Brand Loyalty’s Role in
Your Marketing Efforts
Family, religious beliefs, political opinions?
Yep, those all make sense. After all, they are incredibly important to us.
When people get into heated discussions about car companies, carbonated beverages, and pizza chains, however, the rationale might not be as clear.
Here’s a secret, though:
It all comes down to the same thing – we are all social beings.
If you happen to know a bit about that, it’s easier to see why anyone would get amped up over a sports team he or she isn’t on (and doesn’t personally know anyone else who is).
Now, imagine for a second someone being that passionate about your product or service.
This passionate customer is going to be your best salesperson, and you don’t even have to increase your payroll.
Building Brand Loyalty Through Your Marketing
If we start with the definition of brand loyalty—“a consumer’s tendency to consistently purchase one company’s products or services instead of those offered by other companies”—we can already see a major benefit in the fact you know you have customers who will continually choose your business.
When customers repeatedly choose your company, they tend—at least to a certain point—to look past changes in price or convenience.
This gives you confidence to make certain changes, provided you are not altering the features that inspire customer loyalty.
Now, a classic example of “how not to do this” happened in the 1980s, when Coca-Cola introduced “New Coke.”
Having seen a rise in people choosing Pepsi in blindfolded marketing tests, Coca-Cola made the misguided decision to alter their own formula to taste more like their rival’s. (In all fairness, hindsight is 20/20.)
Pepsi has a sweeter taste than Coke traditionally had, so New Coke was created accordingly. This backfired greatly, since most Coke drinkers preferred the less-sweet flavor of their favorite drink.
As long as you are not making a giant misstep like Coke did, having brand loyalty will enable you to make changes and try new things, without worrying too much about losing business.
An even bigger benefit for your company is when loyal customers turn into advocates and unofficial brand ambassadors!
If you keep your core customers satisfied with consistent, positive experiences, they become your company’s biggest cheerleaders.
Your customer base grows as they spread brand awareness and refer new customers to your company.
This type of advertising doesn’t cost you a thing, but can be remarkably effective.
According to a survey by Nielsen—a leading consumer information collection and measurement company—92% of shoppers trusted word-of-mouth recommendations from their friends and family over any other source of advertising.
Further, research has concluded that “friends referring friends” is such a powerful factor that it is the only type of marketing where potential customers skip research and jump into an outright purchase of a product or service.
Having a loyal customer base will help your business push past the competition and give it the competitive advantage you need to succeed in the marketplace.
How to Generate Brand Loyalty with Your Marketing
You need to make this part of your overall marketing strategy.
How can you do this? Well, there are several ways, including:
Use your website’s blog
When you are creating content for your posts, make sure the information will capture the reader’s attention.
You may be interested in knowing that customers who are presented with new and interesting material are 32% more likely to make a purchase.
There’s more to your blog than just words, though. (At least, there should be!)
With every post, you should include pictures and/or graphics. Professional-looking pictures that depict the post’s topic or your products and services convey the message of what your company is all about.
Use your social media accounts
Instead, you need to have a deliberate, strategic social media marketing plan.
Connecting your posts and tweets to your website is huge.
Use email marketing
Using a marketing database management system (MDMS), you can create targeted email campaigns and blasts to provide valuable information to your customers.
Use a customer loyalty program
Now, no matter whether you have an existing program or need to create one, make sure you promote it as part of your marketing plan.
See, your marketing efforts can be remarkably effective, but customers have certain expectations when they hand over their hard-earned money to any company.
If you consistently meet their expectations, you generate trust – a necessary component for loyalty.
Consumer behavior patterns show that customers continually buy products from companies that foster trusting relationships.
Building Customer Loyalty Must be a Priority
Instead, keep the customers you already have happy so they keep returning and telling others about your company!
This strategy is essential to your company’s long-term viability and success. It cuts down acquisition costs and generates a strong revenue stream from your existing customer base.
As we noted earlier, positive word-of-mouth referrals are invaluable.
Focusing on your brand’s credibility leads to lifelong customers who will champion your company, which is one of the most powerful forms of advertising.
You can help spark this through your marketing efforts, but it will take time and energy.
Your time and energy are both finite, so you may want to consider outsourcing your marketing. After all, working with an experienced agency allows you to focus on providing the best possible experience for your customers – your future brand ambassadors.
Branding is the reason millions upon millions of people choose to spend so much money buying a coffee—which only costs pennies per serving—from Starbucks.
Make branding work for you as part of your marketing plan.
Not sure where to get started?
Call CP Solutions today for a free consultation.
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