Building Brand Loyalty Through Mobile Marketing
There are a number of important things to consider when building a business. You need to create a product or service that fulfills a specific need, come up with a name that is both relevant and memorable, hire driven and experienced employees, and craft an attractive and functional website.
Addressing each of these factors will help you build an amazing brand that people will support or avoid, depending on their experience. Building brand loyalty takes a lot of effort and hard work, but mobile marketing will help you with your long-term brand building goals.
First of all, remember that brand loyalty comes through good customer experience and a positive relationship between a customer and a business. Mobile marketing makes creating that loyalty easier to achieve. Here are three ways to use mobile marketing to build your brand:
Mobile VIP Club
Customers are looking for more than just a great product. They’re looking for a great experience. Think of your favorite places to shop; chances are you prefer to go to places that offer a product you love, but also an experience you enjoy. Businesses with friendly staff and a clean store front always leave a lasting impression. The customer experience doesn’t have to end when they leave the store. (In fact, it shouldn’t!)
Everyone likes to be part of some type of elite group. It makes your customers feel special and connected. It also makes them feel like you value their patronage. Implementing a mobile VIP club can instantly help build brand loyalty. Simply encourage your customers to opt-in to your mobile marketing club, and start sending your exclusive VIP offers.
Here are some examples of VIP club messages:
- “VIP members take 10% off their next purchase between Jan 1 and Jan 10. Show this coupon at checkout.”
- Our VIP members can text “WIN” to 99336 and be entered to win a $10.00 gift card! Winner will be announced Jan 2.
- Thanks for your purchase! You currently have 114 VIP member points.
You can also use a mobile VIP club to send special coupons, keep track of purchases and point totals, and conduct contests. The key is to use the VIP club to benefit your customers, to make them feel appreciated and important.
Customer Voice
While creating a fun shopping experience for your customer is good, creating a 2-way communication is better. Customers want to be heard. Whether it’s about product requests, concerns, complaints, or ideas, customers like to feel that they have a voice.
You can periodically send out customer surveys, offering some sort of incentive for replying. Also, remember to keep the survey short. No one wants to take a survey for 20 minutes. For example:
- “Take a short survey and earn a free lunch special. Text ‘Yes’ to take the survey.”
- “What is one thing you would like to change at John’s Cafe?”
- “Our New Year’s resolution is to serve you better. How can we improve our customer service?” (You’ll get a coupon after you reply).
Giving your customers the option to participate in making your business better will help them to have a better customer experience. They will feel like their concerns are being heard, and that their voice is an important one. This truly gives them a good experience, thereby building loyalty to your brand.
Maintaining Contact
Improving your customer experience works well with VIP clubs and giving the customer a voice, but it will fall short if you do not maintain contact. You don’t need to send a text every day, in fact, you shouldn’t. But, you should contact your customers at least twice a month to remind them that you exist (and that they like you!). Consumers are bombarded by ads and sales and coupons from hundreds of different companies each month. Maintaining a regular, personal contact will help separate yours from the crowd.
Keep in mind that the frequency of your contact will depend on your particular business, and the needs of your customers. Here are a few suggestions:
- Collect customer birthdays when they opt-in. Then you can send a special birthday coupon to your customer. You’ll make the contact more personal, and you’ll likely make a sale. But the personal contact will increase brand loyalty.
- “Happy Birthday John! To celebrate, here’s a 15% off coupon for any purchase you make for the next 3 days! We hope you have a great day!”
- “It looks like winter is here to stay! We got 6 inches of snow last night. Come on in to the store and get a $5.00 gift card when you spend $20.00 on snow removal equipment. Offer valid Jan 1-Jan 10, 2014”
Conclusion
The bad news is that there is a lot to consider when building brand loyalty. The good news is that SMS makes it easy to build brand loyalty, drive sales, increase demand, and improve the customer experience. Mobile marketing works to meet multiple needs at once. One text blast can increase sales, improve customer experience, and build brand loyalty all at once.
Leave a Reply