May 11, 2015 - By Whether it’s on social media, website content, or on a forum, make sure that anything that comes from your brand is expressive, personable and consistent with your established beliefs.
From love to business, trust and gaining one’s loyalty matters. Although there’s no magic formula to building a trusting relationship online, there are a couple of tricks to help you gain one’s trust, maximize audience loyalty online, and increase brand loyalty overall.
Getting better acquainted
Take a look at a few famous brands dominating the market, for example Pepsi or Coca-Cola, they have a target audience that are made up of people that resonate with the company’s message and are likely to be loyal customers. By unearthing and getting to know who your “typical” audience is, you’ll be able to speak directly to them when creating content for your brand.
Imagine you’re on a first date: your friends have advised what you should do, but how you approach the scenario and get to know the person will determine whether there will be a second date in the cards. The same can be said when getting to know your audience online.
The old school approach would be to run a survey or questionnaire to hone in on their preferences. But sometimes understanding the tastemakers of your community members or the influencers in your field is more valuable than knowing your entire demographic. If you can target these influencers with the right message, they could help your brand go viral; measurement tools like Klout can help you track and target key influencers.
Don’t be shy- Show your personality
In order to build a lasting relationship with your consumers, connect with them on a deeper level by highlighting the “human” side of your brand. Your audience will get turned off if they feel as though they are talking to a robot; each person needs to feel as though they are getting special attention for their needs and not generic responses. They can detect a generic message from a mile away.
Whether it’s on social media, website content, or on a forum, make sure that anything that comes from your brand is expressive, personable and consistent with your established beliefs. Keep your main goals at the forefront, but don’t shy away from establishing a unique tone and voice that’ll resonate with readers from beyond the screen. You can also hire react team to ensure that your website is responsive and can cater to all audiences over any device.
Reward customers’ loyalty
There’s a well-known saying, ‘throw a dog a bone’. It suggests giving a small reward or some kind words to make one feel good. Give customers an incentive to be loyal to your brand by offering rewards for their dedication. You can offer free gifts or discounts to consumers who connect with you on social media or sign up to your mailing list.
A successful example is when Wendy’s created a Twitter campaign to acquire more followers by offering them a chance to win a daily prize. Titled “30 Days of Bold,” all you had to do was follow the Wendy’s Twitter account for a chance at winning a prize every day. It’s simple, give a little and get back a lot.
Deliver quality not quantity
Brands make the fatal mistake of flooding their site visitors with ‘in your face’ advertisements and and promotional material. This type of content is sometimes gladly received, but 9 out of ten times, it can drive your audience away. Make sure that all the content you manufacture provides your consumers with something valuable. If the content is for entertainment, information or a discount, every interaction should be worthwhile.
Mend fences quickly
When one of your customers has an issue with your products or services, tackle the problem as soon as possible to fix the relationship and decrease negative publicity.
Adapting a digital customer assistant tool, such as nanorep, to your site can nip worry or dissatisfaction in the bud by providing instant, actionable answers to unique user inquiries. However, if a customer goes social with his issue, you need to do damage control quickly and respond to him in the same public sphere.
No matter the nature of the problem, always be understanding and respectful. The customer, may not always be right, but you need to approach each case as a blank slate. For example, if consumers are complaining about your website’s slow loading time, consider looking for a new web hosting provider. This kind of feedback is beneficial to improve your business.
Loyal customers mean profitable customers. With these steps, you can build lasting relationships and a loyal audience that will keep coming back to your brand for more.
