5 effective ways to increase the number of loyal customers when branding

Businesses need a stable basis to develop. Customers are the economy and human resources are the property of a company. To build a stable economy, property reinvestment needs reinforcing. In common knowledge, the abundant income hardly comes from new sources but solid ones. This is a corresponding comparison between new customers and loyal customers of a business.

Loyal customers are of importance to a business because they support the business to stand still upon its competitors. High-quality products or user-friendly services are the prerequisites to help a business get the loyalty of customers, but they are not all. The distinct services that the business supply to each customer is what makes them satisfied and attached to the business in the long term.

How to measure the loyal level of a customer

The most common way is lifetime value. It bases on the estimated expenses that a customer is ready to pay for services of a business in a whole lifetime. The customer’s lifetime value can increase positively thanks to online shopping. That’s the reason why most brands invest a large amount of money in attracting online customers. Investing in websites, online stores, social networks with attractive images is a popular strategy to stimulate customers to shop more than what they plan.

Investing in websites, online stores, social networks with attractive images is a popular strategy to stimulate customers to shop more than what they plan.

Lifetime value can be specified as below: An average amount that a customer spends on your products/services is 4 million VND per month, lifetime value (or average revenue) he/she bringing in to your business is 4 million VND. In another case, he/she pays 4 million VND for each month in a twelve-month period, his/her lifetime value is 48 million VND. Why do we need to calculate the customer lifetime value? Because appealing to new customers via marketing campaigns is multiple times as costly as remaining the connection with old customers.

Even though you do succeed in attracting new customers, your investment may become a big loss. Without versatile customer services, the customers will not attach to your business leading to their low lifetime value.

How to calculate the lifetime value of a customer? (Source: Subiz)

Ref: Subiz

Right strategies guarantee the current customers will support, trust, and use your products/services in the following years. According to the analytics of Business of Fashion, here are the top 5 ways to increase the number of loyal customers.

1. Quality matters than quantity

Frank & Eileen – a famous fashion brand, which was established by Audrey McLoughlin is an example. Some of their loyal customers include Angelina Jolie, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon. Frank & Eileen focuses on tailored female fashion instead of manufacturing different products like other brands. Although they have one main field only, they have been developing stably with a revenue of 25 million USD annually. They always expand their customer data but Frank & Eileen’s principle is to persuade their old customers to buy new products.

This brand usually invites their loyal customers to visit the showroom in Los Angeles – a well-cared shopping space with the Irish countryside aristocratic style. Inviting the customers, serving them with cakes, introducing the new products in a luxurious and comfortable shopping space results in more orders and positive reviews.

Retailers always collect customers’ reviews to improve their products' quality and services to increase the returnability of customers. Brands should follow and update the loyal customer data to create marketing emails basing on personal preference. This data should be sent to in-store counselors so they can have more appropriate ways to approach customers.

Retailers always collect customers’ reviews to improve their products' quality and services to increase the returnability of customers.

Jeremy Bernstein, the operation manager of The Science Project – a marketing company for retailers says: “I love the dedication of a brand in appreciating every customer. When I go to a store for a shopping appointment, I am welcomed with a cup of my favorite coffee, and introduced the latest designs that fit me perfectly by a professional counselor. Although the suggestions of the counselor are not what I am looking for, I am satisfied because of the luxury and the considerate customer service of the brand.”

The supreme services that brands supply to their customers will never stay still. Some brands launch many intriguing and unique offers to increase the lifetime value of their customers like sending sample products that fit their figures and preferences.

These sample products are packed opulently with free shipping and easy return policies. Customers can try on new designs at home, buy their favorite items, and send the other items back. This is a special customer service applied by many elite fashion brands to increase the orders’ value. This business strategy doesn’t work for fast fashion brands.

Customers can try on a new design at home, buy their favorite items and send the other items back.

For brands who focus on E-commerce, they can simply build the loyalty of customers by responding to customers’ emails quickly to make the communication of customers and consultants convenient via direct conversation or hotline.

All customers’ information and collection should be kept confidential and circulated internally only. This information brings many benefits to a business. However, businesses shouldn’t violate the privacy of customers or else it is counterproductive because the customers find it uncomfortable.

2. Create highly effective offers for loyal customers

A special offer for loyal customers is a smart way to discount the value of products without reducing the brand’s attractiveness and reliability as other popular promotions.

With more than 25 million customers, Sephora is one of the most successful cosmetic retailers who create high effective offers for loyal customers. Customers earn points for each dollar they spend. These points can exchange to sample products, vouchers, or money. All customers will receive free samples on their birthday. Sephora launches a gifts program to persuade their customers to update their blogs and new products.

“The connection between a brand and the customers increase 70% of the returnability”

Allegra Stanley – the Vice Director as well as the Sephora manager of loyalty customers programs, said, some rewards programs are to create spiritual bonds between the customers and some cosmetics brands belonging to Sephora. The loyal customers can join free beauty classes, become the first one to use the latest products, or meet the owners of cosmetics brands in person.

For high-class customers, Sephora offers some tours such as the latest cooperation with Smashbox cosmetics to sponsor a trip to Los Angeles with free beauty services and a free dinner for two persons at the premium seafood restaurant, namely “Catch” which is favored by many celebrities.

“We always try to balance the business with the intimate bonds because the connection between a brand and the customers increase 70% of the returnability” – Standley shared.

Sephora also introduces an intelligible classification system. Customers spending at least $350 per year belong to the VIB class, while customers spending more than $1,000 annually belong to the Rogue class. The higher class they belong to, the customers have more benefits such as free point exchange, free delivery, or buying new products before customers in lower classes.

A special offer for loyal customers is a smart way to discount the value of products without reducing the brand’s attractiveness and reliability.

3. Create an online community

Sephora created a beauty community in 2017 and named it “Sephora’s Beauty Insider” which allows customers to get more beauty tips from other users as well as recommends niche products for customers from Sephora. “100 days lipstick challenge” had attracted more than 27,000 engagements.

Instagram has been a direct channel for many brands to get more loyal customers. However, it is not necessary to post products’ images all the time. Birdies – a shoe brand, for example, shared a list of books that their staff was reading at that time on Instagram.

This post surprisingly received big attention from customers with many engagements and their recommendations. “It’s not necessary to get sales from our post immediately, but it is vital to keep the interest of customers in different ways. According to our experiences, a post about the recommendation or introduction will get attention from customers”, said Marisa Sherkey – co-founder of Birdies.

Direct interaction with customers is always effective in its own way.

Besides, linking a business to a big community will increase reliability. Direct interaction with customers is always effective in its own way. Argent – an office fashion brand, usually takes part in exhibitions, fairs, or fashion events for product marketing. Brands should consider choosing niche fairs to become outstanding and avoid wasting time and money.

Argent succeeded in 2016 when opening a pop-up booth with $25.000 within 1 day at Watermark Conference in California which is a conference for female officers solely. Successful women are the target customers of Argent.

4. Marketing email is effective

One of the helpful information that a brand can collect is customers’ email. To explore the potentiality marketing email, it is important to choose the right content and niche time. Small businesses should find companies who specialize in analyzing data and behaviors to solve personal information effectively and plan suitable marketing emails for each group of customers.

Explaining about this, Marisa Sharkey said “Many customers always come back to buy via our website, while others always spend time on searching for new products regularly without completing shopping, and that’s why we need to analyze behaviors of these customers and send about 10 different emails depending on the step/products that they stop in our website”.

Whilst, Agent – an office fashion brand having 44% returnability, has done trials with different titles of email, length of the email, and time to send. According to their formulas, a reminder email each week is preferable and it should be sent from Tuesday to Thursday in the late afternoon when it’s time to end a working day.

A concise message with a clear intention is the best.

For content, a concise message with a clear intention is the best. Argent used to try two types of email with different content. One of them includes many images of their designs, the other attaches images that show the details of the pocket’s designs. That’s a typical coat design belonging to a new collection. The second email was more virtual thanks to the concise messages and right attention. Color and light effects on sales. Accordingly, images with white or simple backgrounds make customers pay attention to the products more than other details in the photos.

5. Creation and concentration on the products

There are no fixed formulas to apply to every customer in keeping their loyalty. The prerequisite is products and good customer services. The products increase the reliability of the brands to create an intimate relationship with customers.

“Looking for new customers costs a lot because their target customers don’t trust the businesses. However, when customers try the services and products in their own ways, they will raise their belief in the businesses naturally”. Audrey McLoughlin shared with Business of Fashion.

Fellini Rose

According to style-republik.com