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What Makes Customer Loyalty So Important?

on October 16 at 10:24 AM
Attracting customers is one of the hardest parts of running a business; keeping them is even more challenging. Providing good customer service is important, but that’s not enough anymore. So, how can a small business or startup even hope to stand out? By winning loyal customers, of course. What is customer loyalty? Customer loyalty is a consumer’s willingness and desire to repeatedly buy a product or use a service from a company they have had outstanding experiences with. Customer loyalty is the relationship satisfied customers have with the business establishments they frequent. It can also extend to occasional repeat customers  for example, a customer who always visits a particular ice cream shop when he visits his mother every month. What is the difference between customer loyalty and brand loyalty? Both types of loyalty are crucial for developing and maintaining good relationships with consumers. Whereas customer loyalty is a measure of how likely a customer is to repeatedly spend money on a product or service that a business offers, brand loyalty is a measure of overall trust in that brand.

These definitions may seem synonymous, however, brand loyalty measures the likelihood that repeat customers who have regularly purchased goods from your company will try other products from your company before turning to your competitors.

What drives loyalty to a brand?

An American Marketing Association study found that four factors drive brand loyalty:

  • Dependability. When customers learn they can depend on your company products and services they need, they are more likely to return to your business first before considering others.
  • Emotional connection. A company that forms a meaningful bond with a customer, whether by sharing a founding story to which a customer can relate or through another method, can achieve widespread customer satisfaction among its buyers.
  • Superiority. If your brand can demonstrate superiority over competing products, customers may be hesitant to buy from other companies.
  • Social media presence. Companies with a strong social media presence can further build a loyal customer base. Social media affords you a chance to share your company’s story and show what you do and how you do it better than others. You can learn how to harness the power of an online community to increase the number of customers you have and grow your business. Customer loyalty goes beyond ensuring that a customer is satisfied with the services or products your business offers. The ideal end goal is to turn a customer into a brand advocate. There are four reasons why increasing customer loyalty is imperative for any business or startup. Visit here if you want to know how to get good quality customer.
 
 
1Loyal customers spread the word about your company. Loyal customers believe in your company, and they’re not shy about sharing their positive feedback with others. Here’s an example of word-of-mouth marketing: My mother used to go to the farmer’s market on weekends. A friend of hers sold his produce there. She would buy a few things, and he would give her free fruits and vegetables, as well as honey and preserves each week. I remember thinking, “How is this a good idea for the seller? He’s giving his items away for free every week.”

What I didn’t realize, however, was that she would cut his hair at no charge every week and rave about his watermelons, apple butter, and Pink Girl tomatoes to her other beauty salon clients. My mother was a loyal customer of his, and she showed her loyalty by promoting his products to her clients. He, in turn, was a loyal customer of my mother, never going to another barber or stylist for his haircut. The two established a mutually beneficial loyalty strategy – both for their personal needs and businesses. [Read related article: Baked to Perfection: The Secret Recipe for Successful Customer Loyalty Programs]

3. Loyal customers come back more often.

Sometimes, loyal customers buy a business’s products and services more often than they may need to – especially if the store has implemented a loyalty rewards program. Suppose, for instance, a consumer buys fresh-baked bread each week and receives a discount from a baker for a free item for every five items purchased, that customer will likely return to that bakery for every loaf of bread they need. They may also purchase other items, such as cookies, rolls, and doughnuts, from the baker to get their free items.

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