Article

Mellissa Flowerdew-Clarke
Mellissa Flowerdew-Clarke 20 November 2018
Categories B2B, Technology

How to improve customer loyalty

In today’s digital age, consumers have access to an unprecedented level of information. Never before has it been so easy to find information that can potentially make or break a purchase decision. Social proofing, user reviews and price comparison sites can all form part of the buyer journey, which impacts not only the digital sphere. In August 2018, Retail Week reported that 76% of consumers research online before making a purchase, either online or in-store. This has resulted in significant challenges for brands to maintain relationships and achieve loyalty.

Brands have traditionally tackled customer loyalty with financial reward systems, and many still do. But in this age of digitalisation, we believe that traditional loyalty schemes should be left behind; a fundamental new approach to loyalty is required.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH FINANCIAL REWARD?

Loyalty hinges on trust, perceived quality and shared values. To build a relationship as a brand, we need to understand our audience and what triggers them. Much like in a personal relationship, it helps to acknowledge someone’s actions. Brands should acknowledge consumer behaviour. And, most importantly, much like in personal relationships, things shouldn’t revolve around money. In personal relationships, most of us know there’s a limit to buying someone’s loyalty with fancy extras like holidays, expensive bags or cars. So why would a consumer be any different? Why would they be after a financial reward for already having invested in a brand?

The decline of the physical store front and the rise of digital platforms for buying and engagement has driven a consumer expectation that brands could and should be better at offering self-service, convenience and personalisation.

This is where most brands struggle to cope and where the biggest opportunity lies. Even though loyalty programs offer a wealth of data, quite often disjointed touchpoints and data sources don’t maximise the value that these can provide. Neither do the majority of brands demonstrate that their loyalty approach offers more on the experience side; it’s mostly used to reward level of spend.

Loyalty should be about how to build a longer term relationship which, in itself, requires a life cycle approach instead of a transactional one. It is a dilemma for most marketers seeking short term results, as a more strategic and longer term view is required in the business to change the approach.

SO, WHERE DO WE START?

We firmly believe that brands can achieve loyalty by, firstly, better understanding their target audiences and their needs. It’s like any relationship – in order to create trust, it helps to put yourself in their mindset.

We recommend that brands become obsessed with audience insights; utilising insight can steer considerations on how to offer higher degrees of personalisation across all stages of interaction and channels in use. Even more importantly, it will also help to address the orchestration across channels.

This will, ultimately, deliver on brand trust and perceived quality, as demonstrated by successful brands such as Netflix and Spotify with their recommendation services. But in other industries an even simpler approach (such as thanking your customers at the right time), might be sufficient.

As our research confirms, brands need to step up their game when it comes to achieving consumer loyalty.  Brands are sitting on a goldmine of consumer data that can tackle the challenge – you just need to know what to do with it.

Please login or register to add a comment.

Contribute Now!

Loving our articles? Do you have an insightful post that you want to shout about? Well, you've come to the right place! We are always looking for fresh Doughnuts to be a part of our community.

Popular Articles

See all
How to Review a Website — A Guide for Beginners

How to Review a Website — A Guide for Beginners

A company website is crucial for any business's digital marketing strategy. To keep up with the changing trends and customer buying behaviors, it's important to review and make necessary changes regularly...

Digital Doughnut Contributor
Digital Doughnut Contributor 25 March 2024
Read more
The Impact of New Technology on Marketing

The Impact of New Technology on Marketing

Technology has impacted every part of our lives. From household chores to business disciplines and etiquette, there's a gadget or app for it. Marketing has changed dramatically over the years, but what is the...

Alex Lysak
Alex Lysak 3 April 2024
Read more
How to Understand Your Customer Needs Through Social Media?

How to Understand Your Customer Needs Through Social Media?

Social media is generally known to be a tool of online communication that is used to easily share information and bring together people with similar ideas on the internet. But brands use them as a marketing tool. And...

Manisha Sukhyani
Manisha Sukhyani 29 August 2017
Read more
Sales and Marketing Collaboration: A Recipe for B2B Success

Sales and Marketing Collaboration: A Recipe for B2B Success

In the world of B2B, the age-old rivalry between Sales and Marketing often overshadows the potential for a fruitful partnership. Yet, when these two departments align their goals, strategies, and efforts, the results...

Zsofia Raffa
Zsofia Raffa 12 September 2024
Read more
3 Reasons Why Building Social into Marketing is a Significant Competitive Advantage

3 Reasons Why Building Social into Marketing is a Significant Competitive Advantage

Understanding the role of social media in your business is important; however, before you get caught up in tactics first ask yourself “Is my business social?” If not, or if you aren’t sure, here are 3 reasons why...

Anna Fox
Anna Fox 31 October 2024
Read more