5 Steps to Build Meaningful Communication With Your Customers
Tips from Main Street Hub and LoyaltyPlant
We teamed up with LoyaltyPlant, a restaurant loyalty and digital ordering mobile solution, to give small business owners the tips they need to build meaningful relationships with their customers through effective communication strategies.
In today’s market, maintaining and building customer loyalty can be a real challenge for small businesses. As a business owner, you value your customers, and in an ideal world, they value your business right back — and keep coming back. The true fans are repeat-visitors and enjoy spreading positive word-of-mouth about your business, whether that’s in person to their friends and family, or online on their personal social media pages. In order to create more true fans, you need to build and maintain relationships with your customers — and with social media and mobile apps, you have the opportunity to make meaningful connections with your customers within seconds.
Take a look at these stats:
- 67% of consumers now utilize networks like Twitter and Facebook for customer service requests. This means that each and every message, mention, and wall post that comes in for your business on social media has the power to influence a consumer’s opinion of your business and their likelihood to visit.
- More than half of customers aged 18–50 around the world want restaurants to offer loyalty programs via a mobile app, according to a survey by Oracle Hospitality. This isn’t just millennials, who were most likely to want to use mobile apps for loyalty programs (56%), but Gen Xers as well (50%).
1. Keep your customers up to speed
As your brand grows and develops, letting your customers know about news and updates is an excellent way to build a solid relationship. You can do this through mobile apps — through carefully chosen push notifications and a well thought-out “news” section. But don’t overdo it, says LoyaltyPlant, keep the updates interesting and effective.
You can also be sure to keep your customers in the know by posting great content on social media. This includes events, specials, and promotions — but you can really cultivate brand trust and authenticity by sharing personalized content on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter that tells a story vs. sells a product. This kind of content can include photos, videos, team member spotlights, educational tips and tricks, feel-good stories, and engaging polls and questions. Using this kind of posting strategy will help position your brand an expert in what you do.
2. Reward customer loyalty
Now that you have some loyal customers — reward them! Special offers, targeted campaigns and exclusive access to the newest products will benefit your most important customers and make them feel valued. In fact, according to the Oracle survey mentioned above 71% of consumers want free products (i.e. “Buy 10 coffees get the 10th coffee free,”) and 64% of consumers want a discount on every purchase (i.e. “Use your loyalty card for 10% off every purchase.”) Nearly half of consumers also value special treatment on birthdays and anniversaries (i.e. “Come in for a free spin class on your birthday!”)
With mobile apps, says LoyaltyPlant, you can easily target your customers individually. The appreciation will go a long way to build a long-term positive relationship between your brand and the customer.
Another great way to reward your customers is through an effective email marketing strategy. Discounts are often the main reason why people decide to subscribe to email campaigns and newsletters. You’ll want to send them engaging content and links back to your social media channels and website, but be sure to also work in incentives for your readers to make a purchase or stop by for a visit.
3. Get to know your customers
According to a 2018 eCommerce survey, 62% of smartphone users report having used their smartphone to make a purchase. LoyaltyPlant says that an integrated loyalty system allows businesses to gather data about customers’ preferences. As a result, marketing campaigns are more targeted and users only receive offers they are highly likely to be interested in. This, in turn, not only increases company’s revenue but also makes users’ experience more pleasant, and keeps them more loyal to the brand.
Another great way to get to know your customers? Taking a look at (and claiming!) your pages on Yelp, Google, and Facebook and responding to all reviews, both positive and negative.
Everything you need to know about responding to reviews here.
It’s also important to monitor your direct messages on Facebook and Twitter to ensure you’re responding to any questions or comments coming in.
More on extending your customer service online here.
These platforms are where you’ll get the most valuable feedback on what’s working and what’s not at your business — and what’s resonating with your fanbase. In your responses, you can ask questions to try to understand where their input is coming from and let them know that you want them to have the best possible experience at your business.
If you’re responsive, polite, and open to feedback in your responses, you’ll be able to build brand loyalty because your customers will feel heard and appreciated, which is, after all, why they reached out to write a review or send a request in the first place. Plus, it’s not just the reviewers who will see your responses, but anyone visiting your pages will too — and with thoughtful responses, visitors will see that you’re a brand that cares about its customers and the customer experience.
4. Get sharing
Encourage your customers to get sharing! According to a 2016 PwC poll, 45% of shoppers say social media, comments, and recommendations influence their shopping behavior. By combining loyalty programs with social media, such as extra points for sharing your posts, Instagram contests, etc., you can grow your audience and improve how your brand is perceived.
With mobile apps, a recommendation on social media brings in, on average, 3–5 new downloads, out of who 1–2 users become regular customers, says LoyaltyPlant.
5. Engage
Communicate! With a mobile app, businesses can create a useful and effective channel of communication. On some apps, businesses can ask customers to leave comments, and respond to those comments directly in the app. This is a good way to handle some negative feedback offline. You can also directly reward unhappy customers in the app — building a relationship and creating a potential loyal fan. A brand that evolves with their customer’s wishes and trends is a brand that can grow and last, according to LoyaltyPlant.
“More than ever, users demand brand interactions and if the company doesn’t respond on social, it’s easy to lose customers. That’s why engaging, conversing, and contacting customers via social media can have tremendous payoffs.” — SproutSocial
This means responding to reviews and direct messages as we mentioned above, but it’s just as important to respond to all interactions on social media from your customers — posts, tags, comments, tweets, and mentions.
- If your customers are posting about your business on Instagram — like, comment, and ask to repost on your business page!
- If your customers post about your business on Facebook — like, comment, and share to your business page!
- If your customers are tweeting about your business on Twitter — like, retweet, quote tweet, and reply!
Thank your customers, like their content, and reshare their content. This is the best way to let your customers know that you value them and their interaction and engagement with your business both online and offline.
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