5 tips for boosting customer loyalty

Boosting customer loyalty is no easy feat given increasing retail competition, innovative approaches retailers are implementing to keep consumers happy and coming back and the expanding ways loyalty programs are being crafted given the mobile device wave taking place in the retail environment.

So Retail Customer Experience reached out to Kevin Cochrane, CMO of digital experience management player Jahia, to get some specific tips on the topic. Cochrane, who is a board member at Digital Clarity Group, previously served as a VP of marketing for Adobe, and in the role CMO at Agari and Open Text.

Here's the insight he shared:

1. Implement a strategy customers can control. To create an emotional connection between your brand and your customers, implement a push-and-pull strategy the customer can control. You might start by gently 'pushing' your customer to view interesting and helpful information available on a variety of channels. It could also be offering recommendations based on previous activity or transactions. Then, let their curiosity 'pull' them from there. For example, Nike is using the push-and-pull strategy in its campaign, Find Your Greatness, where consumers are 'pulled' from curiosity into exploring the website. Once on the website, Nike 'pushes' consumers to learn more or purchase merchandise on their own terms to help them meet their fitness goals.

2. Gather in-the-moment data. In order to deliver value to customers through relevant digital experiences, put each customer anonymously into the appropriate customer segment. This is called personalization. It allows companies to analyze customer data in a comprehensive and meaningful way without tying the data to personal identities and without putting sensitive data in the hands of malicious hackers. Additionally, analyzing statistics from multiple data systems and cross-referencing them can cause key information to fall through the cracks, and you may risk missed sales opportunities to competitors. 

3. Stay personal. Each customer needs to be recognized as a unique person. Throughout the entire customer journey, each touchpoint needs to be personalized and based on real-time intelligence to build trust and loyalty. To do this, companies should only save information that is valuable for both their business and the consumer, like registration information, and apply those insights through the entire customer journey. By doing this, the customer is able to pick up exactly where they left off. For example, Netflix uses this strategy by tracking viewing habits and providing recommendations based on the user’s initial registration and previous search and viewing behavior. 

4. Provide consistent experiences. Whether on a desktop or mobile device in a brick-and-mortar store, brands need to deliver consistent customer experiences to develop and retain loyalty. Maintaining the brand's image across all channels, transferring the right content from desktop to mobile sites and keeping ease-of-use should be top of mind. 

5. Be transparent. Be open with consumers about what information you have about them. Marketers must respect customers and treat them as human beings, rather than as data points that can be monetized. A major way to foster trust and loyalty from your customers is to be exceptionally open around what information you have on them at all times. Allow the customer to choose what data will be stored and what data they prefer to remain private with an 'opt-out' feature.