The goal for any business in a competitive marketplace is to grow a loyal customer base that actively engages with your brand. we want to explore the 5 steps to securing top-of-mind brand loyalty.
A digital marketing plan will provide a foundation to turn customers who make infrequent purchases into devoted fans who keep on buying.
Here is a five-step strategy to achieving better brand loyalty:
Get to Know Your Customer Better
Online research and competitor analysis will help you understand your target audience better. Being aware of their needs and challenges will mean you are ready to engage with them on a more meaningful level.
It’s a pretty simple concept, no matter what industry you’re in: the more you know about your customers, the better you can serve them.
If you sell shoes and bags, understanding what is most important to people who like shoes and bag is key to the success of your business.
Do the customers in your area care more about getting a shoe and bag for cheap, or are they willing to pay a little extra for high quality brands? Are they interested in a purse option or do they prefer slippers?
Whether you sell shoes or digital marketing solutions, every little detail you can learn about your customers is an asset to your business.
Prepare Your Story
Uncovering where your customers hang out online will help you determine the business voice to adopt, what content is most popular and which social media channels your customers are most likely to engage with you on.
Your brand’s story isn’t about you, it’s about your customers. That’s not to say you can’t have a unique brand with its own culture and story that stands out from the crowd. But at the end of the day you have to be absolutely certain whatever you’re saying resonates with a group of people, which means your story depends on your audience.
Find out where your most loyal followers hang out online, tailor your story to whatever channel you’ll be presenting it on, and set it free to engage with people they way they want to be engaged.
Personalize, Personalize, Personalize
You can use email, social media and customized landing pages to personalize your customers buying cycle. The goal is to make your customer feel important by delivering relevant and rewarding personalized messages.
In 2016, you just can’t get away with casting a wide net and hoping for the best. That’s lazy marketing and it won’t work. You won’t, for example, get successful results by targeting 18-36 year-old females with a given campaign, because that group is still incredibly diverse. These days, you need to personalize your marketing messages on a more granular level.
Emails, landing pages and social media ads should be aimed at specific groups of people who will gain real value from engaging with your marketing. And the more value you provide, the more likely you are to attract a loyal group of followers.
Quality and Consistency
Good content is still king.
Whether its deals, vouchers, whitepapers or webinars, work to develop a content marketing plan that consistently over delivers for your customers. The more you can add value with outstanding content, the more likely you will stay top of mind.
Lost in the daily clamor for content is the real reason we need to create content in the first place: to build value, thought leadership and trust in order to attract an audience.
If you find yourself creating content just to create content, you’re likely working without a purpose – and that’s no good. Great content still wields so much power, so whether its blogs, whitepapers or product demos, make sure you have a goal in mind before you start.
Encourage Feedback
Remember, it’s a conversation which includes listening.
Use online alerts to know where your brand is mentioned then be prepared to connect, listen, respond and most importantly show appreciation.
As we’ve talked about, marketing is a two way street. It’s a conversation, not a speech, which means you need to be listening to, and encouraging feedback from, your audience.
If you’re able to master the skill of listening – easier said than done in life and in marketing – your audience will tell you everything you need to know about your brand and its products and services.
Carrying out these five steps plan using a combination of web research, a mobile ready blog, email, social media and customized landing pages will make you stand out from the crowd and ultimately realize an increase in repeat business.
