Brand loyalty is what drives a massive following for a particular product or service. It is why customers choose one brand over thousands within the market. Brand ambassadors are the driving force that spread the word about an incredible product, customer service, or purchase experience that can go viral on social media. 

According to a survey by Yotpo, the findings show that, out of more than 2,000 consumers, 90 percent of them identified themselves as being more brand-loyal than a year ago. 

Additionally, 80 percent of these consumers claimed that it took a minimum of three purchases to identify themselves as loyal customers. 

Brand Loyalty Defined 

So what is brand loyalty, exactly? Brand loyalty occurs when customers have a strong preference for a particular brand over its competitors that offer similar offerings. These customers do not need to be swayed by slick marketing tactics or advertising because they have already made up their minds that they enjoy a certain product or service. 

Brand loyalty can be created when businesses offer exceptional promotions, sales, and even outstanding customer service. Potential customers have also expressed greater interest in coming into the fold of a brand if there is a customer loyalty program with “exclusive discounts” on offer. 

Creating Brand Loyalty

There is no question that creating brand loyalty that lasts will ensure that your customers are wowed and will keep coming back for more. Some marketing tactics used by companies to create brand loyalty include having reward programs, offering superior customer service, building a solid community, and having a unique and compelling brand story.

Let’s do a deep dive into what builds brand loyalty and how you can foster that in a way that will last for years to come. 

Offer Exceptional Customer Service

Customer service plays a pivotal role that determining whether or not your customer becomes a repeat, loyal customer. 

With the rise of social media use by companies and businesses, many inquiries and comments flood these platforms with customers offering questions and complaints.

Instead of allowing such feedback to sink into a massive void, a company must consider hiring a team of professionals or even one person to address these questions and concerns on the social media platform. The key is to address these issues promptly. You can also implement one of many social media platform solutions to better organize your incoming comments.

But it doesn’t end there. Since social media is considered “public-facing”, how you address these customers publicly is critical. Social media managers and customer service personnel must ensure they interact with these customers with great “poise” and professionalism. Any rude or snarky responses could go viral and place your reputation in a heap of trouble.

Don’t overlook customer comments where they are simply mentioning your product or service. Responding to these comments will reward you with the opportunity to build your brand loyalty.

Develop Your Brand Story

There has been much talk in recent years about defining a company’s “Why”. Why does your company exist? What is its purpose? What does it want to do in the world? How does it want to show up every day?

All these questions must be answered in every aspect of doing business, from your company’s “About” page right up to the various social media platforms it resides in. The end result is making an impact with your message, using your product as the primary vehicle to communicate it. The message can be to inspire, engage, and even entertain.

By communicating a compelling story, your message will resonate with the right people, drawing them in, and ultimately creating a community where each customer knows they belong, their own tribe. 

Feature Rewards Programs

One of the best ways to rouse your audience to come back to your website is to create a rewards program. These programs are wildly successful at encouraging customers to come back and shop at your store by incorporating coupons or discounts. 

“Repeat customers” benefit as they receive extra perks to motivate them to purchase from you again. By making the purchase as simple and seamless as possible, you offer a more enhanced shopping experience for your customers. Adding perks to reward them for shopping is the icing on the cake. 

The Magic Of Social Media

One thing to remember is that you cannot simply open a social media account, plop a few inspiring quotes and call it a day. There must be a “social media marketing strategy” that has real goals in mind. 

An effective social media marketing strategy will include growing your brand awareness, providing better customer experiences, and having higher conversion rates. It’s not enough to post the launch of your new product. You want to prove financial results with these posts. 

The key is to drive customers to invest their time and money in your “brand story”. Keep them engaged with your overall purpose, your products, and your philosophy. Social media is the perfect place to communicate that through creative content that will captivate them.

By continuing to develop your social media influence with content that relates to your target audience, you are building your brand loyalty.

Your Mission: To Build Brand Loyalty

By building your brand loyalty, you are gathering up long-term ambassadors to support your business. By building your loyal customers, you have the opportunity to grow your customer base as they spread the word about your product to their friends and family. This will facilitate the support for your future launches and spread your brand across social media. 

Stay connected to customers and followers on social media so that you discover more about what makes them tick and what they want to see in your future products and offerings. 

Ultimately, building brand loyalty is about tapping into your customers’ needs and creating a shopping experience that will dazzle them, enticing them to keep them coming back.