Every business needs customer loyalty in order to be successful and to continue to nurture growth in the years to come. Customer loyalty is defined as a customer’s likeliness to repeat business with a company or brand. It is the result of a great customer service experience and the overall value of the products or services offered by the business. So the question is, how do you build customer loyalty?
By building customer trust.
In order to earn the trust of your customers, you must first be honest, do as you say and share valuable information. One of the best ways to deliver this is through content marketing.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing is a way of delivering valuable and relevant content to your customers consistently. This can take on many forms such as sharing as videos, blogs, and social media posts. The idea of content marketing is to stimulate excitement, encourage engagement, educate and bring joy in order to nourish lasting, trusting relationships.
The keywords here are CONSISTENCY, VALUE and NOURISH.
Consistency keeps the engagement with your customers pulsing and can be a way for potential customers to find you. Making sure your content is valuable can be done by way of education, expertise or pure entertainment. We all like a good laugh every now and then! It brings us to nourishment and is where the magic happens. Building and strengthening relationships foster trust. It is truly as simple as that.
It is also important to understand what content marketing is not.
● Not about completing transactions
● Not what will close a sale
● Not what entices a customer to buy right away
Instead, it is a way to keep the audience interested and position your brand as an expert or an
inspiration.
Using content marketing to build trust and loyalty
Now that you know what content marketing is and what it is not - here are a few ideas on how to
put it into practice.
- Familiarity: Stick to the messages, style and voice used in all the other aspects of your marketing. Content should not come off as forced but familiar and approachable.
- Storytelling: Share stories of customers who have found success using your products or services. Consider telling the story of your brand. Use this as a way to make a human connection. We are human first - always remember this.
- Community: Does your company give back or partner with local organizations to drive support and awareness for a particular cause? If so, share why you choose this cause and how you do it.
- Humanizing: Share the faces behind the company. The people that make the magic happen behind the scenes. This is a great way to celebrate your team through employee spotlights, a story about a project well done, or birthday wishes.
- Interaction: You’ve heard us say it before and we’ll continue to say it! Engagement is important. Open the floor, so to speak, for a two-way conversation. Quizzes or asking questions work well on social media, while workshops or webinars allow your audience to get more value.
Give your customers what they need
To understand what your customers need, ask questions, understand your demographics, and then hone in on psychographics. Narrow in on the content which specifically works for your audience. There is not a one size fits all model. Here are some questions you should ask yourself to help trim down your focus:
- What are your customers' pain points?
- What solutions can we offer to support?
- What topics are relevant?
- What does our audience care about?
- What can I teach customers to add value to their lives?
Hard fast rule: Content marketing should not be used to sell.
Content marketing should remain relevant to your brand and can mention your products or services, but the main focus is to deliver value. Think of it as a tool in the efforts to support your team and the company brand.
By tailoring your content to the specific interests of your customers, they will learn that your brand offers value. Continue exploring different types of content to nourish your relationships and stay consistent! Trust and loyalty will follow. It takes time - but the efforts are worth the reward of building lasting relationships with your customers.