From customer, to repeat customer, to brand advocate

We’ve recently highlighted the difference between customer loyalty and brand loyalty. But how do we foster brand advocates?

From customer, to repeat customer, to brand advocate, it takes a lot of time and effort to develop a one-time customer into a brand advocate, but consumer loyalty should be a top priority if a brand wants to build ROI and establish themselves as a competitor in the marketplace. In order to build the perfect consumer four area’s need to be considered; customer service, data, loyalty & rewards. Each playing an essential part in developing brand advocates.

Customer service is renowned for the power it has to retain consumers. A report published by American Express revealed that 3 out of 5 customers were willing to give up a former favourite brand in order to have a better service experience, showing just how important customer service is in ensuring consumers stay loyal to a brand. But brands should strive for great, not just good customer service. Too often brands settle for average service & experiences but great customer service means you are not only doing what it takes to make consumers satisfied – you are going above and beyond to keep customers loyal. If you want to beat your competitors, often the best solution is to use customer service to take your brand to the next level.

Customer service coupled with intelligent data has in recent years been a key element in moving budget-conscious, onetime consumers to thriving brand promoters. The evolution of technology and connectivity provides marketers with the ability to monitor internet interactions from social media, mobile devices, geolocators, and digital sensors. This has enabled brands to create successful customer loyalty and retention programs, and personalised consumer interactions and service. Data, of course, has been invaluable in helping brands gain a complete picture of the consumer, it gives them the opportunity to be relevant at every touchpoint which directly effects retention levels as relevance = loyalty when it comes to marketing communications and customer service.

Building the perfect customer and brand advocate certainly comes with its challenges, but the impact it has on a brands bottom line cannot be ignored. When devising your loyalty strategy think customer service, data, and reward, reward, reward!

Get in touch if you’re keen to explore new ways to personalise your promotional marketing campaigns to support and build customer loyalty into all aspects of your fulfilment project.