How to Build Brand Loyalty That Lasts?

Brand Loyalty - What is it?

Brand loyalty means the tendency of customers to buy from a specific brand in the presence of competitive substitutes in the market. Brand loyalty is built when customers can think of only one brand for their particular needs.

Almost 80% of consumers become loyal to a brand after at least three purchases, says a consumer survey from Yotpo. Great deals, giveaways, add-ons, after-sales services, and customer attention are major factors that establish brand loyalty.

Brand loyalty is different from customer loyalty. The main difference between the two is that brand loyalty depends on customer perception and customer loyalty depends on customer spending.

Why is brand loyalty important?

Loyal customers yield higher conversion rates. According to a study, new customers have a conversion rate of 5% to 20%, while existing customers have an average conversion rate of around 60% to 70%, which is way higher.

Tyler Read, the CEO of personal training company PTPioneer said, "If brands put in the work necessary to build customer loyalty, those customers will stay invested in their business. When their business is struggling, it's the loyal customers who will help them stay afloat."

What makes a customer loyal to a brand?

A report from Yotpo says 55.3% of consumers are brand loyal because they love the product. On the same note, poor product quality is the top reason a brand loses its loyal customers. Next to poor product, mediocre customer service will drive away 23.5% of loyal customers, which means that premium customer service is still predominant even for well-established products and brands.

Essentially, the two most important elements of building brand loyalty are exceptional product/service and a sense of belongingness with its customers.

Why you should establish brand loyalty?

Loyal customers pay dividends. A survey from Yopto says almost 60% of loyal customers will probably share their favorite brands with their friends and family. Word-of-mouth has been the best client builder policy for decades as the referred prospective customers come with a pre-conceived trust by their referrer friend without any advertisements.

This price-blind dedication is indispensable in the modern eCommerce space. According to a study, about 52% of customers are willing to join a rewards program. Approximately 40% can be influenced to spend more on a product despite cheaper substitutes available in the market.

How to establish brand loyalty that lasts?

A few factors that drive brand loyalty are

• consistency with a great product,
• the little extras put in by brands,
• personalized customer care
• a community that helps promote brands,
• terrific marketing tactics,
• lucrative reward programs,
• gratifying customer service,
• listening to customer feedback and
• making upgrades and improvements thereof.

Strong brand stories, supporting community, reviews, and glorious testimonials that attract new customers. 

Focusing on customer experience and services and upgrading business USP bring more brand loyalty than focusing on sales. A business must always prioritize providing the best experience to its customers rather than being sales oriented. When these customers have the best experience from the brand's services, they are the biggest sales generator.

Engage with customers 

Know their exact requirements, how we can solve their problems better, and what we can offer that goes beyond their imagination and out of reach for our rivals. Understand their requirements and what paces our customers to keep coming. Deliver them on quality and value provide something more than expected - work on developing their Unique Selling Preposition (USP) so strongly that their customers get addicted.

Terrific Customer Service

Brands must leave a wow moment delivering quality and value more than promised and expected with their customer services which is the only way they create an everlasting experience.

Amazon is the best example in this regard by providing a promise for the goods to be delivered within the next seven days while it delivers within much less stipulated time and, in some cases, within the next 24 hours only.

Brand voice and story

Brands seek attention by regularly updating their social media while building a brand by going deep into the subconscious minds of their customers and prospective leads. Regular communication with customers over social media keeps them well-informed about their business's new policies, products, or schemes. Become an expert in our field and show our knowledge and expertise across social media so that customers can think only of us when they encounter such problems or any need arise that our product can fulfill.

Be consistent 

Trust comes from consistency, and when we are authentic and deliver consistency in our brand, our customers feel connected whenever we post on our website, blogs, or social media.

Reward Programs 

Provide unexpected incentives. To avail the benefits of reduced prizes, customers buy more than they had expected or even buy when they didn't come to buy for too. Some businesses even provide a discount voucher of up to 50% if they buy any other product from the store on the same day. Sending gifts, and messages during birthdays, special occasions, or festivals is an added advantage to building brand loyalty.

Be responsive 

Social listening is the best strategy to make our customers feel connected and heard. It's quite impossible to answer all the questions asked, or comments are sometimes ignored because of the vastness of the internet and social media. In this digitally growing world, many social listening tools are floated in the market that can track all their social mentions and when someone puts in comments for their brand and tags them. These social listening tools help brands respond in real-time and win not only their existing customer base but they have the power to convert a conversation into sales via brand positioning.

Using the right words in any conversation positions brand image in the other person's subconscious mind. 'You, Free, Because, Instantly, New' are a few such words. A subtle Call to Action (CTA) also helps businesses attract more leads.

Utilizing social media 

Social media is huge. Great brands are churning huge profits out of it. Consumers prefer brands that advocate social justice. It is the quality of an experienced and technologically advanced marketer who can pace any conversation in the brand's favor.

Keeping an eye on the conversations from their customers, speaking at the right time to take a stand for social good, replying in real-time to the solutions solicited or matching their product qualities with their requirements in case of recommendations asked for certain problems, helping brands position themselves in the eyes of prospective leads and can easily convert the conversation into sales.

Influencer marketing 

It is a high-sales converting asset that must be addressed in the recent digital world. It initiates a network of people who get connected with your brand.

Building a supportive community 

Become known in our community for our product/USP. Here brand loyalty plays a major role; our customers stick to our brand, despite premium charges from rivals/substitutes, as they want a certain experience and not just a product. Apple Air Pods are one such example. Another example is Starbucks. The aroma itself is the magnet to many. Apple also had creative marketing, which gets their consumers involved, like their #ShotOniPhone campaign. Similar campaigns helped other brands, too, like Coke, Pepsi, etc.

Customer feedback loop 

Ask for regular feedback and improve as per their customer suggestions. Let them know they care about them; they want the brand's attention to be heard.

Company newsletter 

 A consistent newsletter keeps their customers well informed about their product's upgraded features and keeps a connection with them by providing them with appropriate real-time knowledge about their schemes, offers, deals, and any discount policy or incentive program.

Sharing our values with our customers also enhances the brand image in their minds. According to a study by the Corporate Executive Board of 7,000 U.S. consumers who said they had a brand relationship, "64% cited shared values as the primary reason."

Amazon has been widely recognized for its leadership qualities on its website and the first principle of "Customer Obsession."

Customer education program and unique services 

Personalized communication has a deep impact at the subconscious level. Send them detailed programs and offers via emails as well as calls. Just calling at intervals to get in touch also creates a connection between brands and their customers.

The most successful brands are always simple. Coca-Cola hasn't changed its logo for decades. Social Proof creates a positive influence when someone new finds out that any other person is doing the same thing or buying the same product sorting out the same problem; they feel influenced to buy too. Brands can achieve social proof by sharing expert statistics from a credible source, celebrity endorsements, great user reviews or testimonials, the wisdom of the crowd as McDonald encashed with "Over 1 Million served," and the wisdom of our friends. 

Partnering with other brands and organizations to provide discount vouchers works in building our brand. People love free food vouchers or discounted product buys; they tend to buy even when they don't need them.

Conclusion

To build brand loyalty over a wide customer base, brands must pay attention to their regular customers' behaviors, habits, and attitudes and hook them to keep favoring repeated purchases even at premium prices. It's possible only when there's a high-quality product or that product has the edge over other products by providing something unique that other substitutes can't offer.

Businesses must have an appropriate reward policy that can magnetize the customer coming to it to develop brand loyalty. Brands must strategize lucrative offers, unique features, and marketing tactics to convert new shoppers into loyal customers.

Most buyers advocate brands that reinforce social challenges or are committed to higher causes. Brands that offered more transparency on manufacturing costs and hiring diversity received brand loyalty from about 94% of consumers.

Get in touch with our consultants at Cogent Infotech to dig deep into building brand loyalty. We will offer customized plans that have the potential to double site impressions and sales and generate massive results.