Customer Loyalty Programs You can Plan Using Facebook
Consumers
are becoming increasingly demanding about how businesses and brands engage with
them through social media platforms. The pressure on marketers is to
effectively adapt communications and engagement strategies if one seeks to
transform social media interactions and foster brand advocacy.
Customer
loyalty programs are increasingly focused on social media platforms.
Surprisingly though, only one-third of businesses worldwide have a presence on
social media as against the millions of customers. There are significant
opportunities for leveraging Facebook to connect and communicate with
customers.
- Providing Fast And Accurate Support
Social
media like Facebook are used by leading brands in customer loyalty programs to provide fast and accurate support for
questions. Facebook messages are treated much the same way as emails or phone
calls, for a proactive customer service team. Customer feedback is used to
understand how to serve customers through different touchpoints including
social, online and even offline channels.
Social
media platforms like Facebook can be a wonderful means of building a tight knit
community around the brand to enhance a feeling of belonging and foster
customer loyalty. Social networks like Facebook are intrinsically connected as
they create virtual customer networks.
Facebook
is a powerful medium where brand followers and customers interact, leave
reviews or even share content and it is these virtual networks that are
nurtured and leveraged for boosting client retention and customer loyalty.
- The Value of Online Communities
To
kickstart the community, marketers need
to set up online communities and fan pages that provide access to vital
information. Facebook is an excellent channel for promotional offers and online
events or contests where only members of the social network group can
participate. This creates hype and one can also complement these brand building
efforts, by creating an interactive platform to respond to comments, queries
and concerns.
- Driving Customer Interaction
Facebook
serves as a centralised customer touchpoint for forward-thinking brands that
invest in social media marketing. The aim is to provide consistency in client
interactions. Through the sense of immediacy and instant connectivity, Facebook
has paved the way for a 2-way dialogue customers now seek. Social media
connects with customers in timely, personal ways building an emotional bond
with the brand. Social media has changed the way customer service is perceived.
Monitoring Facebook through a specialised team is essential for understanding
customer needs. Customers need to feel heard, if they seek to be valued.
- Maintaining Consistency
Facebook
has also offered an amazing platform for creating marketing messages consistent
with the brand. Investing in this social media platform to sustain and attract
customer loyalty enables brands to become disruptors and future-proof their
business. Brand loyalty depends on customer experience. The aim is to achieve
loyalty through experiential brand relationships.
Value
of brand loyalists is critical in the connected, modern and digital era. The
potential for amplification of your message is enormous. Once someone in the network asks questions
pertaining to products or services, this can boost brand appeal and give your
offerings exposure on a popular platform. For customer loyalty to grow, price
matters, though experience matters a whole lot more. Facebook’s research team
has designed tools and ad programs to deliver better customer experience and
ensure businesses are there for customers looking for them.
Research
by the social media giant also found Facebook users tune in 5 times a day and
are 1.25x times more likely to be brand loyalists than those using Facebook
only once a month. This holds true for Instagram as well, where users were
1.26x times more likely to be loyal customers. When it comes to customer
loyalty, Facebook leads the way. Thus, social channels like Facebook have
become an integral part of customer loyalty programs.