how to build customer loyalty with digital marketing?

If your goal is to generate more demand for your products and services and, consequently, increase your revenue, a key element of your strategy must be to build customer loyalty.

It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the more traffic and customers you attract, the more opportunities for your business to grow. And, while this is partially true, you can also achieve your goals by building customer loyalty with your existing customers. In fact, it is more costly to attract new users than to keep the ones you have already acquired.

By nurturing your regular customers, you will have a more lasting impact on your performance. That's what building loyalty is all about, and you can also do it through digital marketing. Join us and we'll tell you how!

why is loyalty important?

Loyalty is a complementary strategy that, instead of seeking to convert prospects into customers, focuses on retaining existing customers. Within the cycle of inbound marketing methodology, loyalty would fall into the delight phase. If you reach this phase, you will have added enough value to your user's experience to cement a personal relationship. To do this, exceed your customer's expectations and deliver on your promises.

The happier a customer is with your products and services, the more likely they are to recommend them to the people around them, expanding your network of contacts. In addition, users who come to you through such recommendations are likely to be of higher quality. In other words, in most cases they will be more interested in what you can offer them than anyone who comes to you through other channels. Therefore, another benefit of loyalty building is that it allows you to build your brand's reputation.

Strategies to build customer loyalty

Here are some digital marketing loyalty tools that you can implement as part of your business strategy:

1. Prioritise customer satisfaction

   although we have already mentioned that it is easier to make a sale to an existing customer than to a new one, it is important to keep striving to satisfy their needs in order to achieve this. To gain insights into their experience, you can use tools such as customer satisfaction surveys. These open the door to possible changes you can implement in your product or service to improve it and build customer loyalty, which will result in subsequent purchases.
   
   Another possibility is to use other types of surveys or forms to directly ask the user what they think you could improve. In both cases, in addition to obtaining information that will be useful when developing your future marketing strategies, you will also improve the customer's perception of your brand. You will make the customer feel valued and listened to, which will strengthen the relationship they have with your company.
   
   

2. establish regular communication

   To forge a relationship with the customer, there has to be a flow of communication. This is where conversational marketing strategies come into play. These comprise a set of techniques that allow you to communicate directly with customers to generate opportunities.

   In this way, you make the customer feel that they are having a conversation with your brand, making them feel close and even human, especially if their interactions with you add value. If you limit yourself to contacting your customer when they have directly expressed a desire to make a purchase, you will be missing sales opportunities and cultivating a superficial relationship with them.

   While users are the ones who decide how to interact with you, you can generate stimuli that attract their attention and remind them that you are still there, that your services are available to them. By doing so, you avoid disappearing from their minds. If you allow your relationship with the customer to cool down, you will fade into the background and they will not consider you when they have a problem or need.

   You need to deliver your content in a consistent, relationship-focused way, operating in the channels that best suit each customer's preferences. Multi-channel is another factor to consider, as they will not always opt for the same channels. While some customers will prefer messaging channels, others will opt for more traditional formats such as telephone customer service or email marketing.

   However, make sure that these stimuli, whether in the form of any type of content or advertising, arrive at the right time. Otherwise, you risk saturating the user and creating a bad feeling about your company. Also, don't limit yourself to just sending them your new offers, as the customer could perceive your company as too interested and feel that you are forgetting about their needs.

3. Boost your social media

   Your social media presence can also help you build customer loyalty. As with conversational marketing, these platforms allow you to generate a dialogue with your customers, which in most cases materialises in the form of followers. Social media are listening channels. Whether your loyalty strategy works depends on how much effort you put into getting to know your customer, because only then will you be able to add value.

   With social media you can monitor the conversation around your brand. You can see what your customers are saying about your industry or about your own services and products, interact with them and show them that you care about their vision. In this way, you will also encourage them to comment on their experience on social media, increasing your exposure.

4. Special promotions

   Although offers can't be the only element in your loyalty strategy, they can help you drive sales. Offering your products and services at special prices will encourage them to buy. You can also link these offers to specific events or days, especially if they fit with your brand.

   Your customers' loyalty deserves to be nurtured, and by involving them in prize draws, discounts, invitations to events, unexpected gifts and personalised offers, you will make them feel valued by your company.

   Another useful format for your promotions to lead to action by the customer is to cross-sell them. Cross-selling involves encouraging your customer to buy a product related to the ones they have previously purchased. And if you add an offer to this personalised selling technique, your success is assured.

As we have seen, the benefits that customer loyalty can bring to your company are multiple. We leave at your disposal some strategies that can help you to achieve them. Customer loyalty has already made its place in the world of digital marketing. Now, it is your turn to decide if it also has a place in your own strategy. We encourage you to put it into practice!