Customer loyalty can be explained as consumers making repeated purchases from a brand and not preferring other competitors. Loyal customers increase sales, enable the brand to achieve a strong position, and most importantly, take on brand advocacy. At the same time, they possess a more tolerant attitude towards problems experienced with the brand. Today, every business, from giant brands to boutique stores, can reach its goals thanks to its loyal customers. So, how can you ensure customer loyalty?
There are a few different strategies you need to implement to ensure customer loyalty. Let's take a look at the best strategies!
What is Customer Loyalty?
Customer loyalty is when consumers repeatedly prefer and shop from a brand without being affected by pricing and availability issues. Loyal customers are willing to pay more money for brands they trust and establish positive communication with. For example, 91% of Apple users are loyal to the brand, which will ensure that this 91% portion prefers Apple again.
Let's consider customer loyalty with a different example. For instance, people who go 10 km away just because there is no Starbucks in their immediate vicinity are loyal customers of Starbucks. Well, what did giant brands do or not do while achieving this? How can loyal customers be found for small and medium-sized enterprises?
Customer loyalty is necessary for almost every business. From hairdressers to retail merchandising, from car washes to furniture, loyal customers are needed in every sector.
How to Ensure Customer Loyalty?
To ensure customer loyalty, you can use points and rewards systems; you can create your VIP customer base, carry out personalized marketing, or feature spend & win campaigns. But, of course, it is not limited to this. Here are the best customer loyalty programs:
Did you know that existing brand customers shop 64% more compared to new customers? Improving the customer portfolio is important, but the most crucial issue is retaining existing customers.
Points & Rewards System!
Points and rewards systems are among the most classic and effective methods for winning your customers over and creating loyal customers. The points system will raise the rate at which your customers prefer you during shopping.
Defining cards for your customers makes it easier to collect customer data. At the same time, you can announce campaigns and discounts to the right people. For example, supermarkets give cards to their customers and grant special discounts for the card. The customer who owns a card prefers the respective supermarket for more discounts.
For example, you can give 5 points for every 100 TL spent and offer a 5 TL discount for every 5 points. In this way, while your customers feel special and valued, they will shop more to earn points.
VIP Privileges
One of the best methods to retain your customers and keep them shopping is granting VIP privileges. For example, Trendyol introduces the Elite program for its customers who exceed a certain spending limit per year and provides free shipping opportunities on all orders. Similarly, Amazon Prime is the best example of winning loyal customers with VIP privileges.
VIP customers communicate more positively with you. At the same time, they achieve word-of-mouth marketing goals by talking about your brand to their families, immediate social circles, and friends.
For VIP privileges, you can create campaigns that only the respective customers can benefit from, and offer free delivery or same-day shipping options. Find the issues that customers complain about the most in the sector you serve and offer their solutions to your VIP customers.
Enable Your Customers to Invite New Customers!
84% of customers get recommendations/reviews from family, friends, and their immediate circle before preferring any brand. For example, do you pay more attention to a product review you read on the internet or to your friend's? It is very easy to integrate this into customer loyalty programs.
Enable your customers to recommend you and reward them. For example, define a 10% discount for every purchase made by people who become a member through the link connection specially created for your customer. In this way, while expanding the customer portfolio, you also encourage purchasing actions.
Customer Loyalty: Personalized Marketing!
Making customers feel important and valued will enable you to reach a loyal audience. For example, let's take THY (Turkish Airlines). THY offers advantages such as a personalized call center, a flight assistant feature, and earning discounts from collaboration brands that its Bol Bol members can benefit from. At the same time, it gives 2 points for every 1 TL spent via the mobile application.
THY is among the brands that use personalized marketing best to reach more customers. In this way, while transforming its customers into a loyal audience, it will increase its preference rate in the sector. Services tailored to the individual are always seen as more valuable by customers.
Strengthen Customer Services!
Even if you reach a wide audience with customer loyalty programs, you might not achieve the successes you want due to a customer service that does not perform well. For this reason, you need to offer solution proposals by listening to your customers before and after shopping. Solving customers' problems ensures that they prefer you again in their next shopping.
73% of consumers state that they will not prefer the same brand due to poor customer service. So, what should you do?
You should create a multi-faceted communication program with your customers via social media, websites, chatbots, etc. At the same time, you need to maintain strong communication in your physical store as well. Offering ease in return and exchange issues can enable customers to recommend you to their other friends.
Give Importance to Customers' Feedback!
Receiving feedback from customers is the shortest way to learn the strengths and weaknesses of your brand. However, if you do not have the feedback you want, you need to encourage customers. For example, grant a 5% discount for consumers who report their satisfaction or complaint by communicating with you via areas like the website, physical store, social media, etc., or by answering surveys.
Affordable prices and discounts maintain their validity all over the world. However, especially in Turkey, the concepts of affordable prices and discounts are the biggest shopping motivation for consumers. For this reason, organize discount campaigns for your products within your budget and financial situation.
Why is Customer Loyalty Important?
Customer loyalty directly increases trust in the brand and sales. At the same time, your customers turn into brand advocates. For example, someone who uses a Hyundai model car constantly praises Hyundai to their circle and holds a defensive view against bad reviews. This person is among Hyundai's most loyal customer base.
According to conducted research, 47% of people who have a bad experience with a brand tell at least 10 people about the experience they had. For this reason, you need to take care to establish a good and strong communication with your every customer. Otherwise, you might have a bad reputation spread by word of mouth.
While customer loyalty enables you to grow your business multi-facetedly, it also offers numerous advantages:
- Consumers continue to act understandingly and tolerantly despite negative experiences lived with the brand,
- Their rates of preferring competitor firms are very low,
- They report positive opinions about your brand to family, friends, and their immediate circle,
- They are excited about trying new products,
- They increase brand reputation.
Research states that if the customer retention rate increases by 5%, it will provide profits in the range of 20% – 80%. Winning a customer over is more advantageous than acquiring two new customers.