The Art of Cultivating a Fiercely Loyal Customer Base

Hi there scroller, Megan Owen-Jones here. I'm our Brand Coordinator here at Social & Staple. I have a soft spot for brands that truly excel in their brand marketing. And you know what? Exceptional brand marketing often goes hand in hand with a fiercely loyal following.

I wrote this article, 'The Art of Cultivating a Fiercely Loyal Customer Base' inspired by the patterns I've observed and I hope you'll be able to take a little something to apply to your own marketing strategies... If not, I hope you enjoy the read regardless.

Working at a marketing agency like Social & Staple means we see firsthand the diverse landscape of brands, strategies, and consumers every day.

If there’s one thing we’re 100% certain of, it's that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach.

There isn’t a single end all be all solution that we can apply to Facebook Business Manager to conjure up a sell-out collection or achieve a 50 ROAS overnight.

What we can see is that a loyal customer base = solid sales, all year round.

Loyal customers help brands grow. That’s the big and short of it. Loyal customers often spend more, offer support against competitors and act as your brand's own ambassador when it comes to word of mouth marketing.

With more choices at our fingertips (literally), loyal customers are more important than ever. Our biggest recommendation to combat this?

Nurture your customer base.

Placing emphasis on the people already on your radar will not only give you short term, actionable goals, but long term, they’re the customer you want in your corner to drive home higher AOV’s and CLV.

So how do you attract and maintain loyal customers?

Let us share our intel.

Here are some tangible things you can put in place for your brand to turn the general customer into a advocate for your brand —

Create social proof: Share who is using your service, or wearing your products. Invest money in a ‘social proof strategy’ and share a product, or gift a service to a key opinion leader that makes sense to your brand’s niche.

Times are changing, a key opinion leader no longer must amass 1M Instagram followers. TikTok creators with less than 30k followers may have a ‘cult’ following, followers want to feel a part of.

Ensure this person is relevant to your brand. Don’t just jump on the bandwagon on the week’s most popular creator. Think of them as an extension of your team. Who do you want to advocate for your brand?

Go above and beyond your traditional offering: Selling T-shirts? How can you create a community of T-shirt wearers? Selling lip gloss? How can you create a self-care experience? Selling dried pasta? How can you leverage a lifestyle to go with it?

Unconventional brands who get this right:

• Alfreds Apartment
• Glossier — ok, definitely not unconventional but I couldn't leave them off the list...
• Barilla, in particular their Spotify Playlists designed to play in time with how long it takes to cook your pasta

Looking for your next promotion to stand out in a sea of % of $ off sales?: Why not consider a gift with the purchase; a tote bag is a perfect example of brand advocacy and it’s the chance of having your brand in spaces you potentially aren’t in. Or a $X gift card to use when next shopping with you.

In essence, loyalty is an investment and it should be part of your long term marketing strategy. While the returns may not be immediate, brands that prioritise customer experience and emotional connections reap the rewards in the form of customer loyalty.

So, our advice to you? Dare to create memorable experiences and find a genuine way to nurture your customers, and watch as they become your most passionate advocates (maybe even more than your mum!) Remember, we’re not chasing short term rewards, you’re playing the long game now.

To back this up we wanted to put a spotlight on a case study ‘The Science of Loyalty’ shared by Intuit Mailchimp x Canvas8. Which really put things into perspective and solidified what we see with both our clients, and brands we shop from.

For me, the key takeaways were:

• Loyalty extends beyond price and quality; it's about offering perceived value that enhances customers' lives.
• Brand loyalty is deeply rooted in the emotional connection a brand fosters with its customers.
• Social influence plays a significant role; people are inclined to follow the behaviour of those around them.
• Brands that align with customers' social identity tend to foster greater consumer-brand loyalty.
• We’re hardwired as humans to respond positively to a gift and automatically feel indebted to the giver.

Connect with Megan Owen-Jones on LinkedIn or reach out via [email protected] we're sure she'd love to hear from you.