Giving away freebies can only get you so far. Everyone loves receiving them, but there’s more to building a loyal customer base than bribery. Finding faithful customers takes hard work to get it right. However, it’s worth it in the long run when you have a more secure business.

Having a great business strategy always helps, but sometimes it takes just a little bit more to get people really interested. Take note from these techniques if you want to create a customer following you can be proud of.

Find the Kitchen

To do marketing correctly, you have to know where your target audience is hanging out. In John Lewie’s case, it was the kitchen.

The more specific you can be, the more chance you have of reaching your audience and building a solid customer base. It might seem like everyone is on every social media platform at the moment, but we all have our favourites.

For example, if your business’ target audience is professionals, connecting with companies on LinkedIn will be the best way for you to find potential customers. If you own a retail company, Instagram will be your best friend for finding aesthetic-loving customers.

Whoever your target audience is, there’s bound to be a social media platform for them.

Be Relevant

Some of the best advertising is done in a timely reaction to events.

A prime example that’s used time and time again is Oreo’s reaction to the Super Bowl Blackout in 2013 that left the stadium plunged into darkness for 34 minutes. Oreo’s reaction? “You can still dunk in the dark”.

And while Oreo won the Super Bowl that year, there’s some experiences that have taught brands you can be too relevant. Many businesses have been scolded by their customers for insensitive social media posts aiming to advertise their brand in the light of a traumatic event.

If you’re using every event as an opportunity to advertise your brand, you aren’t going to impress customers any time soon, so pick your moment wisely.

Focus on Experience

People no longer want to buy a product, instead, they want to buy an experience.

Do Nike sell gym equipment? Sure. But they also sell they experience of exercise, which their slogan ‘Just do it’ encapsulates. Similarly, Apple don’t just sell computers and phones and techy stuff. They sell the experience of productivity and ingenuity.

So when you’re considering marketing to your audience, don’t just focus on selling your actual product. Sell the experience it provides the customer with. This will help customers be able to relate to your product and will also increase their desire for it.
 
 

Transparency

Transparency might just be another buzzword you hate people saying, but it’s important for the day-to-day improvement of your business. Providing a transparent service will gain you lots of brownie points when it comes to a loyal customer base. By transparent we don’t mean telling your customers all the ins and outs of your business, because a lot of the time they won’t be interested.

Instead, be transparent by being honest and open with customers. The boost in video marketing over recent years proves that customers value businesses that let people into their offices and offer behind-the-scenes information.

So start rolling that video if you want to build a loyal customer base!

Host Events

As a follow on from the ‘experience’ you should be offering your customers, what better way to provide them with this than creating the perfect environment for them to do it in?

Hosting an event for your customers will show them exactly what your business is about, and is the best way to be as transparent as possible.

Whether you take part in a fundraiser or regularly attend business events, showing your face is the perfect way of letting people in to explore your company and build a bond with potential customers.

Offers and Discounts

While we might have said that bribing your customers to like you isn’t the best way of doing business, there are some perks that could serve you well in the long run.

Creating competitions can increase your audience reach, which means more people hearing about your business. As well as this, rewarding loyal customers with regular competitions will strengthen their bond with your company.

A Unique Voice

You can do all of the above and create a pretty decent customer base. However, if you really want to intrigue customers and build relationships with them, you’ll create a tone of voice that’s unique to your brand.

As well as being unique, your brand’s tone of voice should be relevant and interesting to the target audience (we don’t ask for much, do we!). In order to do this you’ll need to know your customers inside out, as well as staying true to your business’ mission statement.

How do you build your business’ following? Leave a comment below with your tips or tweet us @PandleCloud!