers as the king. To do so, you don’t just need to focus on the E-commerce store layout. Instead, you must also create an organizational culture where offering the best customer experience is the priority. Zappos is known to do this. The company doesn’t track the call times of its customer service reps. For them, the number of customers you dealt with doesn’t matter, the quality of your assistance does. The more attention you pay to your customers, the more engaged they will be with your brand, and hence will be loyal to it as well.
- Have user-generated content
Millennials are known to be wary of traditional advertising channels. Ad blockers and low attention span add on to this problem. Not to mention that everyone expects a brand to say positive things about itself. So, anything it says is taken with a pinch of salt. Compared to this, user-generated content and word-of-mouth are much better at creating buzz around the brand. Moreover, if you ask your customers to send their testimonials or include them in a referral program, they feel part of the brand. This, in turn, strengthens brand loyalty and automatically creates engagement.
- Know the needs of your customers
A lot of people think that Apple created a need when it introduced iPhones. Ask any marketer, and they would tell you that this is not the case. Needs cannot be created. Wants can be. So, what did Apple do, exactly? It anticipated the needs of its customers and made them aware of it. The need for better communication was always there. People just didn’t know about it. Now, you would see that iPhone brand loyalty is one of the strongest in the world.
You can do the same as well. Try to anticipate the requirements of your customers in advance. Deliver it to them before they utter their wishes. This makes people think that they can relate to your brand.
- Personalize every communication
There is a reason why mass marketing has been replaced by micromarketing. The world of analytics allows marketers to send customized messages to their customers. This is a great way to build engagement. Think about it. Which communication will you react to better? One which addresses you by your name and is tailored according to your preferences or one which is generic and mentions things that don’t interest you? The chances are you will pick the former. So will the masses. Therefore, make sure to customize your marketing efforts. This way you can speak to each customer on a personal level.
- Cut your best customers some slack
You will find that some customers are more profitable than others. But, just because they are purchasing from you today doesn’t mean they will yield a high customer lifetime value. Instead, you must ensure that you do keep them happy for the long-run. For this purpose, you must provide your best and frequent customers with incentive. Cut them some slack by addressing their needs first and making them feel important.
- Seek the help of your customers
The human brain works in weird ways. The more you help someone out, the more loyal you become to them. That’s right. This is because helping someone or granting favour makes you feel more involved with them. Soon, you forget that you are an outsider. This is the human complexity that you can use for your benefit. Ask your customers for their help in improving your product. Let them know that their involvement is crucial for the success of your brand. Once people feel that they are on the inside, they are likely to stay with you through thick and thin.
Conclusion
All in all, building customer engagement and making sure your brand has enough loyalists, not an impossible task. If you play your cards right, you can do it in no time. This is a critical aspect of branding. Make sure you don’t just focus on product development. Pay heed to your brand image as well. Marketing is crucial for the success of your business. And customer engagement and loyalty are the best way of fulfilling marketing goals.
