Source: Unsplash

Have you heard of the 80:20 rule? The well-known business conversion rule, also known as the Pareto principle, refers to how 80% of a company's profit generally comes from the top 20% of its customers.

It may sound like an exaggeration, but the research backs it up. Namely, 43% of US consumers report spending more money on products from brands they are loyal to. Moreover, returning customers pay, on average, 33% more per order than non-loyal customers.

So, customer loyalty is beneficial and profitable for businesses. What about customers? Well, stats indicate that 81% of consumers seek to form a relationship with a brand, with over 85% reporting being loyal to up to ten different brands.

Therefore, achieving brand loyalty is a win-win situation for companies and consumers alike. Yet, with so many brand options out there and the incessantly increasing customer expectations, companies find it challenging to transform conversion into loyalty.

To alleviate your troubles, we've outlined some of the most effective ways to use customer engagement to boost client loyalty and trust in your brand.

#1 Turn User-Generated Content into Brand Credibility

User-generated content is the staple of business trustworthiness today. From amateur social media posts to full-fledged influencer reviews, UGC is a powerful marketing tool for brands to establish their authenticity and credibility in the industry.

UGC comes in many forms, including images, videos, reviews, testimonials, podcasts, etc. Influencer collaborations, too, fall under UGC; however, organic, non-paid promotion by a genuine brand customer is always preferable and more efficient.

Customers love creating UGC as it allows them a unique opportunity to take part in telling a part of their beloved brand's story. It's a nod to companies that do a great job - but also a nod to themselves for making a smart brand choice.

Brands can leverage UGC in a variety of ways, from a simple repost on their socials to building upon the content on a larger scale or even drafting loyal customers as brand ambassadors.

#2 Monitor & React to Brand Mentions - Good & Bad Alike

Not every customer is going to be infatuated with your brand's products or services. So, while it's important to respond and leverage positive customer reviews, it's equally vital to adequately react to those not-so-favorable ones.

True or false, genuine or exaggerated - it rarely matters in client testimonials where they come up against corporate machinery, alone and powerless. 

Reputations of smaller, local businesses are even more fragile, as they lack the expensive PR professionals, crisis marketing budgets, and widely acclaimed brand image in the first place.

Timely detection of potentially bad publicity and a proper action plan go a long way toward brand damage control. Use a brand mentions tool or hire a media monitoring agency to keep an eye on the different contexts your brand appears in and protect your company's image.

#3 Don't Forget Testimonials & Reviews on Third-Party Sites

93% of consumers report that online reviews impact their buying decisions. What does this mean for businesses looking to leverage reviews as their brand loyalty signal?

Well, data from Bizrate Insights states that at least half of consumers trust third-party review websites more than reviews on retailers' sites. 

The stat is unsurprising - reviews and testimonials posted on brand websites are more prone to being embellished or even entirely fabricated. Third-party websites are, however, much more difficult to regulate. 

As you can't handpick the reviews you'd like to be shown on these third-party sites, your second-best option is to reply to them timely and adequately. Use your brand's official profile, show an understanding of the customer's experience and offer ways to ameliorate the situation.

#4 Create Personalized Experience for Your Customers

Personalization, when done right, is a massive driver of brand loyalty. Studies across the board have shown that personalized content helps build brand loyalty, increases customer satisfaction, and improves brand recall.

Even though the Internet realm is experiencing increased concerns regarding the sketchy practices of data collection and cases of misuse, nearly half of retail consumers will exchange their location and phone number for a more personalized brand experience.

Brands can transform customer engagement into a personalization tool in many ways. For instance, eCommerce businesses can use a shopper's past purchases and searches to personalize their multichannel marketing strategy.

Hyper personalization is definitely a trend in brand loyalty strategies, but, be wary of how you collect, store, and use customer data. Ensure all those processes are by the book, and clearly state the privacy policies on your website.

#5 Ensure Efficient & Thoughtful Customer Service

From helping clients retrieve their forgotten user profile password and finalize a purchase to solving complex customer requests and dealing with difficult consumers, customer service is key to establishing and maintaining a good brand image.

Whether you opt for a chatbot to solve simpler issues, hire a dedicated customer service team, or eeny meeny miny moe the choice of which teammate will deal with this customer request, the main focus should be on solving the problems successfully and quickly.

Failing to meet customer expectations could find you getting heat in an unhappy customer's Twitter thread or a Reddit rant. Unfortunately for brands, these types of call-outs quickly go viral, significantly tarnishing a company's reputation.

Your customer service strategy must be coherent across all channels. So, whether a customer writes to you via the site's chatbot, slides into your Instagram DMs, or calls your call center, your team needs to be consistent and well-informed.

#6 Build Community & Create a Sense of Belonging

Today, consumers are more than ever before interested in the values of the brands they put their trust in. Moreover, they are willing to pay more for a product/service if the brand supports a cause its shoppers hold in high regard.

Consumers, especially Millenials and Gen Z, crave a sense of community. It is only natural, as these generations have practically grown up in the era of social media, where the concept of belonging to a community is evident.

A great example of a successfully-built brand community is Apple. For most owners of Apple products, iPhones and MacBooks aren't just investments in beautiful, quality products - they are part of their identities.

Of course, smaller businesses can achieve this on a lesser scale. Social media hashtags, sticker packs, subreddits, and Discord channels are just some of the easy ways to allow customers to connect with other brand supporters.

To Sum Up

Businesses should understand that it takes them less time and money to create and retain a loyal, returning customer than it does to acquire a new one. 

With customers initiating engagement with brands first - through social media mentions or product reviews - they reach out a hand to their beloved brands. And the brand should respond adequately to the customer if they want to leverage the engagement to build trust and loyalty.

Of course, not all businesses boast a team of marketers to draw up an efficient strategy for building customer loyalty. 

Luckily, on DesignRush.com, a globally-renowned B2B marketplace, brands can discover the world's best digital agencies that provide a variety of services to cater to customers and turn their engagement into loyalty.