Build Loyalty With Meaningful Customer Relationships

Listening to another person is an essential part of any relationship — and the one between brand and customer is no different. Taking the time to learn about your customers in as much detail as possible ensures that your loyalty efforts will align with what your shoppers want and need from your brand, which will, in turn, motivate them to return again and again.

The best way to get this feedback is to ask directly. Send out surveys, poll your customers on your Instagram story, or run focus groups. From these conversations, you can learn a lot of qualitative information about what shoppers love (or don’t love) about your brand, as well what would make them feel valued — whether that’s through discounts, VIP access, exclusive swag, or more.

With this deeper understanding of your customers, your brand can create a loyalty program that’s tailor-made to execute on a customer-centric retention strategy.

Ideally, you should first look at the behaviors of your top customers, since there are specific actions that define this segment: maybe they purchase from specific collections, follow you on social media, record unboxing videos, or leave reviews for all of their purchases.

Once you’ve identified those behaviors, you can encourage those same valuable actions from even more of your customers by using incentives — award 10 points for a follow on social media, or a special gift if they record an unboxing video.

Real relationships are not solely transactional. Be sure to make it clear to shoppers that you provide value beyond just your products.

You can do this by highlighting your loyalty program onsite in a way that creates a sense of community. This can be as simple as using language that turns your members into a “brigade,” “club,” or “clique.” You can even align this with your brand; Shefit, for example, refers to their loyalty program as the Sisterhood.

Additionally, make sure to incorporate your loyalty program into your communications with customers. When emailing a group of VIP program members, for example, be sure to acknowledge their VIP status in your greeting. Then, let them know what exclusive rewards their status allows them to access — such as limited edition products or first access to new releases.