AUGUST, 2019 / By Web Force 5
HOW TO BUILD LOYALTY AND TURN CUSTOMERS INTO FANS
How to Build Brand Loyalty & Turn Customers into Fans
Consumers are becoming savvier than ever before. They are more considered, and more critical, and aren’t afraid to voice an opinion when a brand seems ingenuine or artificial. And while a few years ago it was simple enough to boost a post on Facebook to try to reach your target market, in a world where consumers are bombarded with advertising almost everywhere they look, consumers are cutting through the crap and switching off to gimmicky advertising. Instead they engage with brands they feel connected to, brands they trust, and brands that they feel are genuine. The reality of advertising in the current climate means that loyalty is now the currency in which your brand is valued against.
Customer Service is Key
At the heart of building brand loyalty is customer service, which comes in many forms, and at every stage of the potential customer’s interaction with your business. It can look very different depending on your product or service as well.
While customer service has always been an integral part of running a successful business, it has not been scrutinized, and publicly called out to the extent that it is nowadays. Now is the time to put your processes under the microscope to ensure you are measuring customer loyalty and how your customer service influences this.
Customer service goes hand in hand with customer experience. And a positive customer experiences will equal high levels of customer satisfaction, repeat customers, and positive word of mouth advertising. You’ve probably heard before that 80% of your business / sales are likely to come from 20% of your customers. This 20% is your base for building brand loyalty.
How Does Customer Service Impact Brand Loyalty?
Brand loyalty isn’t a buzzword. It is a legitimate measure of how highly regarded you are to your customers, and how likely they are to become repeat customers and advocates of your products and services. Consumers have an infinite amount of choice, which can make it hard for brands to get cut through. However, by focusing on customer connection, you can build your brand loyalty and stand out amongst the clutter.
Customer experience is a key component to building brand loyalty. What does your customer get out of their relationship with your brand and why does it matter? You need to create several reasons for your customer to connect with you and remain loyal. So, what can you offer them? As mentioned above, start with exceptional customer service at every step. Think easy to use websites, hassle-free returns, pleasant, timely and helpful interactions with customer service reps as examples. Make your customer service reps as accessible as possible, as people will have preferences on how they would like to communicate with you.
An exceptional example of customer service is an online retailer Fame and Partners, who specialize in made to order clothes. Their online chat function is manned by real people, not bots, and if customers find an item they like but is out of stock, the customer service rep will personally trawl the website on your behalf and send the customer similar options they think they might like. This way the customer's initially negative experience of not being able to buy the item they wanted is turned around by their uber helpful staff, and the retailer is more likely to end up with a sale than if the customer had not had that interaction.
Ok so got customer service sorted? Great! How else can your potential customers benefit from their connection with you? As a retailer, this could be a discount code for their first purchase when signing up for a mailing list, or perhaps for their third order to thank them for their repeat business. Many retailers also offer their customers a discount code on their birthday if they have that information stored in their CRM.
Whatever you do, it needs to be consistent. Customers know what to expect, and they respect you for it. As soon as the consistency lags, the customer loses faith in your brand. So how do you know if you’re doing it right? Ask!
This is the key element of building brand loyalty. How are you supposed to know if you are offering the customers what they want if you don’t ask? Ask your customers for feedback, review feedback, and adjust accordingly. This is an ongoing process, and not something to get complacent with. Brand loyalty builds over time, and your customers’ needs will change over time. So, what you set up now to build brand loyalty may look different to what you need to do in five years time.
Tracking Brand Loyalty for the Best Results
Brand loyalty is tangible and can be measured with the right tools used in the right way.
It doesn’t need to be complicated either. There are simple tools you can implement quickly, and start tracking data in real time. Google Analytics is one such tool that you can use to analyse customer behavior on your website, such as repeat visits to your site. This is a free tool, and is quite straightforward to set up. You can also measure engagement data within your e-newsletters such as open rates.
Tracking this data over time will help you establish benchmarks for your brand and help you analyse what is working or not working in terms of building brand loyalty.
How Can Web Force 5 Help?
Web Force 5 has a number of tools and integrations to help you dig deeper into the data to effectively measure customer engagement and loyalty such as a bespoke content management system with a built in CRM, email marketing, and custom google analytics integration. Here you can track customer interactions, repeat orders, average order value and more.
These tools allow you to have a constant feedback loop of valuable data that provides insight into how your touch points influence your customers experience. It will allow you to answer questions such as:
- How are people finding your business / product / service?
- Where are they being referred from?
- What landing page do they get referred to?
- How long do they stay on site?
- What web pages do they visit?
- What links, buttons, video and other content do they interact with?
- What pages do they exit your site from?
- With this data you can see what your customers are doing, what is working for them and how and why they might be leaving your site.
Web Force 5 custom designed Continuum content management system offers built in CRM solutions for Australian business eager to wow their customers. In addition to this powerful yet easy to use content management system, we offer custom web development services to suit your specific needs. Web Force 5 can help you build brand loyalty through an intuitive website navigation, customer service integrations and website data tracking. Our tools and expertise can help your business build and track brand loyalty in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Speak to one of our specialist consultants for a no obligation chat.