Customer Loyalty: Ways to Achieve It

     Raising customer loyalty — the most valuable resource in any business, because with a large base of loyal customers a company can spend less on attracting them. Loyal customers provide free and extremely effective advertising by recommending you to their friends and acquaintances. And effective advertising secures a stable position in the market.

     Many marketers put a lot of effort into turning ordinary customers into loyal ones and keeping their loyalty high in every way they can. Which tools can help increase the number of loyal customers?

Why does customer loyalty matter for business?

      A marketer's goal goes beyond getting a customer to buy a product or service once: far more important is winning their trust and creating a positive image of the company that brings good associations to customers' minds. That is exactly the loyalty we are after. Customer loyalty brings considerable benefit to business development, and this benefit comes in two forms:

1. Higher sales volume

Loyal customers buy from their chosen company much more often and tend to use its products again and again. They are drawn by the quality of the goods, the pricing policy and the favorable image of the company that has formed in their minds.

2. A favorable image

This factor is indirect, yet it also brings benefit from loyal customers, who spread word of their good shopping experience widely among family, friends and acquaintances. They may do it by word of mouth or in social media comments, and either way they get the message across, providing free advertising and contributing to the company's overall positive image. 

     Loyal customers are profitable and convenient for any company, because:

• a loyal customer stays with the company because they like it and its products, they feel comfortable and pleased dealing with it, and they will keep their loyalty even when a competitor offers a lower price;
  
  
• they are receptive to new offers and products, trust their company without reservation and have no doubts about the quality of new items or the seller's honesty;
  
  
• they actively promote a brand's products by word of mouth, and this kind of advertising is far more effective than the official kind, because potential customers trust it more: loyal buyers gain nothing materially from spreading their praise;
  
  
• occasional price increases neither scare them nor turn them away from buying their favorite brand. 

Ways to increase loyalty

     To win more of these devoted customers, who provide free advertising and help grow profit through higher sales, you need to take care of increasing their number and raising their loyalty. There are several effective methods for this:

1.Using the omnichannel principle,   

 The idea is to build a successful system of communication with consumers in which the communication channels are connected to each other. For example, when you buy something from an online store, you communicate through several channels at once — the app or website where you chose the product, the social networks where you asked the manager about the product's features, price, payment and delivery options, and finally the physical store, if your order was sent there for pickup. All of them are linked and complement each other, giving the information you need and building an attractive image of the company.

2. Financial motivation

Loyalty can be raised quite successfully with discount and bonus cards, which are very effective tools that consistently deliver stable results:

• discounts — general or personalized, offered only to regular customers who have spent a certain amount on purchases. The key here is to balance the benefit for the buyer and the seller;
  
  
• reward gifts — offering an inexpensive yet useful and needed extra with a purchase, which helps create positive emotions in the customer;
  
  
• a cumulative bonus program, where for purchases above a certain amount the customer receives reward points that can be spent on the next purchase;
  
  
• contests and giveaways, which stimulate buyer activity and motivate people to make new purchases in your store specifically;
  
  
• content marketing — a very useful tool for raising the loyalty of your target audience. You can move away from overt advertising and replace it with interesting, useful articles with important information about your products and brand. This way you will earn buyers' trust faster and become recognizable in the market.

Marketing research shows that two thirds of consumers improve their attitude toward a brand when they get to read informative content that interests them. Content marketing can be delivered through social networks or the corporate blog of the company offering the products or services. There you can describe in detail how the products are made, share production secrets and interesting details, post a step-by-step guide or educational material. This openness appeals to buyers and increases their loyalty to the brand.

3. Personal approach

Personalized communication also helps raise loyalty, because buyers like it when they are recognized and addressed by name, when their tastes and preferences are known and they receive useful advice that takes them into account. This tool is used in communication by email, messages and phone calls. We recommend taking the following into account:

• the customer's first and last name — a great help in building rapport;
  
  
• gender and age — men and women are interested in different product categories and their needs differ significantly, just as they do for buyers of different ages — young people, the middle-aged and older people;
  
  
• location - the customer's city and neighborhood;
  
  
• preferences — identified individually thanks to an attentive manager. 

Personalizing communication with customers wins them over and gives them a sense of being special and recognized, which helps raise loyalty.

4. Showing social value

By showing the brand's social engagement, you can raise audience loyalty. Show consumers that alongside growing your profit you work to make society as a whole better. Social engagement can take different forms close to your field of business. It can be caring for the environment, helping children or animals, supporting people with disabilities, cleaning up the environment and other important social issues.

Higher customer loyalty has a positive effect on business profitability, brand awareness and earning strong consumer trust.