The changing business landscape will force marketers to focus on promoting customer loyalty. The realization that it is much easier to sell to an existing customer than a new customer is slowly settling in. It costs ten times to convert a new customer than to retain an existing customer. Data over the years suggest that a 5 percent improvement in customer retention rates increase profits to the tune of 25 to 100 percent.
So how do marketers strive to generate loyalty among their customer base?
The first consideration is to maintain consistency across all engagement levels. Regardless of the product or service, a consistent voice, tone and action is essential to build trust, the prerequisite for loyalty.
The second consideration is to deliver value to customers. The bottom line is that customers go where they get value for money. Most marketers try to understand what customers want and fill such need. Marketers seeking loyalty would try to provide customers with the maximum value for their investment aligned to their needs. At the very least, marketers need to define service and product features based on evolving consumer behavior.
Improved efficiency in communication and promotion initiatives invariably becomes a prerequisite to drive loyalty. Promoting loyalty requires increasing engagement levels by acting on data and analytics that consumers generate in quick time.
