Living in a challenging and transformable market landscape makes the brands wonder how to tickle their consumers and truly connect with them more than ever. Most marketing decision-makers are on the same page, agreeing that the customer experience (CX) should be their highest priority, as important as the quality of their products are, to keep up with the consumer needs and survive in the CX battleground.
The question is how to succeed that in a time when competition grows rapidly, and the options are incredibly numerous?
According to a Capgemini research, emotions are the main driver of loyalty:
““86% of consumers with high emotional engagement say they always think of the brands they are loyal to when they need something, and 82% always buy the brand when they need something.”
The broader challenge for elevating the customer experience is the brands’ emotional connection with the customers. The biggest marketing asset is the existing customer base, so getting to know them better and making them feel appreciated is profoundly essential. Brands should focus on keeping their customers by heart and not by the wallet, a tactic that they should also follow to attract new ones. After all, discounts are now less effective than rewards that have an emotional impact.
Through this more humanized approach, the bond between brands and their customers will strengthen, making the last ones more engaged and willing to spread the news by referring their experience to their friends or doing great online reviews and promoting their favourite brand. Thus, if brands do so, their customers could even do the job for them.
What does that exactly mean?
Undoubtedly, making customers feel unique and exceptional is a challenging task, but that comes back to the brands as a boomerang for sure. Great services are always rewarded through word-of-mouth, transforming the consumers into free ambassadors of their preferred brands. Word-of-mouth was, is and always will be the best way for a brand to be promoted. So, for instance, when you are strongly satisfied by a restaurant’s services, you rush to recommend it to your friends and family, and that’s how it works throughout each business. Especially nowadays, the power of social media has accelerated and strengthened word-of-mouth advertisement, which now is easier, faster and of more significant impact, only by making a post into the Instagram feed.
Coming back to the hard part, emotionally engaged consumers tend to expect more and more from the brands they’re engaged with. It’s like a vicious cycle. Brands should be able to hold onto that cycle, serving their customers’ expectations and keeping them delighted. The starting point and the basic element for the whole process of creating an ultimate customer experience is to put that extra magical ingredient into your strategy: that sentiment of exhilaration and surprise that customers seek and crave.
Unexpected perks and exciting rewards can renew interest and boost purchases. Imagine receiving a push notification from your favorite brand informing you that you earned an exclusive promo or a mystery reward. Wouldn’t it be thrilling? Thus, brands show gratitude to their loyal customers, and as for them, they wish to experience this privileged shopping journey again and again and share this positive experience with others.
Furthermore, what’s also huge is to put personalization and interaction into the table. For example, relevant product recommendations or birthday rewards, an interactive experience with an in-store associate, email/phone support, or even social media can make the difference. In that way, customers feel recognized and unique, and their bond with the brand gets more and more value.
Finally, the most trustful businesses are consistent and transparent in their promotions and their values. Companies that support a good cause, such as social issues, sustainability, and show philanthropy, are more worthy of customer engagement since customers are often willing to pay more if there’s a good cause ahead, and they get sentimentally attached.
Emotionally bonding with the customers creates long-term and stronger relationships, making the brands distinguished in the maze of competition. And eventually, not only does it reduce the cost of acquiring new customers but also increases customer retention and brand engagement.
For more on how to nurture loyalty with your customers, don’t forget to check Qivos’ whitepapers library.
