While it’s important to keep attracting new customers, you also need to be able to retain existing customers. Loyalty is built on five key ingredients: consistency, engagement, community, personalization and rewards. Below we’ll explain why each of these ingredients matters.

#1) Consistency

Customers should be able to keep using your product or service without the quality fluctuating. This involves putting in place quality controls so that customers always get the same good experience that initially won them over. Establish handbooks and protocols, maintain your tools and provide refresher training for staff. Of course, you should still introduce new features and changes, but try not to sacrifice things that your customers love.

#2) Engagement

Two-way communication with your customers helps to build a strong relationship. Maintain this through catch-up meetings, phone calls or emails. Make sure to also interact with followers on social media by not just posting updates but by asking questions and responding to comments. Use polls, surveys and review requests to actively collect feedback so that customers know that their voice matters. 

#3) Community

Beyond engagement, you should also aim to build a community around your brand. Get your customers not just interacting with you but also interacting with each other. Share a goal with your customers – whether it’s to save the environment or inspire healthier living – and bring everyone together through joint challenges or by casting votes on ways to improve your company. Community management software can be used to help nurture your brand community. 

#4) Personalization

Customers are also likely to stick around if they feel you have gone out of your way to tailor a product or service to their wants and needs. Many companies now allow customers to customize a product or service plan, rather than choosing from a menu. Alternatively, you personalize your service by remembering customer’s names and past orders (this is vital if you run a bar or a restaurant). 

#5) Rewards

Rewarding loyalty is also a sure way to retain your customers. This could involve allowing customers to build points with each purchase and then allowing customers to spend these points, allowing them to get future discounts or freebies. You can also reward customers with birthday or anniversary gifts, or even random rewards when you feel like it. You can even use analytics software to work out when customers commonly unsubscribe and then send private discounts or freebies to your customers at this point to potentially prevent them from leaving. 

Mixing these ingredients together

Don’t just settle for one or two of these ingredients – combining them all is the true key to customer loyalty. Use customer engagement to understand what it is your clients love about your business so that you can preserve these features and deliver consistent satisfaction. Build a community using shared goals, while also personalizing your service to meet the unique demands of each individual customer. Finally, make sure you are rewarding loyalty so that customers have an extra incentive to keep using your company.