It’s easy being a customer. Businesses constantly court you with the best gifts and offer in hopes of winning your loyalty over the long term.
Think of how amazing this feels when building customer loyalty programs for your own business. When you receive amazing offers, it’s hard to refuse them even for companies that are more convenient.
Here are 7 tips on building customer loyalty programs for your business.
1. Contests
One of the most engaging ways to boost customer loyalty is to offer them something for free. Contests are great options because they allow you to engage while delighting your customer.
Many brands focus on social media contests where your customers can upload their own versions of your product or submit new ideas. Keep in mind that this only applies to certain demographics.
There are audiences who won’t even consider posting personal photos of themselves on certain social media sites. Understand what customers are using which sites so you make the contest feel natural.
Your market research might prove that contests in person will prove the best opportunity for building customer loyalty programs. Go with the data to make sure you’re making the smartest move with your marketing dollars.
Even contests need some form of promotion to generate excitement.
2. Upsell
Customers appreciate brands that respond relevantly to their needs. Are you a brand that knows how to start the right kind of conversation with your audience?
Do you know their pain points and have plans in place to provide solutions? These opportunities don’t have to be deep.
Solving a customer’s problem could simply be adding a second version of your product in a travel version. But with a customer base that loves traveling, it shows you’re in tune with their needs.
Think of your upselling opportunities as a way to serve customer needs. Never blindly suggest products customers don’t need.
Look for complementary items you can sell that make your bestselling items easier to use. If you’re clueless about your upselling opportunities, take yourself on a sales journey and pretend to be the customer.
You’ll find places along the way where a second product might make the first one that much more enjoyable to use or maintain, said John O. from HR Software company.
3. Follow Ups
Keep in touch with new customers by calling them after your first experience. Let’s be clear.
No one wants to have long conversations with a business just because you bought something from their store. But this doesn’t mean you can’t have a quick check-in by phone to see if there’s anything that stood out about their experience.
Ask whether the product is what they expected or ways you can improve. Avoid being pushy with a follow-up.
This is where great listening skills come into play. If someone sounds busy or like they’re having trouble hearing, get off the phone.
There’s nothing more inconvenient than struggling to have a phone call with a business just do a glorified survey.
4. Birthdays
Recognize customers on their birthdays or during birth months. This is a great way to generate more sales and let customers know you’re thinking of them.
Top brands offer things like birthday discounts where customers get an unlimited coupon to shop throughout their birth month. This might seem like writing a blank check but it’s actually a low-cost form of advertising for you.
Customers feel treated to an exclusive sale and you get to boost your sales at a fraction of what it would cost to take out an ad. Keep in mind that if your discount is generous enough, customers will begin to tell friends about the opportunity to save.
This grows your word of mouth marketing every day of the year since there’s no month where birthdays are nonexistent.
5. Referral Incentives
Make sure you consistently reward customers for bringing in new business. An incentive marketing strategy allows companies to get customers’ attention with special deals. You might offer them a bonus product or an opportunity to enter sweepstakes.
The prize needs to genuinely resonate with the audience. Sometimes cash is king though.
Everyone speaks the language of gift cards. Customers feel special knowing that they’re in a sort of partnership with your brand in promotions.
They’ll be more likely to stick with a brand they’ve recommended to others. Make sure you wow their guests so both the person referring and the guest feels like their in a secret club of VIPs. If you need business funding for this giveaway, see if car title loans could help you.
6. Be Authentic
Too much selling is a turnoff for any customer. They’ve got brands trying to win their business from every direction.
Help them recover from advertising fatigue by having real conversations through your content channels. Think of the real concerns of parents if your audience is families.
How can you provide information that helps them live life easier? Remember, your content isn’t just to say amazing things about yourself.
Your content is a blend of great ideas, tips, and tutorials that keep their lives moving forward without a hitch.
7. Innovate
Never stop learning and building customer loyalty. Your business has to remain innovative in order to make sense of the growing world of customer options.
Keep continuing your education in your product or service so you can reduce churn and customers won’t ever feel tempted to look elsewhere.
Building Customer Loyalty Long Term
When building customer loyalty, you need to think of the time it takes to build any genuine relationship. Loyalty is based on trust.
Customers won’t simply trust you right away simply because your logo looks cool. Look for ways to engage with them so you can have meaningful interactions over time.
Shirley is a content writer at KitelyTech, who has written on a technology, from Jewellery to SEO Software. In her free time, she enjoys dancing, sketching, cooking, and shopping.
