A loyal customer is the best customer. Customer loyalty is one of the most vital elements that the majority of the marketing, sales and promotional strategies revolve around. It is easier and more cost-effective to retain an existing customer than gain a new one. Customer loyalty has the power to drive everything from in-store visits, website traffic and social media followers. It is often the deciding factor between profit and loss for a company. While traditional methods of marketing and promotion are still effective, it’s online and social media marketing that get the best results when it comes to winning customer loyalty.
So how can businesses leverage the power of social media to build customer loyalty?
Everyone is connected through social media in this digital age. While it brings people closer, social media also helps businesses connect with their customers and gain their trust through the content they put on their social platforms. Although the primary purpose of social media is to engage and advertise, it can also be used to strengthen the relationship with existing customers and build customer loyalty. Here’s how:
- Listening & Responding
Many of your customers will use social media to talk, ask questions, compliment, and even complain about your brand. A business needs to listen to what its customers are saying on social media. Based on the information and insights gathered from this feedback, you can tailor your customer service to meet their expectations. You must also respond promptly to your customers and try to address their issues, so they can trust your brand to solve their problems. These are the first steps towards building customer loyalty through social media.
- Sharing Valuable Content
The quality of the content you put on your social platforms will persuade or dissuade your customers to follow you on social media. You must take out time to understand what kind of content your customers are consuming online and on social media, then develop something similar or better for your website and social profiles. Once customers start relying on you for valuable, high-quality content, they will not prefer to go elsewhere for it.
- Rewarding
Reward programs are a great way of earning customer loyalty, both online and offline. By conducting special contests and polls, as well as running special offers and promotions on social media for the most loyal customers or followers, you can show them that you’re willing to reward their loyalty. It will not only help them become more loyal to your business but will also keep them coming back to your social profiles for more.
- Sharing Positive Customer Feedback and UGC
When it comes to positive customer reviews, there is no gain in remaining bashful. Social media is the perfect platform to share charming customer reviews and impress new and existing customers with that feedback. They will compel potential customers to become customers and strengthen the trust of existing customers in your brand.
You can go one step further and even share UGC (User Generated Content) that promotes your business, product, or services. Since this content is generated by fellow users, it will help other customers trust your brand. The best way to find UGC is by encouraging your customers to use relevant hashtags when mentioning your brand on social media.
- Re-targeting
Re-targeting is an effective way of advertising to people who may have already shown interest online or on social media. The way to go about re-targeting is by building a custom audience that includes people who have shown interest in your ads and content before and then showing them a specific ad that offers them some incentive to take the desired action on the site. When customers get some incentive to choose your brand over others, they will ultimately become loyal to you.
Brand loyalty cannot be built overnight. It takes time and regular efforts to create. Social media marketing is one of the most cost-effective and efficient ways of building customer loyalty, which is often overlooked by many businesses. By showing that you care about their opinions and feelings, and delivering quality customer service accordingly, you can build customer loyalty through social media. You can contact us to find out how we can help leverage social media to earn customer loyalty.