Building customer loyalty is one of the most important marketing activities businesses should be performing, be them large corporations or budding start-ups. Given the high costs to attract customers, it takes more than a purchase from you to cover these costs. Investing in an expensive customer acquisition program only to have a single purchase made by the respective customer means losing money. The ideal scenario is to keep customers loyal for the long term, far beyond the point when you broke even the cost of acquisition through the profits you gained from the respective customer.
What Determines Customers to Stay Loyal to a Business?
Being faced with multiple options to solve their problems or satisfy their needs, people make various comparisons and use their previous experience, as well as their friends’ recommendations in determining which products or services to purchase. Although the price is an important element in this process of selection, it is not the sole criterion that closes the sale.
People want to feel that they receive value for their money, that the businesses they buy things from actually care about them, try to solve their needs in the best way and show appreciation for their loyalty. This is why loyalty programs are among the most effective and frequently used marketing tools used by companies in the attempt to keep their customers for as long as possible.
Building a Loyalty Program on the Social Media
The most cost-effective way of creating and implementing loyalty programs is through the social media. These online forums which you use for attracting new customers and building your brand image are the ideal places to reaffirm your dedication to serving your customers and providing them with extra value. Here are a few tips to give you a starting point in keeping your clients loyal:
1. Reward Your Customers through Retargeting
The Facebook pixel helps you follow your leads’ progression from the moment they reach your website to the moment they make a purchase. This is the best moment to say “Thank You” in a special manner. Instead of sending them a simple email message, which does not really offer anything of value to them, you should retarget them with a Facebook ad offering a special discount on their next purchase using a code which they will obtain once they click on the ad.
In this way, customers are more likely to return to your store and take advantage of this special reward. They will even tell their friends of the special offer they received and you will even get new customers through this effective word-of-mouth promotion of your business.
2. Reward Your Most Loyal Followers
You should keep track of your followers’ activity on your social media account, not just for data mining purposes, but also in order to identify the most active ones. These people, who are always liking, commenting on, and sharing your content, and taking part in your contests and surveys, should receive recognition for their dedication and loyalty. You should offer a special freebie or discount to the most active follower of the month or of the week. To encourage more activity on your social media profile, you should announce these special reward programs.
3. Reward Followers across Multiple Social Media Channels
If you have followers who are subscribed to your Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Google+ accounts, they are truly dedicated to your brand and want to be sure they never miss an update from you. Most likely, they are also great brand ambassadors, recommending your products or services to their friends. These loyal people are very valuable to your business, so reward them every once in a while with a special discount.
4. Create Loyalty Badges
Most companies have referral programs, or rewards programs, depending on the total amount spent by the customer. For each new tier achieved by your customers in your loyalty programs you should design a special badge and award it publicly on the social media. People love public recognition, and a badge or a medal is a simple but very effective token of this kind of recognition.
Through these simple actions, which will not cost you very much in terms of lost margins, you can ensure your customers’ loyalty, have them coming back for more purchases, and even promoting your business to their friends through online reviews and recommendations.