How to Build Back Customer Loyalty After Covid-19

Improving and measuring customer loyalty is crucial for every business in gaining visibility and profit – allowing businesses to not only retain loyal customers for the long-term, but capitalize on this to attract new customers.

But when Covid-19 restrictions began, the importance of customer loyalty became even more apparent. Consumer spending was at an all-time low globally, meaning word-of-mouth recommendations and repeat purchases became crucial for many businesses. 66% of consumers would keep buying from their preferred brand, even if that company is competing against a “more innovative” business, showing how powerful consumer loyalty can be. 

In this article, we’ll explore 6 tactics you can use to boost your brand’s customer experience and build brand advocates that last once Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.

1. Offer Quality Omnichannel Customer Service 24/7

Omnichannel customer service refers to collecting information and data about individual consumers across various engagement channels, while in their complete lifecycle.

2/3 of customers get irritated if they find themselves having to continuously repeat themselves to different support representatives; omnichannel customer service helps to reduce this common pain point.

To understand how omnichannel systems work, imagine that you’re a service provider and a customer visits your website, goes through some plans, but exits without making a purchase. After some time, the customer revisits your website and then asks for a call from a support representative. Your sales rep approves the request and responds. The sales rep is able to give the customer the details they need to make a decision, all because the sales agent is aware of the plans that the prospect viewed on their initial visit to the website. 

That’s how powerful omnichannel models are. They keep you by the side of the customer at all stages and channels of the buyer journey.

Did you know? Consistent branding across all channels can boost revenue by 33%.

To employ an omnichannel model you must link customer service, sales, and marketing together. Unite all the customer touchpoints into one centralized system and allow your employees to make decisions based on the information obtained to give the best customer experience.

BarkShop, a pet toy store, unites their online brand experience with the real world via pop-up stores:

BarkShop allows its customers’ dogs to try out its products before purchase. Then the customers are given an in-app list of their pet’s favorite items.

This is a great way to build goodwill and showcase the product, ahead of the customer needing to make a purchasing decision. Tactics like this are likely to help build brand advocates: people who are loyal to your brand and tell their network about it.

2. Launch Rewards and Loyalty Programs

Incentivizing your target audience to make repeat purchases is a great way to build brand loyalty. 

To create an effective and successful consumer loyalty program you have to offer an incentive that no competitor is offering. Take customer behavior, expectations, market trends, and business size into consideration when building a loyalty program.

Adidas provides an amazing take on this. The brand’s loyalty program for Asia termed ‘3Stripes.co’ gives loyalty members a voucher worth $10 for every $100 spent, alongside other benefits.

Depending on your business type, you can craft a loyalty program that provides users with points and rewards at certain touchpoints or milestones. For example, it could be the case that every time they browse your online store they earn points, or they could earn points for making an in-store purchase. 

If you sell physical products online, perhaps you can offer free shipping as an incentive. Or if you offer services, you could provide clients with a $5 discount voucher for their next purchase.

To promote the loyalty scheme, you can take advantage of email campaigns. This will help keep your target audience informed about specific deals and attract new loyalty members.

Loyalty programs can be a great way to encourage your audience to make more purchasing decisions. For example, if a loyalty member has 27 points but needs 40 to receive special benefits, you could send them an email saying, “Keep going – You just need 13 more points to claim your reward!”

Hotel Tonight’s loyalty email executes this excellently. Not only does it motivate the customer to make a purchase, but it identifies what action the customer must take in order to get their reward. 

3. Focus on Customer Engagement Initiatives

If a business engages with its customers to its fullest potential,  consumers are more likely to create a long-term relationship with the company. Customers that are consistently engaged hold a 23% higher share in the brand relationship, profitability, and revenue growth. 

This means that the possibility of such clients referring your business to their friends and family is pretty good.

Initiatives that foster customer engagement may include phone calls or sending emails simply to ask if they are facing any issues or are getting on okay with your product.

SEMrush sends customers emails asking why they haven’t clicked on their newsletter for some time. The email subject states: “Are we still friends? Please say that we are!”

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