Anyone who thinks that customer loyalty increases by only offering points, miles, cash-back or any of its modalities, is very far from understanding what it is customer engagement.
Loyalty programs are a mechanism that is part of a marketing strategy. customer engagement. Reward a transaction with points or cash-back Its purpose is to recognize the client’s activity with the brand and give it traceability by adding a name and demographics to that transaction, which results in obtaining information and data for later analysis. In return, the customer takes these prizes that can later be exchanged for rewards or converted to money. But in the end, everything stays at the transactional level. That doesn’t build loyalty. Customer loyalty is not bought, it is earned over time.
For brands to be able to create and increase loyalty in their consumers, they must also include other forms of relationship. customer engagement it means interacting with customers through different channels to strengthen the relationship. For many brands this means starting with the same transaction and going beyond the point of sale. It also means interacting on social channels, email, websites, communities and forums, and other media where you can have contact with consumers.
Personalization plays a very important role in the relationship because the more knowledge you have about the consumer, the more relevant and timely the content will be and the greater opportunity to strengthen the relationship. The relevance in the content is what makes customers feel more engaged and identified with the brand. The level of engagement it may even be an emotional connection.
Another way to increase loyalty beyond the transaction is through social channels. The social media engagement today more than ever it is necessary to connect with consumers. The social engagement is the participation of brands in social networks in order to be closer to their customers through stories, content, social listening and user generated content CMU (https://www.merca20.com/create-loyalty/) among other tactics.
When a customer makes comments about the brand, writes reviews, recommendations of a certain product, it can be said that he is a committed customer. It is very similar to having customer ambassadors. His actions become more emotional than rational. These customers are natural promoters and generally do a good NPS assessment.
Given the above, we can conclude that creating loyalty beyond transactions requires a 360° marketing strategy. customer engagement which includes creating relevant and personalized content, having interaction through different channels, including social networks, relying on a good loyalty program to recognize transactions, social listening, gamification and offer a simple and frictionless customer experience (CX).