When it comes to products and services, becoming a lasting brand with a loyal following starts early and takes effort. Brand loyalty is not only important to earn, it’s a difficult thing to keep. Customers tend to return to brands that go beyond just providing products or services. Now it’s about customer connection in all of its forms.
Angel, a provider of IVR, discussed that creating a lasting brand relies on giving the customers what they want, providing a multichannel experience and using customer data to better offer services, products and the overall experience.
Before smartphones, customers had a lot of work to do for themselves to seek out information on the products or services they needed. Today, the marketer-consumer relationship doesn't end at retain. Thriving brands must compete within the digital landscape to build relationships with their consumers that will transform them into brand advocates. Using all of the available platforms like apps, mobile Web, phone and e-mail can help get any brand to be well known and well liked but most importantly, keep customers coming back.
Customers have habitual behaviors because habits are familiar. In order to create brand loyalty, marketers have to disrupt the habit and bring customers to new habits, and reinforce those habits by reminding consumers of the value of their purchase and encourage them to continue purchasing those products in the future. This is where data can play an important role for businesses.
Angel says that customer data “allows companies to proactively reach out to customers to offer them services, suggests products or reminders that interest them, without being creepy.”
Customer data is one of a company's greatest, yet often underutilized assets. Learning about customers and using that behavioral and transactional data to inform more relevant and meaningful customer interactions is the key to creating, building and maintaining strong customer relationships and creating a brand that lasts.
Brand loyalty is not just about coupons, promotions, and discounts. Those are merely vehicles to get customers talking and a reason to come back. Giving the customers what they demand, offering a multichannel experience and using data to your advantage are the key elements for a successful brand foundation.
Edited by Amanda Ciccatelli