Top tips for building customer loyalty

Did you know it costs five times more to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one? Even so, many businesses focus their marketing efforts on acquisition over building customer loyalty.

Once someone chooses your brand over a competitor, nurturing that relationship and maintaining long-term trust is crucial. In addition to generating steady revenue, returning customers can grow your customer base through recommendations and offer valuable feedback to help you improve.

In this blog, we explore practical and effective ways that you can foster customer loyalty in your organisation.

Add a personal touch

Personalised communication is a dynamic and memorable way to connect with customers and foster loyalty. It shows them that they’re not just a number but rather an individual that’s a valuable part of your brand community.

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A recent Twilio study found that over 70% of UK consumers said personalised experiences increased brand loyalty. In addition, 15% of them are willing to spend more with brands that personalise engagements.

Personalised content takes little effort and can have a huge payoff. Here are a few simple ways you can do this:

Address them directly

Whether it’s an email, SMS, or social media message, address the customer directly by using their name in your message. This will enhance the user journey and encourage shoppers to return for another positive experience with your brand. As a bonus, it will also help boost your open and conversion rates.

Celebrate anniversaries

Another idea is to celebrate anniversaries, such as birthdays or milestone orders. It doesn’t take much—simply send them a personalised email to let them know you remembered. You could also go the extra mile and offer a discount or gift to celebrate.

Personalised recommendations

Show your customers that you know and understand them by offering personalised recommendations that match their interests and shopping habits. This will streamline their shopping experience and make it unique to your brand, thus making them more likely to remain loyal customers.

The trick is, though, to make recommendations relevant and genuinely helpful. Poorly constructed recommendations can have the opposite effect and turn your customers away. So, analyse their profiles and shopping history properly to drive excitement and long-term customer loyalty.

Create a loyalty scheme

Loyalty schemes are specifically designed to retain customers by rewarding them when they shop with you. Rewards can include free products, discounts, samples, points, or exclusive offers—anything worthwhile for the consumer that adds value and shows that you appreciate their custom.

Retention programmes are quick and easy to implement. One of the most popular types is a traditional points system, where customers collect points or stamps with every purchase. They get an exclusive reward once they reach a certain amount of points.

Some loyalty schemes are tiered, meaning that customers earn a bigger reward the more they shop. Other schemes include referrals, cashback, and paid programmes.

You must understand your customers to decide which loyalty scheme will work best for your business. Evaluate what’s important to them and what inspires them to stay connected. It would help if you also looked at what your competitors are doing, see what’s working and what isn’t, and find ways to offer your customers a more meaningful and rewarding experience.

Boost loyalty through social media

Most of your customers are active on social media. These platforms present a massive opportunity to build valuable relationships with them and encourage them to stay loyal to your brand.

You’ll be surprised at the difference that social media engagement can make. If you’re new to this, start by simply being active. Show signs of life on your brand’s profiles by posting regularly, sharing valuable content, and interacting with your followers.

Remember that a connection goes both ways, so as important as it is to interact with your customers, it’s just as important to let them get to know you. Let them in by sharing company updates, values, and behind-the-scenes information and occasionally sparking fun discussions.

Take Monzo, for example. Their Instagram page features product-specific posts, light content, fun polls, and relevant trends. Content variety is healthy; it shows authenticity and makes your brand more trustworthy.

As we said, loyalty is a two-way street. Excite your audience by engaging with them on social media, showing them that being a customer of yours is so much more than the product or service itself.

Ask for feedback

Another great way to foster customer loyalty is to ask for feedback. This shows that you value their thoughts, comments, and suggestions and want to actively improve their experience with your brand, thus encouraging them to stick around.

You can ask for feedback by sending a short email survey, sharing a social media post, or asking them in person when they visit your store. You could also incorporate the request into order confirmation emails. When someone places an order, simply add to the bottom of the email: We’d love to hear from you. Please let us know about your experience today.

If they had a positive experience, this is often enough to prompt them to share their thoughts. But you can also boost your chances of engagement by offering a small incentive, such as a discount on their next order.

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Also, remember to acknowledge and turn around any negative experiences. For instance, if someone has cancelled a service or subscription or hasn’t placed an order in a while, contact them to find out what has happened. Constructive feedback is just as valuable as positive reviews.

But don’t just ask for feedback to create a good impression. Pay attention to what your customers say, take their suggestions on board, and make feasible improvements that foster long-term loyalty.

Keep your customers’ details

Customer data is vital to making their experience with you easier and more valuable in the future. When someone places an order with you, you can capture their basic details like name, address, and email, but there are other ways to gather more meaningful information about your customers.

What’s more, they’ll be happy to share it with you in exchange for unique, seamless, and helpful shopping solutions. Here are a few data collection ideas to consider:

• Ask customers to subscribe to your blog or newsletter
• Launch a competition
• Access audience insights on individual social media platforms
• Integrate a chatbot into your website and ask users for their details so that you can answer their questions
• Analyse their purchase history
• Check public records

Numerous sources and strategies can provide you with vital information about your customers. These insights will help you improve your services, personalise experiences, and foster customer loyalty. Remember to comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) when asking for people’s data.

Why customer loyalty is important

Now that we’ve explored some of the best loyalty techniques, why is loyalty important for business? Let’s examine some of the top benefits.

More customers

When your existing customers are happy, they’ll be excited to bring others on board. They’ll let their friends and family know that they had a great experience with you and will want their loved ones to do the same. These recommendations will expand your following and bring in more loyal customers.

Stronger reputation

Showing that you can retain customers is incredibly powerful. It means you’re doing something right, making your competitors sweat, and inspiring new customers to join your community.

Improve your services

As a business owner, you can often get too close to a project to see it objectively and constructively. Luckily, your customers are your most significant source of feedback and opportunity to improve.

Actively engaging with them and asking to hear their thoughts is a great way to improve your services and demonstrate that you care about making the user experience as great as possible.

Increased revenue

The obvious benefit of building customer loyalty is increased revenue. Extending your relationship with your shoppers maintains trust and brings in regular sales.

Lower marketing costs

As mentioned, retaining a customer is cheaper than securing a new one. So, once you’ve secured someone’s trust, fostering loyalty can reduce your marketing costs compared to solely focusing on acquisition.

Competitive advantage

A loyal following gives your business a more significant competitive advantage. Other companies in your field will look to you for inspiration and benchmarks.

Also, when you launch new products or services, having those loyal customers behind you will improve your chances of success.

Build customer loyalty with Bizik

At Bizik, we know just how important your customers are. We’ll treat them as one of our own and speak your brand’s language, so they won’t even know they’re not talking to you.

Our services are entirely bespoke and tailored to your company and customers. When you sign up, we’ll arrange an onboarding session to understand your business, your customers’ questions, and what matters most to you. We’ll answer calls and chats precisely like you would and deal with incoming queries in your preferred way to deliver the most seamless customer experience.

Choose Bizik for a truly bespoke service your audience will love and want to return to. Call 020 3917 7444 today for a quote and to start your free 7-day trial.