Modern customers have a different approach for buying products and these are totally different from the yesteryears. They like scouring the websites and researching about the products and brands before they have their actual purchase made. They are 60% to 80% down your funnel before they talk to your business associates. In such scenarios of cut-throat competitions, you cannot just rely on traditional loyalty-building methods. Despite the several strategies being applied, only 27% of your customers go for a repeat purchase. In such cases, here are the 8 tips that will be helping you out.
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Have satisfactory customer service
The brand loyalty of a customer will increase only after the actual sale is done. To keep it optimum, one must provide consistent quality and reliable customer service throughout the buying journey. If the customers are getting treated with respect, they are going to come back. Though this might sound like a costly affair, nothing can replace assured customer service.
Be a trustworthy brand
Trust is tricky, but trust is a driving force of loyalty. Just like friendship, trust takes time to get built and it strengthens only in the most exceptional circumstances. To build the customers’ trust easily, you need to position your brand as an expert in the market. You need to start working on your reputation management seriously and rectify the tone that your brand communicates in. Try creating a testimonial page on your website and showcase the opinions of your past customers.
Use social media holistically
Gone are the days when customers would be picking up papers or pens or getting to the email to write down their grievances. They find social media to be the best solution to have their complaints heard. An instant message or a comment from the consumer arrives within moments and it takes even less time for the brands to reply to them. This engagement then becomes worth it. Both the parties get tied together and the resolution arrives faster.
Introduce offers to catch their attention
Offers have an immense effect on a consumer’s buying habit, irrespective of the buying journey phase they are in. Offers always act as great hooks to bring back the old customers and to attract the newer ones. Your sales can have a potential boost if you introduce coupons, limited time offers, or other incentives to promote customer loyalty. This will also increase brand engagement and customers will think highly of the brand’s market presence.
Be authentic and consistent
The most important step to bring back old customers is by being authentic and consistent with them. Brands normally neglect this and miss on how much customers rely on the company to get outstanding products and services. They expect this continuity over time and even if any issue arises, they must be assured that the company is going to address it seriously.
Provide wholesome value
You should abstain from writing content on your walls for the sake of just writing it. Also, do not launch offers or discounts that bear minimal values. Any communication made from the brand’s end should make the customers realize that you care about them and they bear a specific value to you. Give them the content they want to get involved with. To do that, understand their segments and their buying personas. Understand the driving factors behind them and get to know why they rely on your product. If you follow this pattern, you will derive higher loyalty results.
Follow up regularly
Just like the brand follows up with the customers before the sale, they need to follow up with them even after the sale is completed. This is critical in building long-term relationships. Following up must be done at every step, including the stages of onboarding, before and after that and at regular intervals. The main aim of the brand should be to remain on top of its customer satisfaction level. Dial a quick call at times to prevent any issue from escalating.
Do not spam
Brands always try to increase the number of their touchpoints. They involve sending direct emails daily or more than once a day. But the brand should understand not to overdo things. They should refrain from excessive communication otherwise the customers will get irritated and might not buy in the first place. Hence, it is ideal that brands reach out only with the educational and quality content at the right intervals without disturbing or spamming.
Last but not least, a product sampling program is yet another strategy that can increase brand loyalty. When done right, the sales of the brand are also expected to rise significantly. This is because product sampling incorporates the physical aspect of the product where the customers can try them out and give their feedback.
By now, you must have understood the significance of customer service and customer satisfaction in customer retention. So it’s imperative to devise the right strategies to attract the right audience. Every department should equally contribute to this, and brands must invest in resources that will help them retain a larger customer base. With all this on point, growth is assured.