Tag Archives: loyalty

Pitfalls to Building Customer Loyalty Online

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Are loyal customers really that important? According to a study conducted by WebSideStory Inc., “visitors who return to a site are eight times more likely to make an online purchase.” In a blog post for Register.com, some  tips on what to avoid when using the web to build customer loyalty are outlined.  One way in which you can increase the probability a customer will come back is by making your site easy to use. Finding products easily is crucial to your success as a small business. When sites become too complicated, users are less likely to want to return to your webpage. For example, sites that have flashing icons, pop-up windows or singing banners are distracting for customers and end up diverting attention away from your content. Additionally, keeping outdated information is another way to frustrate a potential loyal customer. If a product is unavailable, post a note underneath the image of the product; “the last thing customers want is to reach the checkout page to find out that the item they wanted is no longer available.”

For more tips on how to make a user-friendly webpage that increases customer loyalty, read Pitfalls to Building Customer Loyalty Online via Register.com.

 

 

Five Ways to Earn Customer Loyalty

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What is the purpose of any business? Most people would answer “to make a profit;”  however, this is not only the wrong answer, but this type of profit-centric mindset could actually be harmful to your business. Peter Drucker, a management consultant that is widely considered the father of modern management, claimed that “there is only one valid definition of a business purpose: to create a customer.” As a result, according to a recent post in Business Know How, “the mark of success for a firm, and therefore the ultimate objective of its strategy, is to satisfy customer needs and wants at a sustainable profit. Whatever strategy and tactics we employ to gain competitive advantage must ultimately be based upon our profitably providing a better solution for customers.”  In the post, Timothy Keiningham and Lerzan Aksoy build on this concept and provide the top five ways businesses can earn customer loyalty.  Some ways this is possible is through an effectively run human resources department that rewards employees for making customers happy.  Additionally, a holistic strategy is also critical to ensure loyal customers. All members of company (from the marketing team to the operations side) should come together  for one cause: “to profitably create and keep a customer.”

Read more of Timothy Keiningham and Lerzan Aksoy’s post, Five Ways to Earn Customer Loyalty via BusinessKnowHow.com.

-Julia LaSalvia, Lexity

3 Easy Ways to Increase Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty

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In a recent blog post for Daily Deal Media, Marc Horne addresses the importance of referrals in the online business world; According to Horne, “in today’s socially-connected world, referrals have an even greater ability to drive new customers.” The likelihood of your customers being connected to Facebook is very high meaning a positive recommendation can go a very long away. Keeping customers satisfied has become more important than ever and this post details the “3 primary ways to make your subscribers and customers happier, more loyal, and most importantly more likely to tell their friends about you.”  By focusing on exceptional customer service and implementing a seamless referral program, you will be able to grow your userbase and simultaneously gain more revenue.

Read more of Marc Horne’s blog post, 3 Easy Ways to Increase Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty via DailyDealMedia.com

-Julia LaSalvia, Lexity

Building a Successful Business Requires Customer Loyalty

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Building customer loyalty isn’t an overnight task.  In a recent blog post by Cheryl Hanna, the nuances of building a loyal customer base are discussed.  Hanna describes how “organizations don’t just arrive at being honest and reliable with the best products and service by chance. Owners recruit and provide the best training for their personnel  as well as treating their employees with respect so they will treat customers the same way.”  She goes on to say that personal touches with a customer to let them know that they are a priority are key to ensuring that customers walk away with a ‘wow’ experience. And from their we can begin to earn the client’s trust and ultimately, earn their loyalty as well.

Read more of Cheryl Hanna’s article, Building a Successful Business Requires Customer Loyalty via CustomerThink.com

-Julia LaSalvia, Lexity 

5 Ways to Take Customer Loyalty to the Next Level

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Which is more valuable to a small business, new customers or old ones? More companies have been putting the focus on keeping current customers and investing more in their customer relationships than ever before, “…revamping what customer service means, investing more in customer relationship management (CRM) systems and building teams to improve communication with customers. Loyalty, appreciation and word-of-mouth are making a comeback in the marketing world and Joanna Lord—online marketing expert, startup enthusiast and vice president of growth marketing at Seattle-based SEO and social monitoring service SEOmoz—outlines five great ways to take your efforts up a notch and make those sales!

Read Joanna Lord’s article 5 Ways to Take Customer Loyalty to the Next Level via www.entrepreneur.com.

-Michelle Crawford, Lexity

Customer Loyalty the Apple Way

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How did Apple create some of the most loyal customers on the planet? This article by Marty Diamond on his Diamond Website Conversion blog takes a look at how this famous “Superbrand” used three of their most popular marketing campaigns to help customers define themselves, differentiate themselves from the competition and encourage group loyalty. Diamond says “Your content is the best tool you have for marketing your ideas. Copy, videos, comparison charts, email marketing, and social media are all great opportunities to give customers a reason to love you.”

Delve deeper into Marty Diamond’s thoughts on Customer Loyalty The Apple Way via his website www.diamondwebsiteconversion.com

-Michelle Crawford, Lexity

Drive Intelligent Customer Loyalty With Forrester’s New Customer Loyalty Playbook

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loyaltyLooking to start a loyalty program that goes beyond promotional incentives are truly engages your best customers? The Customer Loyalty Playbook is a new “living tool” from Forrester, the research analysis and advisory firm, that is a resource for developing lasting customer loyalty programs. Emily Murphy a Forrester blog author says “Customer intelligence helps marketers create customer insights that improve their strategy and programs through targeting and segmentation, and customized offers.” It contains twelve reports that are focused on four key phase of program planning, starting with “Discover the potential of intelligent loyalty” and ending with “Optimze your loyalty program performance.”

Read Emily Murphy’s blog post entitled Drive Intelligent Customer Loyalty With Forrester’s New Customer Loyalty Playbook via blogs.forrester.com

-Michelle Crawford, Lexity

Get Ready for the Loyalty Marketing Renaissance of 2013

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In terms of building customer loyalty for small businesses, a lot can be learned from larger corporations who focus on giving back to the community. Even with just a small amount of resources, a small business has an enormous potential to make “giving back” a core part of their mission, and then “publish” it — setting into effect another solid reason for customers to be loyal to your company. As Adam Broitman says, “We have seen brands like Zappos and Warby Parker take brand ‘amore’ to new heights. Each brand uses social media and technology in exciting new ways, but each brand also manages to present their costumers with something marketers and advertisers speak about ad nauseam, ‘surprise and delight.‘” What does this all mean? As you concentrate on maintaining your customer base by creating loyal customers (who come back to your online store time and time again), you need to extend your efforts away from just selling products.

To read more, check out Adam Broitman’s article for AdAge, Get Ready for the Loyalty Marketing Renaissance of 2013. 

-Christopher Lin, Lexity

The New Rules of Building Customer Loyalty

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Fostering customer loyalty (in today’s world) requires that you step away from just handing out discounts to loyal customers. Short and simple, you need to do more! Consider this suggestion: provide loyal customers a way to satisfy the “gamers” inside every one of them. Forget the easy reward and give loyal customers something to work towards. “Today, brands of all stripes are experimenting with the psychology of status and power in rewarding customers. A generation raised on video games is wired to love incentives—and that doesn’t just mean freebies” (Inc.). Loyalty programs should be complex enough to tug on all aspects of purchase-satisfaction. In other words, you need to engage and interact with your loyal customers in order to foster full and complete loyalty. Handing out a 10% discount for customer loyalty is too far removed from business-to-consumer relationship building. 

Check out Inc.’s article, The New Rules of Building Customer Loyalty.

-Christopher Lin, Lexity

How to Add Value to Social Media Fans and Create Deep Loyalty

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Say thank you.

It’s so simple it deserves its own line. The fact is, saying thank you through social media can easily create loyal customers. “Shout-outs, thanks, links to outstanding brands—these are all examples of how to give nods. Nonprofits and higher education are experts at the thank you video. Businesses would do well to follow their example.“ Maybe you don’t have to launch an entire “thank you” video campaign. But, to create loyal customers, you need to acknowledge who they are with appreciation. Even if you don’t have the resources right now to develop a customer rewards or loyalty program, using social media to show your gratitude and appreciation is an incredibly profitable alternative.

To learn more about creating loyal customers through social media, read Chris Syme’s ecommerce article, How to Add Value to Social Media Fans and Create Deep Loyalty. 

-Christopher Lin, Lexity