‘Consumer-Side’ Loyalty

16/04/2010

How Social Media Supports a one-to-one marketing model that encourages more loyal customers.

By Gary Edwards, Executive Vice President, Empathica

In today's economy, brand loyalty often takes a back seat to low cost alternatives. Attempts from brands to spend their way into the hearts of consumers have become increasingly difficult, with eyeballs rapidly darting away from traditional television and print, to a myriad of social media and Web alternatives that cater to individual tastes.

Mass customisation of 'content' to every niche customer segment brings with it a great deal of irony for retail. It's impossible to control. However, social media does...

...allow retailers to partially return to their roots, harkening back to a time when every successful merchant knew their customer and gave him or her what they wanted.

Going forward, it's all about returning to this old-fashioned retail approach and one-to-one marketing that promises there is something for everyone. The tables have turned from 'brand' loyalty to 'consumer-side' loyalty. Today's customers have made their message clear: 'Be loyal to my needs or I'll abandon you.'

For merchants seeking loyalty, relevance is the currency that holds the promise of differentiation, of profitability by sustaining loyal customers. No less important, in an increasingly fractionalised world of media, brands are challenged to create reach in broadcasting their message.

Because relevance rules today as consumers desire a tailored solution that quickly meets their needs, most retailers struggle with how to engage them in a social-media driven world. So how can brands use social media to maintain and increase their loyal customer following?

Relevance - Think Like a Customer: What's Convenient?
The growth of the Internet has created a 'right now' type of society. Your brand needs to be cognisant of this change and respond appropriately.

Customers require easy access to information,... continued on page two >

 

 

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