Marketing Funnel – The Loyalty Stage

Congrats! You have guided and helped your customer move through the process. They started at awareness, then moved through consideration, purchased your product in the conversion stage, and now it is time for loyalty. Not only do you want to keep your customer, you want them to become brand enthusiasts who tell their friends and family how great your product is. Raving fans will be far more likely to share their experience on social media, perhaps even creating their own post about you. Maybe they actively seek out upgraded or additional products and services you offer. With all the digital tools now available, it’s never been easier to transform customers into loyal brand followers.

Loyalty isn’t just about having customers and keeping them happy. It’s about creating and nurturing a relationship to go the distance. There will come a day when your customer is tempted by a competitor, and when that happens, you want to make sure they have every reason to stay with you. To do that, you will need a strategy and tactics to increase loyalty among customers.

Email marketing

When it comes to keeping your brand and products in front of your customer consistently, email marketing is invaluable. But, you have to do it the right way; you must craft emails that provide value to that specific customer. That means it is crucial to segment your customers. You might treat a customer who purchases regularly differently than someone who makes a small purchase every few months. If not, they may unsubscribe. To build loyalty, don’t just send an email with coupon codes or product offers. Add value. Share stories about your brand or related topics. If you have a gym, information on stretching, nutrition, and workouts they can do at home are great ways to keep your customers engaged without selling them anything.

Social Media

Invite your customers to like and follow your social media pages. Make sure your business page has the content your customers might want to share with their followers, friends, and family. If they are a business customer, consider liking and following their business as well. Encourage them to share their stories or pictures of them using your product. When people post nice things about you, show gratitude by saying thanks, or responding with a thumbs up or a heart. If someone posts something negative or less than flattering, respond intentionally. It is a great way to show potential customers what kind of service they can expect, and how you might treat them when there is an issue. Nobody expects any company to always be 100%, but we all expect to see respect, accountability, and a willingness to resolve the issue.

Remarketing

A great tactic during the consideration stage, remarketing plays an important role in loyalty. Remarketing can be used to reengage customers, even showing them related products. Did they buy something that fits well with some of your other products? Did they buy a skin cleanser but not a moisturizer? Once you know a product the customer purchased, you can recommend other products or add-ons to one they already have.

Reviews

Encourage customers to share positive experiences with your brand and products. Reviews can be made directly to a social media account or simply through an email or a form you have on your website. Sprinkle your reviews all over, such as on your website and your social media pages. Include them in your email marketing and even offline materials, like flyers and brochures.

Create a referral program

If someone is willing to refer you and persuade others to buy from you, why not reward them? Could you offer a discount? A free month of something? Your customers know when they are helping you build your business. So do something that shows your thanks, instead of just saying it.

Special days

Most of us like getting texts or emails on our birthdays or other special days. If you have the information, make use of it. As with any information, only ask for it is it makes sense, or tell people why you are asking. My local coffee place gives me a free cup of coffee during my birthday week, so I am happy to give them that information.

Freebies

Remind customers of your brand over and over again. Freebies could be a magnet, a water bottle, t-shirt, or something else related to the business.

Samples

Related to freebies, but with a very different goal. Use samples to eliminate the trial barrier. Send a sample of one of your products they might like. A moisturizer, tea, or mini candle. Samples remove the consideration barrier. If they have a good experience with it, they are far more likely to buy. Make sure it’s relevant to that specific customer.

Have some personality

Confirmation emails and texts can be do transactional and boring. If it’s appropriate for your brand, make them a bit more interesting by using you brand tone of voice. Add personality to the order confirmation messages. It can help make your customer excited about your product or service. Using descriptive language and tell them how amazing they’ll feel when they have the new product in hand.

Loyalty is all about keeping your customers engaged and making them feel valued and appreciated. Don’t just send coupon codes or notices of sales. Engage your customers in a way that helps them get the most from your products and brand. Happy and engaged customers are far more likely to purchase more products and services, and loyal customers will tell their friends and family about you too.