No question about it, brand loyalty is down since the recession. To fight that trend, marketers have been taking the traditional route of using short-term tactics. They've lowered prices, instituted or expanded rewards programs, and spent more on advertising. However, those are expensive, and when everyone is using the same tactics, their effectiveness is minimized.
Customer Relationships - No question about it, brand loyalty is down since the recession. To fight that trend, marketers have been using short-term tactics—with diminishing results. Something different is needed.
- Below are a few specific ideas for how you can build relationships and create brand loyalty: 1. Offering returning customers a discount on services. Everyone loves a good deal.
- Loyalty in your relationship will demand this word on a frequent basis. No to temptations of the heart, flesh, self-interest, even at times of your loved one’s interests. Since a truly loyal person isn’t merely a yes-bot to others or themselves, a fair amount of strength is exhibited by those who can rightfully claim the mantle of loyal.
Something different is needed: a contextual marketing strategy to build brand loyalty.
A contextual marketing strategy harnesses industry and market drivers, as well as external forces of influence ('influencers'). The drivers determine market direction and what it takes to stay competitive; influencers shape the voice of the market.
Here is how those forces break down:
- Regulatory drivers have long- and medium-term impact. Government regulations are an example. Marketers must understand how the 'rules' of their industry are changing and they must stay ahead of policies when developing long- and medium-term strategies.
- Technology drivers also have long- and medium-term impacts. These drivers are the technological advancements that will influence the way products will be built, distributed, communicated, consumed, or serviced within an industry.
- Social influencers have medium- and short-term impacts. Social influencers shape consumer shopping dynamics. They include macroeconomic elements, behavioral patterns, and social trends that influence buying decisions.
- Competitive influencers also have medium and short-term impacts. Competitive influencers are the factors that shape consumer demand. They are a brand's competitors, including both the direct and indirect (substitute) products and services.
Understanding and harnessing those drivers gives you four powerful ways to build brand loyalty. They deliver everything from short-term tactics to long-term strategies. Email marketing stats you cant afford to ignore.
How Relationships Build Brand Loyalty Examples
This article series will outline how you can create..
- A long-term sustainable alignment for your business
- Medium-term policy-driven market advantages
- Medium-term experience-driven competitive advantages
- A short-term targeted deployment
The first two capitalize on the drivers; that's where we'll begin in the first part of this series. In the second part we'll cover the last two items on that list.
Os x mountain lion dmg google drive. How to Create Sustainable Alignment
Sustainable alignment is how well your company's product or service aligns with its industry's technology and regulatory drivers. Although you must achieve such alignment while you're developing your product or service, the competitive advantage you enjoy can be long-term.
Think 'big picture' here, starting with how to create sustainable alignment across your industry's value chain. Understand how the 'rules' of your industry are changing and how technology is evolving in R&D, manufacturing, sales/marketing, distribution, and service.
Creating a long-term sustainable advantage consists of three critical components. The first is to establish a clear vision; from that vision come two other tactics—sustainable delivery platforms and standardization.
- Clarifying your vision. Long-term strategic thinking is not about inventing specific products for the future. It starts by defining what your business actually does. Toyota Motor Corporation's vision, for example, is to 'lead the way in the future of mobility..' It's not constraining itself to being just an automotive manufacturer. That kind of vision allows you to think bigger than individual products, strengthening your long-term competitive advantage.
- Sustainable delivery platforms. Not long ago, delivery platforms weren't seen as a competitive advantage for companies. That's no longer true. Apple's success can be attributed to its ability to seamlessly integrate its products in a way that can be easily monetized. Though its hardware products were catalysts in generating demand, the integration of its underlying platform (iOS, iTunes/App store) sustained its competitive advantage and earnings potential. Microsoft is similar. Integrating Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer with Windows gave it huge margins while others in the PC industry had to deal with much smaller margins.
Think about how your industry will be driven by technological advancements and by changes in the ways consumers interact with products. Doing so will help you find the areas in which to compete for the long-term and ways to align your company to accomplish that. - Establishing technology standardization. Understanding the value chain can help you lay the foundation for next-generation products and services. Government regulations can play a big role by determining standards (e.g., EPA mileage requirements). Some standards are set by industry, as with Blu-ray format adoption.
How to Create Policy-driven Market Advantages
Regulations are increasingly prevalent. In its first three years, the Obama administration added more than $46 billion in annual costs to industry due to major regulations, compared with $8.1 billion during the same period of the Bush administration. Consequently, more is being spent on lobbying activities.
Government can have a significant influence on brand loyalty, and marketers must be aware of the medium- to long-term implications of regulatory actions. Regulatory costs are either absorbed or passed on to the customer.
Though some industries are hit hardest by regulations, initiatives like Dodd-Frank, EPA rulings, and healthcare reform hit smaller companies, as well.
Along with a company's government or regulatory affairs group, marketers must identify competitive advantages and disadvantages. Explore the following areas:
- Consumer visibility: regulations that control marketing activities, such as restrictions on advertising content, product labeling, etc. Implications for marketing activities include message development, marketing mix, and packaging. One example is drug companies' being allowed to advertise directly to consumers.
- Consumer accessibility: regulations that change the ability of consumers to buy products or services based on geography, channel, age, etc. Implications for marketing activities include message development and distribution strategy. Interstate liquor laws are an example.
- Consumer affordability: regulations that increase or lower prices. These can include excise taxes, tax credits, tariffs, etc., and they affect product development and pricing. For instance, will certain high-calorie foods be increasingly taxed?
- Consumer usability: regulations that control how consumers use the capabilities of the product or service. These may involve safety restrictions or censorship, and they affect product development. The file-sharing site, Napster, is an example.
Using technology and regulatory drivers to create sustainable alignment and policy-driven market advantages can greatly boost your efforts at building your brand.
In the second (and final) installment in this series we'll see how to create experience-driven competitive advantages and targeted deployment.
Articles in this two-part series:
How Relationships Build Brand Loyalty Strategy
| SUMMARY: A corporate-style branding effort requires a corporate-sized budget. But if fancy logos and mass advertising arenât in your budget, you can try building your brand one customer at a time. Read one marketerâs recommendations for using personal communications to connect with your best customers. Through simple, low-cost tactics, you can build stronger relationships and establish a brand identity thatâs more than just an image. |
How Relationships Build Brand Loyalty Marketing
'Small and medium businesses would be far better [off] spending the time and money on relationship building, and the brand thing will come out of it by itself,' says Torok. 'A brand is not about colors or logos or fonts -- a true brand is about a feeling that people have about you.'
Torokâs firm helps owners and marketers at small- and medium-sized businesses develop a more personal touch with customers. Below, we highlight seven tactics Torok uses to establish and maintain those relationships. These efforts require time and diligence, but they are very inexpensive.
Tactic #1. Make company leaders available to customers
Smaller companies have an advantage over large corporations -- there are fewer bureaucratic layers between the top and the bottom. Take advantage of the situation and give customers access to top-level management.
Access can be granted in several ways, including:
o Having executives visit sales floors
o Attending industry conferences
o Having an open-door policy for phone calls
o Attending or hosting live chat sessions, forums, or other industry-related social media events
'That doesnât mean you spend all your time on the showroom floor or going to networking events, but you need to be seen,' Torok says. 'You put a human face on the business for your clients, which makes them feel better about doing business with you.'
- The door is not always open
Maintaining an open-door policy does not mean customers can reach you at will. But it could mean establishing times for customer calls, such as between 9-10 a.m. on Thursdays.
Tactic #2. Reach out and be heard
Customers feel special when you reach out to touch base. This can be done through:
o Direct calls
o Emails
o Social media sites
o Handwritten notes and postcards
Postcards can be particularly valuable as a quick, personal way to reach out. A two sentence handwritten message is much more personal than a typed email. You can send 20 or 30 postcards while waiting for a plane. Postcards are waiting for you in the gift shop.
- Not every customer is equal
There is not enough time in the day to call or write postcards to every customer, just to ask how theyâre doing. Prioritize efforts around your most valuable accounts and prospects.
Tactic #3. Request introductions from sales
A good way to start building relationships is to have your sales team introduce you to your best customers, Torok says. Good ways to connect include:
o A simple telephone call
o Tagging along on sales visits to their offices
o Being present when they visit your office
- Coordinate customer contact with sales reps
Tactics such as writing postcards and sending messages through social media are fairly innocuous, and do not take much of the customersâ time. However, phone calls and scheduled meetings should be approached more delicately.
Your sales team might be in the process of closing a deal, and you do not want to interrupt that process. Have an open line of communication with sales to avoid any miscues.
Tactic #4. Ask customers about their business
Your natural inclination might be to ask customers if they are satisfied with your product and service, and if they have any complaints or questions. However, a conversation with a customer is also a great time to find out more about their business.
During conversations, ask customers about:
o Opportunities in their business
o Biggest headaches
o Biggest fears
o Plans and predictions for the future
This information will give you a better understanding of your customersâ needs and mindsets. The more you understand them, the better youâll be able to design marketing campaigns and new product features.
Also, asking for this information shows a real interest in the person with whom you're speaking. You will be gathering important business information while making a strong personal impression.
Tactic #5. Send small gifts
The more relevant and personalized you can make the gift, the better it will connect with your customer.
Torok suggests books. Thereâs at least one for every topic, so itâs easy to find one thatâs likely to interest a customer. Also, you can write personal messages and sign books just like postcards. So if you have five top customers who are interested in golf, buy each a copy of a popular golfing book, pen a message inside, and mail it to them.
'If you receive a book from someone that they personally autographed for you, people donât tend to throw it away, even if they donât read the book,' Torok says. 'They put it in a special place on their shelf and they remember you.'
Tactic #6. Manage your time wisely
As mentioned, not all of your customers are equal. Set rules that will determine which customers receive friendly calls, postcards, gifts, etc. Some customers might 'qualify' for a gift, while a postcard might suffice for others.
Also, create a schedule for customer outreach. You may plan to send 30 gifts and 200 postcards this year, but you certainly donât need to send them all at once. Use scheduling software, such as Microsoft Outlook, to program reminders.
If you have a clever IT department, they may be able to build a solution that connects to your customer database, classifies customers to contact and schedules when to reach out.
Tactic #7. Scale back if necessary
This strategy could spin out of control and consume too much time with overly ambitious goals. Remember, you have the rest of your job to consider. If you find yourself too pressed to keep up with the contact schedule and have to scale back, donât fret.
'No one will really notice,' Torok says. 'No one expects there to be a regular schedule of postcards. If someone received a postcard two years ago, theyâll still remember it.'
If you have to scale back, start by raising the bar for your contact rules. For example, you might have planned to call customers who purchased two or more times last year. Try raising the bar to three or more purchases and see how many calls that leaves you.
Useful links related to this article
How to Use Networking Tactics to Generate New Business with Old Clients: 6 Tactics
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=30767
How to Get Bloggersâ Attention with Personalized Landing Pages & Videos
https://www.marketingsherpa.com/barrier.html?ident=30540
Power Marketing
http://www.powermarketing.ca/