Know your metrics inside out

Firstly, you have to be able to tangibly measure and monitor your customer loyalty. Here are some of the main KPIs you should keep track of:

• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): This metric is great to give you an overall view of how much the customer is worth for you over time.
• Net Promotor Score (NPS): A great way for you to identify who your advocates, your passive customers and your detractors are.
• Repeat Purchase Rate: This can say a lot about your customers, the more someone purchases from you, the more likely they are to become a happy, loyal customer.

Your customers have a voice, hear them out!

Not only can listening to your customers make them feel more confident to trust your brand, it is also a crucial way to determine what makes your customers loyal to your brand and why they have decided to stay. The data you collect from them will enable you to learn more about how to expand your loyalty and will give insight into the best tactics for your business to achieve this goal. Surveys can be a great help to identify what your customer pain points are, what they care about and what they expect from your brand. Some customers will be sensitive to the price point, others may be more sensitive to brand identity and culture whereas some may prioritise product features. It’s going to take a lot of listening to truly know your customers!

Connect with your customers at a deeper level

Building a solid relationship with your customers is the way to ensure they come back to you. However, loyalty comes in different forms and different levels of intensity. In order to drive your customer loyalty in the long run, you need to move your customers to a deeper loyalty. In our day and age, brand loyalty – that is, loyalty associated with a particular brand’s product or service, is a must-have for any business.

But when you add brand purpose to the mix, customers start really CARING about your brand and what it stands for. When you choose to have a social or ethical impact on your audience is when you can start truly connecting with people. The deeper the loyalty is, the more your CLV increases.

90% of customers are more satisfied when using live conversations with human assistance online

We recently attended a Retail Hive Network event and hosted a roundtable around delivering brand loyalty through the power of online conversations. The event was focused on the importance of a customised, authentic online customer journey to create brand love, yet we too often see that retailers are not acting on this necessity. Most importantly, they are not listening to their consumers which is mind-boggling, especially when a recent study showed that 90% of customers are more satisfied when using live conversations with human assistance online. 

Moral of the story? Invest your resources in a strategy that has your customer at the heart of the business and don’t forget to be human.