Let's be honest! When a customer buys your products or services you often quickly forget about them and move swiftly onto your next customer, without any thought about their loyalty to your business. You are not alone, however here's why it's important to re-strategise, so that you benefit from their loyalty to you.
Customer loyalty and loyalty program for small business is a common goal amongst 95% of UK businesses. A large majority of small or large company’s list customer loyalty as a goal or high priority. it's highly desired by companies and many fail to gain customer loyalty, also many companies go to the extreme to gain customer loyalty.
Online retailers lose 25% of their customers every year, and a small increase in customer retention can increase profits by more than 25% with a loyalty program for small businesses.
So why is it important, according to Singh & Imran 2012 it is estimated that on average businesses lose 25% of their customers every year, and a small increase in customer retention can actually increase profits by more than 25% - with customer loyalty and loyalty program for small business you can increase your profits.
Keep reading, as Nurture Digital Marketing looks at customer loyalty and loyalty program for small business further in this blog.
Most businesses wants loyal customers
As small business owners, you are highly likely to want loyal customers, but what is “customer loyalty”? Loyalty is a term broadly used in daily life and has been adapted in marketing to describe an action between a customer and a business or service, with this adaptation there are extensive definitions of customer loyalty.
Customer loyalty is a term widely used in business and has been adapted in marketing as an important concept because it may be perceived as a method to increase market share, revenue generation or word of mouth marketing. Nurture Digital Marketing can
What is customer loyalty?
Now let's explore the many definitions of customer loyalty, it is essential to begin with a clear definition of the term ‘customer and consumer’.
A customer is ‘a person who buys goods or services from a shop or businesses’, Oxford Dictionaries Language Matters (2014). Likewise, a consumer is ‘a person who purchases goods and services for personal use’. Both these terms are interchangeable and throughout this blog customer loyalty will mainly be used.
Loyalty is defined as ‘a strong feeling of support or allegiance
Also, the terminology ‘loyalty’ is defined as ‘a strong feeling of support or allegiance’, Oxford Dictionaries Language Matters (2014). The definitions of the terms customer and loyalty shows that loyal customers are those who may demonstrate strong commitment, support or backing, to a business or service which may include positive word of mouth to others.
In addition, these definitions prove customers are the essence of business and so are loyalty program for small business. Similarly, it is important to a business to have a customer who buys goods or services and has a strong feeling of support or allegiance to the business or service.
Why is customer loyalty important for your business?
In almost every business, customer loyalty will prove important, the reason why this is so important is because:
A loyal customer is already “won” over.
A loyal customer no longer needs to be persuaded or converted into using your products or services.
A loyal customer has journeyed along your sales funnel, reaching a key area in marketing called “customer retention”.
Converting a potential customer into a loyal customer has many benefits because you potentially now have a brand ambassador.
At this point, congratulations you have possibly won over a loyal customer for life! You're brand ambassador/customer will bow happily recommend you to others which in marketing is called 'word of mouth marketing - which is priceless.
Loyal customers are your brand ambassadors
Companies such as The Body Shop, Audi and Apple invest heavily in brand ambassadors; they set aside large budgets to recruit brand ambassadors to evangelise about their brand and products. To build loyal customers companies use several types of loyalty programs. 57% of airlines and 41% of hotel chains reward consumers for a range of engagement behaviours. A typical approach uses Platinum, Gold and Silver tiers, typically based on purchase volumes (Singh & Imran 2012).
As a small to medium sized business, a loyal customer is important to your business as you now have a friend of the business who will now recommend you to others, sell your services freely for you and who will come back to use your services.
A loyal customer can offer that without you spending a large sum of money on Social Media influencers or third parties directories, you can do this organically, which is why Nurture Digital Marketing believes that loyalty program for small business and customer loyalty is so important.
To find out more about how we can support you with customer loyalty program for small business, please visit https://www.nurturedigitalmarketing.co.uk/contactus.
See our Marketing Management Service to see how we can help you with your marketing. Need a helping hand with your customer loyalty program or with your marketing https://www.nurturedigitalmarketing.co.uk/marketing-managament
References
1. Oxford Dictionaries Language matters (2014). Definition of loyalty in English. Available at http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/loyalty (Accessed: 30 December 2014).
2. Oxford Dictionaries Language matters (2015). Definition of consumer in English. Available at http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/consumer (Accessed: 10 January 2015).
3. Oxford Dictionaries Language matters (2014). Definition of customer in English. Available at http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/customer (Accessed: 30 December 2014).
4. Singh Roopa & Khan Imran (2012), “An Approach to Increase Customer Retention and Loyalty in B2C World”, International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume2, Issue 6.
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