In this post, we’re going to examine 3 strategies for brand loyalty that work together to strengthen your brand and help build a loyal following.
Using these strategies, maintaining and enhancing brand loyalty will become second nature to how you run your business, and will genuinely reflect your brand’s purpose.
If you’re ready to learn the strategic benefits of brand loyalty and how to put these ideas into practice, this post is for you.
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How do you build brand loyalty?
Before we jump into building brand loyalty, we need to first understand what makes someone loyal to a particular brand.
Customers become loyal when a brand delivers consistent results. They know what to expect.
They are also drawn to brands that have an authentic personality and a coherent brand identity. They are repelled by messaging that seems fake or shallow.
Some people are drawn to the sense of community; of being ‘in the know’.
Understanding what makes someone loyal to a specific brand will teach you how to increase customer loyalty online.
What are the benefits of brand loyalty?
Now that we see what makes someone ‘brand loyal’, the benefits of that loyalty start to become clear.
When customers are loyal to your brand, they will provide you with consistent traffic, sales, etc.
A customer you keep is one customer you don’t have to find.
They will also become ambassadors for your business and spread your message within their circle of influence.
You can even receive honest, valuable feedback to help shape the direction and growth of your business.
With this awareness, the answer to how to maintain customer loyalty becomes obvious.
In the second half of this post, we’re going to cover several customer loyalty strategy examples you can implement in your business.
3 Genuine Strategies For Brand Loyalty
Brand loyalty is built from the ground up. These 3 strategies provide an all-encompassing framework for maintaining and enhancing brand loyalty.
1. Be Loyal To Yourself
Before you can earn loyalty from your customers, you have to be loyal to yourself. To be trusted you need to be trustworthy.
This first strategy is all about having a clear mission and purpose for your business. What are you selling, and to whom?
Often, it’s not just a product or service you provide, it’s a feeling and an experience. That feeling or experience is what cultivates brand loyalty.
After gaining clarity on what (specifically) you provide, it’s important to define your ideal customer.
Narrowing your focus to your target market saves you time and money, and also avoids wasting the time of anyone who isn’t your ideal customer.
Go ahead and invest the time in writing a catchy headline, but make sure you’re putting it in front of the right person.
It’s much easier to close the deal with someone in the market for your product or service than trying to educate and convince someone who isn’t.
Unique positioning and proper targeting with an authentic voice is the strategy for success.
The next strategy to master is customer service. Loyalty has a price, and needs to be reciprocal.
2. Be Loyal To Your Customers
The first step towards brand loyalty starts with choosing the right customers. When your brand messaging is accurate, this helps filter through the low & high value customers.
Good communication and transparency let you tell the market what kind of customers you are looking for. High value customers believe in your mission, aren’t price sensitive, and want to be part of your community.
It’s important to see beyond the dollar value of each individual sale. One sale to a high value customer is worth countless sales to low value customers. And then, you need to keep those high value customers happy.
The easiest way to lose customers is to stop caring once the sale is made. Keeping existing customers happy can lead to future sales and/or positive feedback that helps convince others that you are trustworthy.
And how many times have you purchased a service, only to see it later discounted for ‘new customers only’. Existing customers should be treated the same, if not better.
Designing a pricing and marketing structure that attracts new buyers without alienating your existing clients is no easy task, but the payoff is priceless.
3. Commit To Growth
With a distinct brand identity and excellent customer service, the only thing left to tackle is your growth strategy.
To be clear, this isn’t about growing your audience or market share. It’s about the Kaizen principle.
When you commit to growth, you are committing to continuous improvement. If your business isn’t developing and improving, it is declining.
This strategy puts the focus on the long term viability of your brand. Times change, technology changes, and people change.
If your business isn’t changing, it’s slowly becoming obsolete.
Regularly update and improve your website as the design trends change, revisit your security measures to protect what you’ve built, and never stop looking for new ways to promote your business.
And your business growth stems from personal growth. As you grow, you’ll build better systems and create schedules for productivity, and find creative outlets that help expand your vision.
When you embrace the Kaizen principle, you accept that there is no end point. There is always room to improve.
And that’s how you create brand loyalty; by creating an exceptional brand.
Final Thoughts
There are many different strategies for brand loyalty, but remember, it’s not about manipulation or deception.
Think about the things that cause you to be ‘brand loyal’. Qualities like authenticity, transparency, and great communication.
Build these qualities into your brand’s mission & customer service, and then commit to continual growth and improvement.
These qualities will make you unstoppable.
What about you?
What are some of your tips for building a loyal following?
Let us know by leaving a comment below.
