5 Ways to Boost Consumer Loyalty in 2021
Why should a customer be loyal to your brand?
Why should your existing customer base stick with your business? What is consumer loyalty? These are some questions that you should ask yourself as a business owner. It will help you put things into perspective to see how you’re maximizing what you already have.
Did you know that 80% of your business comes from only 20% of your existing customers? A report by Gartner Group affirms this. With this seemingly small amount of loyal customers, you can rake in returns as much as 80%. This is a pretty good reason for any business to strive to keep their loyal customers.
If you do not have loyal customers, there is a problem that you need to address in your business. This article will help to uncover the necessity of customer loyalty, help you identify possible reasons why customers may not be loyal, and five ways to boost consumer loyalty in 2021.
What is consumer loyalty?
In simple terms, consumer loyalty is the bond your customers have with your business that makes them stick with you. A customer can visit a particular store repeatedly because the store offers the services they need the way they like it.
They are satisfied with the service and don’t mind going back for more. This does not necessarily translate to consumer loyalty. Consumer loyalty is established when there is an emotional bond between the consumers and a brand or business.
For instance, the consumer may sign up to be the first to learn about new products or services a business offers or pay ahead to use some of their features. The consumer engages with the company and has a relationship with the business.
They can even recommend the business to other people who need their services. It’s that business or no other. Such consumers are hard to dissuade from using a brand they’re loyal to.
Why is consumer loyalty important?
You understand why it is important that your customers are loyal to you when you see the cost of acquiring a new customer. According to Invesp, “acquiring a new customer is five times costlier than retaining an existing customer.”
This simply means that it costs less to keep a customer due to the processes involved in taking on a new one. Consumer loyalty also means free referrals. Loyal customers just can’t stop talking about your brand, and eventually, they bring in new customers for the business.
Another reason consumer loyalty is important is that it helps convince new clients or customers that the brand is credible and frontline. When they see the amount of existing customer base, it influences their decision to choose your business.
Why do consumers leave a brand?
There are many reasons why a consumer may choose to stop doing business with a company. According to a survey by SuperOffice, the topmost reason why a customer leaves is because the “customers believe you don’t care about them.”
The next reason is that the “customer is dissatisfied with your service.” These results simply show that you have to take adequate measures to ensure that you do not stop trying to build a relationship with your consumers. It improves consumer loyalty significantly.
How to boost consumer loyalty in 2021: 5 impactful tips
Having understood the need for consumer loyalty and the reasons why businesses may lose consumers, it’s time to learn five ways through which you can boost consumer loyalty.
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Improve your customer service
How do you assist with complaints and issues from your consumers? If your client has a problem with the business what is the attitude of the customer support to them?
To boost consumer loyalty, you have to offer helpful and relevant answers. The more you can solve these issues, the more they feel rest assured to make repeat purchases.
They know that their issues will be handled effectively, or at least, they will receive help somehow. Don’t drive clients away by putting them on hold indefinitely or not making any attempt to fix their problems.
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Make marketing campaigns personalized
With personalized marketing, you can convey the benefits your clientele stand to gain by continuing to do business with you. Employ a customized marketing approach for your business by customizing your messages to them in ways that align with their preferences and needs.
To do this, you need some data from your customer base. Through data based on their buying patterns or shopping preferences, you get insight into what you can offer your clients in a way that addresses their individual needs.
Make reports of necessary consumer data and share it with the marketing team to ensure uniformity of information across all channels to help them deliver effectively. A report maker can help to ease this process.
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Create a consumer loyalty program
There should be a means to appreciate loyal consumers who have stuck to the brand for different periods of time. Customer rewards programs influence their decision to return for more. Check out Starbucks; for example, their loyalty program offers a variety of rewards for buying repeat cups of coffee.
Consumers have access to free food, coffee, birthday treat surprises, and lots more. Think of what you can offer to your clients as a reward for their loyalty. Create a project with the rest of the team to bring this idea into life and help it run smoothly.
A lovely idea is to use a project charter template to map out your customer loyalty project and kick it off.
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Show off the results of brand loyalty
This strategy works wonders for businesses with visible results to show, such as fitness, cosmetics, skincare, etc.
How have your consumers fared over time as they stuck with your business? This can help other consumers to solidify their decisions to stay with your brand. If it works for customer A, then it should work for me too, so they make a repeat purchase.
As long as your brand is credible and does what it says it does, this will effectively sway new consumers to patronize your business and keep existing consumers.
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Look out for warning signs
If you’re careful enough, you will notice when a customer is tending towards leaving your business. Perhaps it’s a car that has been empty for many months? Or unread email marketing campaigns? These are some signs that a customer is nearing the exit door.
You can get back these specific consumers by identifying them and sending personalized follow-up emails. You could also reach out to them through other means like personal phone calls. Offering discounts on their preferred items or simply finding out why they no longer patronize your business can help you to win them back.
Conclusion
Remember, the number one goal is to make sure your clients never feel like you don’t care. Showing them that you are interested in their needs and want to solve them can make all the difference in their decision to stay or go.
It is also important not to leave your consumers unsatisfied after they have used your products or services. It costs more to bring in new clients than to keep the existing ones. The more customers you keep, the higher profits you rake in.
