Business Benefits
Encourage customers to keep using your product.
Educate your team about the value of customer loyalty by explaining the four key pillars and their benefits to the brand.
The four key pillars of product loyalty manifest in the form of:
- Increasing profits: The cost of attracting a new customer is, on average, five times greater than the cost of retaining an existing customer.
- Creating credibility: In the digital age, a harsh review can be the death of a product if there’s no one around to refute it.
- Developing product recognition: One of the strongest factors your product can have going for it is recognizability, and consumer loyalty is the direct connection to attaining it.
- Cushioning for conflict: When issues arise, having a loyal consumer base keeps your business operating and further boosts the image of your product.
Create a trustworthy and reliable image for your product.
If you have a well publicized, personable, and timely image in the public eye regarding how you interact with your customers, it solidifies your credibility. If people see that you’re reasonable and respectful with customers, it’s a big reason to consider buying your product over competitors who may not offer the same customer service. For example:
- Zappos, one of the most popular online clothing retailers, has become respected due to the care and respect shown in reaching out to customers who complain on social media.
- Fast food chains like Wendy’s and Denny’s have found new communities and angles to promote themselves to younger audiences through their humorous social media engagements.
Enact loyalty based programs with longer lifespans than flash sales, such as point systems, to keep your customers returning.
While flash sales and good deals may be effective ways of attracting new, one-time customers, it’s not a model for retaining customers and keeping them loyal to your product. Customers aren’t always wanting a discount alone. To grow loyal to a product, they have to feel included and like they retain their sense of personalization. Some ways to achieve this include:
- Point systems, where each purchase is rewarded with points, and the customer has a list of rewards they could possibly redeem with them.
- Membership systems with perks for online shopping such as free shipping or bonus checkout items.
- Multi-purchase collection systems that incentivize repeated purchases. For example, PepsiCo has a PepCoin crypto system in which the combined purchase of Pepsi drinks and Frito-Lay snacks reward customers with PepCoin which can be converted into cash back through Venmo or Paypal.
Strive to show customers a reciprocate loyalty, for example, through rewarded surveys, loyalty programs, and coupons for repeated purchases.
Maintain a thorough understanding of the market and what your competition is offering, along with consumer perception of your competition’s shortcomings so that you can appeal as the thoughtful, caring product of your niche.
Nurture an online community for your product using relevant social media tactics, engaging content, and support.
Growing a community for your product is an effective way to cushion for conflict and create credibility. With relatable social media endeavors, a unique website, funny videos, influencer collaboration, and memorable hashtags, fostering an internet community can be a powerful tool to maintain advocacy and relation for your product.
If you can prove that your product is worthy of being adopted into someone’s lifestyle, it helps attain and maintain the loyalty of your customers. With an online presence that shows human connection with an emphasis on supporting the community your product has created instead of just selling units, it shows that your loyalty lies vested in the customer and not their purchases.
Host giveaways and events to prove your willingness to give back to your newfound community.
Giveaways, especially ones that involve reposting your product online, serve the dual purpose of free advertising to people who may not know of your product along with keeping your community engaged. Plus, seeing how many entrants a giveaway has shows how many people are loyal enough to your product to compete for it. If you host giveaways frequently, new and old customers will keep loyally engaging for a chance at your product.
Virtual events also work well instead of or in conjunction with giveaways, as they’re venues for your loyal community to spotlight itself and your products. If your product acts as an omnipresent sponsorship logo, you can be publicized through many events, for example:
- Musical performances: For example, Boyz II Men making a jingle and video for Daily Harvest’s plant-based ice cream.
- Skits and sketches: For example, Bang Energy appearing in TikTok skits.
- Sporting events.
- Gaming livestreams or tournaments.
- Influencer engagement: For example, TikTok dances, Twitter memes, Twitch talk shows.
Last edited by @hesh_fekry 2023-11-14T11:07:59Z