Creating customer loyalty in e-commerce is a very important factor. It is always more profitable to turn potential customers into existing customers rather than acquire a new customer. In addition, converting existing customers into loyal customers provides advantages for businesses.
The strength of the bonds that develop between the customer and the brand ensures minimum fluctuations in monthly or annual sales rates. The more satisfied the customer is with their experience, including pre-sales and post-sales services, the more likely they are to become a loyal customer.
As loyal customers talk about their favorite companies through a type of marketing called word of mouth, the demand for the company increases. Today, this type of word-of-mouth marketing has been carried over to the internet.
There are some ways to convert existing customers into loyal customers. Let us now examine these methods in detail.
1. Building a Trusted Brand Image
In order to create customer loyalty, it is necessary to lay the foundations of a reliable brand image together with the first step towards E-Commerce. So how to create a reliable brand image?
In order to create a reliable image on e-commerce sites, a clean coded, reliable and fast working website is needed. Users will not trust a site that they are not satisfied with, and they do not spend too much time navigating that site. The longer the user stays on the website, the more likely they are to buy.
There is a need for an attractive and representative logo to be used on both the website and social media accounts. The logo is used to represent the brand. For this reason, a good logo is indispensable.
Another step in creating a credible image is acting consistently. For example, when applying a pricing policy, one should not act at extreme points. The brand has a certain value and the image it creates in the mind of the consumer. For example, if the brand appeals to the middle-income segment, its general attitude should be like this.
To create a reliable brand image, all topics spoken about the company on the internet should be followed, proactively acted and users should be answered as much as possible. With the development of social media, interactive communication has increased. Therefore, users who cannot find a contact person against them may damage the image of the company by making negative criticisms about the company. Responding to followers is very important at this point.
2. An Effective Social Media Management
Social media platforms, which are the returns of the digital age, are closely interested in E-Commerce brands. E-Commerce brands should listen, develop and produce through social media.
Companies can promote, increase sales, gain awareness and communicate with followers through social media. The contribution of social media to E-Commerce brands is quite large in this sense.
For an effective social media management, more than one social media platform should be used at the same time. Since the target audience of each brand is different, the choice of social media should be made accordingly.
While it is appropriate for a brand that appeals to older people to be on Instagram and Facebook, it is appropriate for a brand that appeals to young people to be on Instagram or Twitter. The platforms that should be used can be decided according to the demographic characteristics and shopping habits of the target audience of the brand.
So how to use social media accounts effectively? The first rule is to produce content regularly. The best competitors in the industry should be examined and a roadmap should be drawn according to their sharing frequency. For example, if competing brands make an average of 2 posts per day, this figure should not be undershot.
Competitor analysis is indispensable in an effective social media management. The number of shares, styles and interactions of competitors should be examined. Competitor brands should not be imitated, but good content should be identified and ways to produce better content should be sought.
These content, which are shared regularly, should appeal to the followers and attract their attention. The number of companies using social media is very high now. In order to get ahead of them and be noticed, creative content should be produced and the needs of the followers should be met.
A brand's social media account should not be solely for sales purposes. The more benefit an account provides to the user (such as informing, entertaining), the more likely the user will follow the page and the followers will turn into customers over time. Therefore, effective use of social media is essential to create loyal customers in e-commerce.
3. Encourage Feedback
In order to create customer loyalty, the content shared by the brand on the web should be returned as much as possible. It is not possible to find more valuable data than customer feedback. Listening to the demands or expectations from the primary mouth, receiving criticism is very valuable for the brand's self-development.
For this reason, you should definitely encourage customers to comment, especially in the content shared on social media. This can be achieved through candid stories as well as story features such as survey, question-answer, test. Making live broadcasts or using comments encouraging comments in post explanations are also methods that provide feedback.
In addition, in the content shared on the website, expressions that encourage comments should be used. It should not be forgotten that a single strategy is insufficient in an internet-based trading system. All channels of the Internet should be given the same care.
The more closely the customer gets to know, the more personalized service is offered. Providing personalized service also strengthens the bond between the company and the customer.
4. Giving Customers Surprise Gifts
You've all come across the raffles held in the digital environment. Although this method provides the opportunity to gain a good follower in the beginning, it has been realized that just gaining followers does not add value to the brand.
The fact that people follow a brand does not mean that they will shop from that company. When the draws are concluded, the majority of the followers gained are usually lost.
Social media is the most effective way to stay in constant interaction with followers. For this reason, giving a random gift to a comment has become popular lately and has received positive feedback, as it is perceived as a "well-intentioned approach" compared to sweepstakes. If you want to create loyal customers, you must ensure that your followers are permanent on your social media accounts. Rewarding them when they least expect it is an effective way to keep them on track.
Another way to give surprise gifts is to send additional items alongside some orders from time to time. This can be presented in a friendly way, accompanied by a special note. The customer does not expect to encounter such a gift when purchasing that product, but when he encounters a gift, his sympathy for the brand will increase inevitably, he will shop more and even share it by tagging you on his social media account. This method is a must try.
5. Hassle Free Delivery Process
Delays in delivery are one of the most frequent complaints of customers. In order to improve the customer experience, a delivery date must be specified on the website and this period should not be exceeded as much as possible.
Products that are delivered later than expected are not welcomed by customers and the customer is hesitant to shop for the second time, perhaps from the company they shopped for the first time. For this reason, it is very important to stick to the delivery time. This element is very important in order to create customer loyalty.
6. Feeding Blog Content
One of the effective ways to build loyal customers and even gain new customers is to offer quality content. When these contents are written in accordance with SEO rules, which is a requirement of E-Commerce, it also allows to gain new customers.
Companies that are only sales-oriented are in the background compared to companies that provide benefits to the user. Therefore, every content that will benefit the consumer will increase the bond between the customer and the company a little more, and will provide support at the point of creating customer loyalty.
7. Creating Discounts and Campaigns
Especially on special days, many brands offer great discounts. Campaigns organized on special days are already expected and customary.
The most important thing to consider when planning a campaign is not to devalue the brand. Designing a campaign other than the image of the brand will not have pros, but will have cons.
Properly crafted campaigns are a great way to generate loyal customers. Apart from special days, unexpected short-term campaigns also encourage consumers to sell.
You can try to surprise them to create customer loyalty, and you can come up with unexpected campaigns at unexpected times.
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