It is worth starting this article with the concept of brand strategy because it will gradually lead you to understand what brand loyalty is. A brand strategy is a system of knowledge, plans, and actions for creating, developing, changing, and adapting a brand to the market. Devising a strategy is required for crafting a coherent, unique, and attractive image of your product or service. This image should be carefully implanted in the consumer’s mind so that, thanks to certain associations, it could prompt the “right” choice in the process of purchase. It goes without saying that your offer (product or service) must correspond to this image, which, in the end, helps build a quality brand – an object of consumption enjoying a high degree of consumer loyalty.
In short, brand loyalty is the customer's decision to repeatedly select your company as a supplier of a product or service. It is a persistent desire of a person to remain your client instead of turning to your competitors. But if you look at the concept from a business owner’s point of view, it all boils down to retaining customers in the long run.
Brand Recognition
An important component of brand loyalty is its recognition. For your product to become popular and gain loyal customers, you need to tell about it first. Use various types of promotion, especially online resources. Run your website, blog, or, which is even better nowadays, social media pages. However, you need to generate high-quality content to stand out from the crowd and inspire trust in your audience. Using photos, images, and other visuals will make the content more engaging and memorable. Don’t hesitate to add video materials to your articles, posts, or instructions. This form of narrative is actively gaining popularity, and therefore, stock footage will be useful for creating appealing content to promote your business.
Main Tools
Tools for building brand loyalty can be divided into monetary and non-monetary, and you need to combine them smartly to achieve the best results. Obviously, an average consumer is primarily interested in financial gain, but if you focus on using only monetary tools to encourage your customers, it will be difficult for you to offer them something without such a benefit over time. The non-monetary side is directly related to human feelings, that is, anything that will help you create an emotional connection with the client.
Price Tag
Most consumers give preference to promotional products or those sold at a discount. This rule applies to both small purchases and larger ones. Often, good value for money is the main factor affecting consumers when they make purchasing decisions. You should monitor the market to deliver competitive prices and adjust your pricing policy in case of major changes.
Reward Programs
Various types of loyalty programs are highly appreciated by consumers. The most common are discount and accumulative programs, as well as special promotions with prizes. In the first case, the consumer benefits from a “partial refund” of the product value at the time of purchase since they enjoy a fixed discount for subsequent purchases with a discount card. The second type is based on how often the customer makes purchases, to wit, the discount amount depends on the number of purchases, and it grows over time. The more the customer buys, the higher the benefit. As a rule, purchases are rewarded with points, which can be accumulated and then exchanged for a discount. Within the third option, the brand conducts a drawing of valuable prizes among consumers who made a purchase during a certain period. To participate in a prize drawing, the customer usually needs to fulfill some conditions, for instance, register the code of the purchased product or make purchases totaling a specified amount of money.
Positive Emotions
The brand should be interested in creating a friendly relationship with the client, so something needs to be done to evoke positive emotions. First of all, it is the quality of service. You need to go the extra mile towards delivering the best possible customer experience. In addition to your standard set of perks, you can elevate the level of service for regular customers to tie them to your brand. Upon fulfilling certain conditions (collecting points, buying, registering, etc.), the client can receive a number of benefits, such as a personal manager, early booking, birthday gifts, personalized offers, and much more.
In Conclusion
An abundance of products and services available in today’s markets can be seen as a disadvantage for businesses. Customers have access to plenty of information and can track brands for quality, ethics, price, and service. Loyalty building is a complex, painstaking, and lengthy process, but it is the only way to get regular customers who are ready to buy from you even amid a crisis.
