Customer loyalty: why you need a program to achieve it and some inspiring examples from today
Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2025 5:28 am
In competitive markets, it’s common to see CMOs investing heavily in attracting new leads to meet their conversion goals. However, they end up leaving aside a crucial part of their audience: existing customers.
Yes, constantly acquiring new customers is essential in any Digital Marketing strategy , but the loyalty of those who are already customers is the formula for achieving sustainable growth in any business.
So how about exploring more possibilities in this regard?
In this article we will discuss what a perfect customer overseas chinese in australia data loyalty program should look like:
What is customer loyalty?
Are customer satisfaction and loyalty the same thing?
What are the benefits of having loyal customers?
How to implement customer loyalty program?
5 examples to inspire you to increase customer loyalty towards your company
Keep reading!
What is customer loyalty?
The concept of customer loyalty itself holds no secrets. First of all, it is an indicator of the likelihood that a customer will repeat the experience after their first purchase.
But the term also refers to the method itself. It conveys the strategies, tools and actions that help people become repeat customers , whether by purchasing products or using a service on an ongoing basis.
A loyal customer is a company asset and a personification of the ideal customer .
Finding more of these people and getting to know them better are key steps to achieving recurring and constantly growing sales.
Are customer satisfaction and loyalty the same thing?
So to begin, we must clarify a confusion that generally occurs between the terms satisfaction and loyalty. They are often understood as synonyms when in reality they are not.
Satisfaction
It is a specific feeling related to an expectation with a product or service. A satisfied customer is one who finds what they are looking for and manages to solve their problem regardless of the link they generate with your company or brand.
Loyalty
It is more than a one-time feeling, it is a positive perception that goes beyond a purchase or the resolution of a problem. Loyalty is the indicator that for that customer, your company or brand is associated with an experience and a philosophy of life.
As you can see, there is a big and subtle difference between satisfaction and loyalty. Let's say that satisfaction is the previous step to loyalty, while the first is directly linked to the acquisition and use of a product, the second is more associated with the relationship between the company and the client .
What are the benefits of having loyal customers?
It's hard not to see loyalty as a good thing in any scenario. After all, it's all about getting customers to buy more and better from you, but it's crucial to understand what a good loyalty program means in practice.
This means knowing the various benefits that a Digital Marketing plan brings to the profitability of your business.
Below we will see a list of the main ones!
Sell more to converted customers
There is one vital indicator for online businesses, especially virtual stores, that is directly related to customer loyalty. We are talking about Lifetime Value (LTV) .
This metric shows you the average time a person is a customer and how much they spend during that period.
Improving this KPI can maximize the return on each new customer. We know how hard it is to get them, so why not take full advantage of this after converting a lead into a customer ?
Reduce costs in marketing
As a marketer, you are aware of the costs involved in attracting new leads from the start. This work includes helping them learn about your brand, getting their attention, making them consider options, and convincing them to buy.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is always higher when the buying journey is longer. That's why you should focus on those who are closer to making a new purchase.
Therefore, having a balance between generating leads and nurturing converted customers is the best strategy for a lower CAC.
Earn predictable income
A loyal customer base will always consume something from your brand. For retailers, this is a competitive advantage.
So, instead of just working on events to generate revenue on a certain date, leverage your customers' loyalty to keep your business profitable all year long.
After all, a predictable cash flow helps you plan for a steady pace of expansion !
Building a strong user base
Most customers come and go, but those who stay form a core that gives stability to your brand.
A loyal audience is eager to share thoughts and insights about their habits, expectations, and experiences , so getting to know them better will teach you how to attract more people like them.
Be more attractive
When a customer gives you their loyalty, it doesn't just mean they want to buy more, but they want to be part of the brand's life, interacting with it, promoting it and participating in its initiatives.
This means that the larger your loyal base, the more engagement you'll get on campaigns and live experiences as they participate, tag friends, and talk about you.
Thinking about what Digital Marketing means today, loyalty is not just about more sales, it is about improving brand awareness and online visibility .
Create a premium image
There's no denying it: humans like to feel special, so why not use this in your business?
Loyalty programs and exclusive content or products give the brand a superior quality that separates occasional customers from repeat customers.
It's not just about getting them to want to pay more, but also about how they view your brand and its position in the market at large.
This insight influences your Content Marketing strategy and social media interactions and opens up new possibilities for niche-focused actions and producing more engagement .
It also affects the type of audience you attract, as you captivate an audience that is eager to be loyal and create a deep connection with your brand.
How to implement customer loyalty program?
Many factors come into play when planning a new loyalty program:
target market ;
the nature of your solution;
profit targets;
brand expansion objectives;
inter alia.
That's why it's impossible to give you a ready-made formula that will work 100%. Such a thing doesn't even exist.
However, what we can do is share our experience and tell you the points you should pay attention to when creating your plan.
Below we offer some tips for developing and implementing the strategy.
Clearly define where you want to go
Knowledge is everything when starting a loyalty program. Instead of throwing the first idea on the table, research your target audience.
Improve buyer persona mapping and benchmarking to see what your competition is doing.
After that, you will have a better foundation to start shaping your plan. You should answer questions like:
Where should I focus my efforts?
What can I give my clients?
What do I hope to recover?
It all depends on your business and your customers, as well as the relationship between them .
Design an amazing shopping experience
One thing we must emphasize: even if you offer the right incentives, a bad shopping experience will ruin all your efforts.
We are talking about a journey in which your customer browses, chooses, pays and receives. Customer satisfaction with the product and communication automation are also taken into account .
Even when a company doesn't have a specific loyalty program, the experience itself can be enough to make customers want to repeat it and recommend it to their friends.
Reward customers who buy more than once
You can improve customer loyalty by planning the right incentives and offering them at the right time, and to achieve that, a great benefit of marketing specifically to your customer base is that you have more data about them .
This includes things like what they want, what they buy, what their birthdays are, and how they search for products.
Use this to your advantage and offer rewards like free shipping and special discounts. You can even create tiered benefits based on how much they spend or how many times they purchase.
And you don't even need to put in that much effort, email marketing automation can do that work for you. But remember to pay attention to creating mental triggers to stimulate interest.
Create a structured and fixed program
Many online businesses are investing in more sophisticated subscription-based loyalty programs . What if you do that too?
That usually involves charging a small fee for the customer to access benefits like free shipping, early access, virtual events, and better payment options.
The best thing about such a program is that it guarantees predictable income from two different sources.
On the one hand, you have a recurring payment system. On the other hand, you create the conditions for those customers to be more likely to continue buying from you.
But let's be honest. Clients won't sign up to your program just because you invited them. You need to structure a plan with clear benefits and always deliver on your promises.
Treat them like exclusive clients
People want to be part of your brand and feel special. So, the best way to implement loyalty programs is by giving them that special feeling of belonging.
Think about what you could do that is exclusive to your loyal customer base. That could include live closed events, special live coverage, special interactive content , and access to new products or services before the general public.
As a marketing strategy, you can also have a more direct connection with your customers, bringing them closer and valuing their feedback more. The more exclusive they feel, the more people will want it too.
Measure the evolution of your strategy
This will help you a lot when it comes to executing your customer loyalty strategy. But this is the kind of effort that never ends and always has room for improvement.
So keep an eye on KPIs, especially CAC and LTV. If you have a subscription plan, add churn rate to these key indicators.
When you cross-reference those numbers with your digital marketing results, you begin to understand the difference between casual customers and those looking for a deeper connection.
5 examples to inspire you to increase customer loyalty towards your company
We’ve talked all about customer loyalty: what it is, its importance, and how to achieve it. Now, how about some real-life examples to start off this journey?
Below we discuss 5 cases that show the wide variety of approaches and objectives you can set when implementing a customer loyalty plan for your business. Check them out!
Yes, constantly acquiring new customers is essential in any Digital Marketing strategy , but the loyalty of those who are already customers is the formula for achieving sustainable growth in any business.
So how about exploring more possibilities in this regard?
In this article we will discuss what a perfect customer overseas chinese in australia data loyalty program should look like:
What is customer loyalty?
Are customer satisfaction and loyalty the same thing?
What are the benefits of having loyal customers?
How to implement customer loyalty program?
5 examples to inspire you to increase customer loyalty towards your company
Keep reading!
What is customer loyalty?
The concept of customer loyalty itself holds no secrets. First of all, it is an indicator of the likelihood that a customer will repeat the experience after their first purchase.
But the term also refers to the method itself. It conveys the strategies, tools and actions that help people become repeat customers , whether by purchasing products or using a service on an ongoing basis.
A loyal customer is a company asset and a personification of the ideal customer .
Finding more of these people and getting to know them better are key steps to achieving recurring and constantly growing sales.
Are customer satisfaction and loyalty the same thing?
So to begin, we must clarify a confusion that generally occurs between the terms satisfaction and loyalty. They are often understood as synonyms when in reality they are not.
Satisfaction
It is a specific feeling related to an expectation with a product or service. A satisfied customer is one who finds what they are looking for and manages to solve their problem regardless of the link they generate with your company or brand.
Loyalty
It is more than a one-time feeling, it is a positive perception that goes beyond a purchase or the resolution of a problem. Loyalty is the indicator that for that customer, your company or brand is associated with an experience and a philosophy of life.
As you can see, there is a big and subtle difference between satisfaction and loyalty. Let's say that satisfaction is the previous step to loyalty, while the first is directly linked to the acquisition and use of a product, the second is more associated with the relationship between the company and the client .
What are the benefits of having loyal customers?
It's hard not to see loyalty as a good thing in any scenario. After all, it's all about getting customers to buy more and better from you, but it's crucial to understand what a good loyalty program means in practice.
This means knowing the various benefits that a Digital Marketing plan brings to the profitability of your business.
Below we will see a list of the main ones!
Sell more to converted customers
There is one vital indicator for online businesses, especially virtual stores, that is directly related to customer loyalty. We are talking about Lifetime Value (LTV) .
This metric shows you the average time a person is a customer and how much they spend during that period.
Improving this KPI can maximize the return on each new customer. We know how hard it is to get them, so why not take full advantage of this after converting a lead into a customer ?
Reduce costs in marketing
As a marketer, you are aware of the costs involved in attracting new leads from the start. This work includes helping them learn about your brand, getting their attention, making them consider options, and convincing them to buy.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is always higher when the buying journey is longer. That's why you should focus on those who are closer to making a new purchase.
Therefore, having a balance between generating leads and nurturing converted customers is the best strategy for a lower CAC.
Earn predictable income
A loyal customer base will always consume something from your brand. For retailers, this is a competitive advantage.
So, instead of just working on events to generate revenue on a certain date, leverage your customers' loyalty to keep your business profitable all year long.
After all, a predictable cash flow helps you plan for a steady pace of expansion !
Building a strong user base
Most customers come and go, but those who stay form a core that gives stability to your brand.
A loyal audience is eager to share thoughts and insights about their habits, expectations, and experiences , so getting to know them better will teach you how to attract more people like them.
Be more attractive
When a customer gives you their loyalty, it doesn't just mean they want to buy more, but they want to be part of the brand's life, interacting with it, promoting it and participating in its initiatives.
This means that the larger your loyal base, the more engagement you'll get on campaigns and live experiences as they participate, tag friends, and talk about you.
Thinking about what Digital Marketing means today, loyalty is not just about more sales, it is about improving brand awareness and online visibility .
Create a premium image
There's no denying it: humans like to feel special, so why not use this in your business?
Loyalty programs and exclusive content or products give the brand a superior quality that separates occasional customers from repeat customers.
It's not just about getting them to want to pay more, but also about how they view your brand and its position in the market at large.
This insight influences your Content Marketing strategy and social media interactions and opens up new possibilities for niche-focused actions and producing more engagement .
It also affects the type of audience you attract, as you captivate an audience that is eager to be loyal and create a deep connection with your brand.
How to implement customer loyalty program?
Many factors come into play when planning a new loyalty program:
target market ;
the nature of your solution;
profit targets;
brand expansion objectives;
inter alia.
That's why it's impossible to give you a ready-made formula that will work 100%. Such a thing doesn't even exist.
However, what we can do is share our experience and tell you the points you should pay attention to when creating your plan.
Below we offer some tips for developing and implementing the strategy.
Clearly define where you want to go
Knowledge is everything when starting a loyalty program. Instead of throwing the first idea on the table, research your target audience.
Improve buyer persona mapping and benchmarking to see what your competition is doing.
After that, you will have a better foundation to start shaping your plan. You should answer questions like:
Where should I focus my efforts?
What can I give my clients?
What do I hope to recover?
It all depends on your business and your customers, as well as the relationship between them .
Design an amazing shopping experience
One thing we must emphasize: even if you offer the right incentives, a bad shopping experience will ruin all your efforts.
We are talking about a journey in which your customer browses, chooses, pays and receives. Customer satisfaction with the product and communication automation are also taken into account .
Even when a company doesn't have a specific loyalty program, the experience itself can be enough to make customers want to repeat it and recommend it to their friends.
Reward customers who buy more than once
You can improve customer loyalty by planning the right incentives and offering them at the right time, and to achieve that, a great benefit of marketing specifically to your customer base is that you have more data about them .
This includes things like what they want, what they buy, what their birthdays are, and how they search for products.
Use this to your advantage and offer rewards like free shipping and special discounts. You can even create tiered benefits based on how much they spend or how many times they purchase.
And you don't even need to put in that much effort, email marketing automation can do that work for you. But remember to pay attention to creating mental triggers to stimulate interest.
Create a structured and fixed program
Many online businesses are investing in more sophisticated subscription-based loyalty programs . What if you do that too?
That usually involves charging a small fee for the customer to access benefits like free shipping, early access, virtual events, and better payment options.
The best thing about such a program is that it guarantees predictable income from two different sources.
On the one hand, you have a recurring payment system. On the other hand, you create the conditions for those customers to be more likely to continue buying from you.
But let's be honest. Clients won't sign up to your program just because you invited them. You need to structure a plan with clear benefits and always deliver on your promises.
Treat them like exclusive clients
People want to be part of your brand and feel special. So, the best way to implement loyalty programs is by giving them that special feeling of belonging.
Think about what you could do that is exclusive to your loyal customer base. That could include live closed events, special live coverage, special interactive content , and access to new products or services before the general public.
As a marketing strategy, you can also have a more direct connection with your customers, bringing them closer and valuing their feedback more. The more exclusive they feel, the more people will want it too.
Measure the evolution of your strategy
This will help you a lot when it comes to executing your customer loyalty strategy. But this is the kind of effort that never ends and always has room for improvement.
So keep an eye on KPIs, especially CAC and LTV. If you have a subscription plan, add churn rate to these key indicators.
When you cross-reference those numbers with your digital marketing results, you begin to understand the difference between casual customers and those looking for a deeper connection.
5 examples to inspire you to increase customer loyalty towards your company
We’ve talked all about customer loyalty: what it is, its importance, and how to achieve it. Now, how about some real-life examples to start off this journey?
Below we discuss 5 cases that show the wide variety of approaches and objectives you can set when implementing a customer loyalty plan for your business. Check them out!