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Loyal customers are the cornerstone of any successful brand. They stick by a business through thick and thin and support its products or services above all others in the industry.
Having this dedicated, repeat customer can be a stepping stone toward increased brand recognition and an increase in profits. However, it takes dedication and effort to convert a casual buyer into someone who sticks by your company for life.
To help, a panel of experts from Rolling Stone Culture Council recommend some effective ways any business can turn everyday customers into brand loyalists.
Answer the Phone
Your customers want to speak to you, not leave a message on a machine, talk to a machine or press the phone keypad 10 times only to end up leaving a message. The money that a company thinks they are saving by having a computer receptionist can be connected to the number of lost sales. Your customers want to speak to you. Answer the phone! – Thomas Bresadola, Simplified Entertainment
Produce Consistent, High-Quality Products
Brand loyalty can be an identity marker for customers and a way for them to feel included in a particular community. Businesses can foster brand loyalty through consistent, high-quality products and services that align with customers’ values and interests. By creating polarizing products and messages, businesses create an “us/them” framing that cultivates loyalty through inclusion and exclusion. – Cody Jefferson, Embrace The Lion
Act With Integrity
Brand loyalty is fostered by brand integrity. When a company clearly lives its values out loud and the people in leadership act with integrity, it attracts similar clientele who will be loyal to your business. Be authentic and personal, which involves connecting with your audience in a transparent and real way. – Victoria Kennedy, Marisa Johnson
Involve Customers With Your Brand
Get customers involved in your community, whether through posts or contests on social media. Ask for their input and have great customer service and support. Lastly, make sure your product and branding speak for themselves. – Karina Michel Feld, Tallulah Films
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Treat Customers Like Family
In order to turn everyday customers into brand loyalists, you need to make your customers feel like they are part of your family. Treat them like they are incredibly special and tell them how much you value them. Constantly tell them why they can trust your product or service. Provide genuine, personal support. Last but not least, create a product or service that is worth being loyal to. – Maureen Smithey, CastleWare Baby
Recognize and Reward Customers
There needs to be a reason why customers are loyal to you, so what are you doing to make customers want to return? How do you reward their loyalty? Do you offer discount codes, a freebie once they reach x amount of purchases or even a shoutout on your socials to recognize their continued support? It does not matter how you recognize and reward your customers, only that you do. – Theo Sastre-Garau, NFTevening
Provide Great Customer Support
Work incessantly to bring value to your customers and provide incredible support. This means putting your customers at the center of your decision-making processes and elevating their needs up the priority stack. It also means investing in customer success as a core function of your business, not just as a box to check. High value plus amazing support equals brand loyalists. – Dan Giuliani, Volt Athletics
Be Intentional and Real With Customers
Loyalty shouldn’t be bought. They have trusted you enough to make an investment. Let them know you understand and appreciate their individual needs with your content, sharing the how and why of other products from which they will benefit. Addressing their needs in as many ways as possible creates deeper engagement and a loyal repeat customer. – Michael Klein, cannabisMD
Build Consistent Touchpoints
Repeat customers are an essential key to your brand’s success and can make a lasting impact. They stand by your business, even during your lows, and are the voices and opinions that matter and influence the most. Transform them into loyalists by building a relationship through creating consistent interaction touchpoints, investing in new tools to incentivize them and personalizing their customer experience. – Mike Weinberger, Unity Rd.
Be the Best in Your Industry
Provide a product that is better, faster, cheaper and with the best service in the industry and your customers will be brand loyalists — and might even be your greatest referrals. – Adam Rumanek, Aux Mode Inc.
Communicate Regularly
Communication and follow-through are key. It’s essential that your clients know you’re listening to them. Make sure you have open and accessible lines of communication, whether that means shared workflows, regular check-ins or just responding to emails promptly. That communication needs to be paired with follow-through on both ends too. – Evan Nison, NisonCo
