Creating customer loyalty is essential to company success, especially in the highly competitive realm of the Internet. Sending out quality promotional material is directly correlated to generating and maintaining high levels of customer loyalty. Simply branding, having a good web page, and purchasing lots of advertisement are not sufficient for keeping customer loyalty high. Proper brand image and customer loyalty strategies use a combination of promotional materials, channels, and techniques.

Purchase Rewards

Companies with strong purchase rewards programs find customers returning to their stores consistently. For example, CVS Pharmacy offers ExtraBucks on certain items and time periods. Not only does this call for more money spent its stores, customer loyalty skyrockets when purchase rewards programs are properly utilized.

First, research which products you offer are not purchased as often as more popular items. Next, calculate reasonable incentives that align with your company’s budget, while also being viewed as worthwhile to customers. Develop a clever name for your rewards program that is catchy and easy to remember.

Effectively marketing your company’s new purchase rewards program is just as important as developing an easily understood, attractive rewards program. Sending group emails to various demographics of customers is most effective in generating interest in a purchase rewards program. Initially offer extra incentives to encourage existing customers to actually use the rewards program, rather than simply being aware of it.

Limited Time Only Promotions

Creating situations in which customers feel as if they earned a deal is essential to customer loyalty. For example, offering a product or service during a limited window of time during a day or week can make customers feel like they did a good job when shopping. Limited time only promotions may be ineffective when designed around wide windows that do not spur customer urgency to hurry up and buy something.

Pay per click ads and social media ads are effective in marketing limited time only promotions. Net benefit from an existing customer is likely lower than that of a new customer, as strong customer loyalty comes from first time purchases. Market to people who have recently searched for products related to your field for optimal effectiveness. Also, marketing on certain days of the week when people get paid most frequently may garner higher effectiveness in creating loyalty from new customers.

Hyperlinking to Relevant, Positive Sources

All companies speak well of their own offerings, with third parties being less likely to speak as highly of those products and services. Locating positive reviews about your products online and hyperlinking them into product listings on your website helps build credibility and customer loyalty.

If your offerings are obscure, hiring a reputable news agency to create and distribute a reputable press release may be a good idea. Do not hyperlink to sources that are not credible and well known. Demonstrating that others show interest in your products is an outstanding method of building customer loyalty.

Do not hyperlink to more than two sources in any product’s profile or listing. Excessive links to other web pages may distract readers from becoming interested in your products. Also, visitors may spend more time on hyperlinked sites, essentially using your company’s web page as a stepping stone to somewhere else.

Utilizing Long-String SEO Phrases and Changing Them Often

Search engine optimization has few barriers to entry and many free resources, resulting in thousands of companies flooding the Internet with SEO-friendly words and phrases. Single words or two-word phrases are most commonly used as search terms. As well-established companies with many resources have worn out the possibility of becoming known using short search terms, utilizing long-string SEO phrases may be most effective in creating customer loyalty. It is equally important you change up the phrases based on current trends.

Create a list of longer phrases that are searched for often related to your field of business. Make sure each phrase consists of emotions, emotion-related terms, or anything related to strong feelings. By flooding your company’s website with such SEO terms, emotionally fueled customers that are easily persuaded are drawn to your website.

Modifying these long-string phrases is crucial to consistently creating customer loyalty from new visitors. Utilizing the same phrases over time will draw only one group of customers. Adding popular clothing, cultural, or lifestyle trend-related terms into the phrases as trends change will draw new groups of customers in over time.

Offering VIP Programs for Money

Many companies have VIP reward programs for top customers, based on how long a customer has shopped with a company and how much they spend. Most of such VIP programs do not require payment to entry, only calling for high dollar amounts spent or frequent transactions.

Not only can your company make money from charging for VIP programs, it can actually encourage customers to spend more. Send out promotions for VIP program entry through marketed emails and PPC ads for a more effective outcome. Those interested in VIP programs likely often search for terms related to your business; PPC ads best suit the marketing needs of these customers. Emails work well in soliciting VIP programs as existing customers are known to purchase various products, increasing the likelihood of a positive click through from those emails. Creating customer loyalty from VIP programs is very effective when offers are marketed correctly.

Environmentally Friendly Initiatives

Customers feel better about their purchasing habits when they can rest assured companies they buy from are environmentally conscious. Offering product returns and recycles with a discount on future orders creates high levels of customer loyalty.

For example, Patagonia, a popular manufacturer of high-end jackets and outdoor wear, accepts used clothing and distributes them to people in need. Consumers would have otherwise sold the jackets or thrown them away. Donating clothing to people in need helps generate good will in your company, with a hefty side of customer loyalty.

Offering programs similar to Patagonia’s Common Threads Initiative are best when marketed to existing customers through email or physical mail. Offering to accept used items for a voucher, discount, or store credit only makes sense when accepting items from those who have purchased them.

If your products are sold by retailers, include information about environmentally friendly initiatives that offer some benefit to consumers along with your products. An effective digital measure taken to raise awareness is sponsoring the author and promotion of articles about your company’s new initiative.

Conclusion

There are many ways to market deals, initiatives, new products, and information to consumers digitally. However, matching desired goals of marketed items with proper channels of advertisement and promotion is essential to generating customer loyalty.

Purchase reward programs are effective in brick and mortar locations that have capacity to serve customers more frequently. Limited time only promotions are ideal for both in-person and online stores, and best when time windows are shorter than one week.

Commissioning the production and distribution of articles regarding your products and services by reputable sources is great at crafting customer loyalty. Hyperlink out to these sources when you wish to garner customer loyalty through credibility.

Understanding which methods are ideal for various promotion strategies is essential to generating customer loyalty from promotional efforts.