A look at strategies to bring customers back and turn them into potential brand advocates
New Delhi: Delighting customers at various points in their journey with a brand plays a pivotal role in turning them into brand advocates and loyalists.
How a brand treats its customers before, during and after the transaction is what helps brands earn trust, acquire more customers and retain them, representatives of different brands said.
Even if a company has a healthy return on investment (ROI) or a good return on ad spending (ROAS), the real success of a business depends on customers coming back.
Chances are that loyal customers often turn into brand advocates, who then through word-of-mouth, help spread goodwill for the brand.
“Brand advocacy is irrespective of category. Once the customer finds out that the product is better, their word of mouth becomes the true help,” said Harshit Vij, Founder, Freecultr.
Therefore, companies across the globe implement different strategies and techniques through loyalty programs, offers and other marketing techniques.
Personalisation
“Personalisation is key, and it can only happen once you understand the customer well. I prefer doing, and this is our journey,” said Arunima Choudhary, founder, of Super Urbans.
Personalisation is also important when communicating with customers. Giving an example of this, Aman Killa, Head of Revenue, Innovist a beauty, wellness and personal care brand based in Gurugram said, “If a product has been added by a consumer in the cart, within half an hour a different message giving additional information of the product with some offers should popup.”
This discourages cart abandonment and keeps engagement going.
Therefore, understanding customers and tweaking communication as per them matters.
“We try to create different segments of customers based on the past purchase products, gender, and geography depending upon the brand requirements and how that brand is. Once we create smaller segments, we typically send out fairly targeted personalised communication to those specific sets of customers,” said Atul Jain, founder & chief executive officer (CEO), of Cybez, which is an e-commerce marketing and D2C growth hack company.
Such personalized communication gives a sense to customers that the brand knows them, and they do not mind buying another product or even the same product again from the brand.
“By this way, you are also increasing the lifetime value of that customer,” added Jain.
Customer stickiness
Customer stickiness is critical in online commerce, clubbed with factors like the look and feel of the platform, analysis of customer pain points, user interface and messaging.
“Educational opportunity and education content is the first important thing in sticking with our customers. The next thing is community building and development,” said Hitesh Dhall, Head of e-Commerce, Rekhta Foundation, a non-profit organisation that works to preserve and promote the language, literature, arts, and culture of India.
Customer interaction
Almost every brand that IndiaRetailing spoke to has unanimously agreed that interaction reveals problems customers face about products, delivery, and services have all helped them improve their offerings.
“Once a customer has purchased your product, don’t shy away, pick up the phone, and speak to the customer. That insight of that customer is of utmost importance,” added Jain of Cybez.
This includes taking feedback on unpacking and unboxing experience as well.
“One should know their customers, if you know your customer I think half the battle is won. Winning the customers’s trust is very important in our category,” added Vij of Freecultr.
Problem-Solving
Understanding a customer well also helps a brand solve a problem s/he may be facing. For instance, someone’s dandruff problem which the customer might share during an interaction could be because of oily skin. A brand can then upsell oily skin-related products to the customer, which can help solve the issue, ensuring customers come back.
“If you have a strong product, especially in the beauty industry, then half the problem gets solved,” added Killa of Innovist.
Predictive analysis
Brands can use technology to help predict a customer’s next purchase and send relevant offers/communication. Abhiram Kolli, chief executive officer, of Biva a software company and an e-commerce enabler platform said, “In doing analysis, we automatically get data on what and when the next purchase of the same product happens.” This offers convenience to customers, especially in cases of repeat purchase items, helping cement the bond.
