Promoting your brand is not limited to paid advertisements. Believe it or not, one of the best ways to gain brand recognition is by leveraging happy customers.
Marketers these days are all busy creating content marketing campaigns that attract the attention of both old and new customers. However, most campaigns and advertisements are too focused on gaining NEW clients. Many overlook the fact that returning customers are just as important as the new ones.
Yes. Repeat customers matter!
Chasing new leads could boost sales, but, it may not always be the smartest approach if you want to promote your brand. Keep in mind that your greatest asset is your existing clients. They are the ones that uphold the real strength of your brand — with their continued praise and criticism of competitors. For this reason, it is vital that you keep them happy and satisfied.
Happy customers are good for business. They help you promote your brand merely by posting positive reviews and/or testimonials about it on their social media accounts. That could mean free marketing and more potential clients for you.
Remember that people are more likely to trust the opinions or good product reviews of their friends and relatives than the advertisements that appear now and then on their news feeds. Facebook overhauled its news feed algorithm to favor the posts of its users and keep up with this growing trend.
The question now is, how do you leverage happy customers into promoting your brand? Don’t worry: we’ve got you covered. Here are some essential things that you should consider if you want to take advantage of your customers’ satisfaction.
1. Make Customers Brand Ambassadors
The worldwide web is a massive marketplace. The Internet is teeming with massive amounts of content — makes creating a unique one reasonably tricky. At times like this, you may promote your brand by making your customers your brand ambassadors.
A group of happy customers is essentially a group of brand ambassadors. What’s more, they give your brand a more authentic voice because it appears that real, genuine people have gone out of their way to support your brand. Furthermore, while it is essential that you have total control of your brand, it would be wiser if you let your customers be in charge of it.
Get in touch with customers that write positive reviews about your products on their blogs. You might come across customers who have huge followings on social media — serving them well could mean a post highlighting your product or service.
Take for example the story of Fiskars, a world-renowned scissor brand.
While the company is already considered a stable brand, it has a group of brand ambassadors known as Fiskateers. The group created an online community where they show off their works and share creative ideas through discussions. This allowed Fiskars to come up with unique content for their social media campaigns.
2. Show off Customer Reviews & Testimonials
Customer reviews and testimonials are influential tools that you can use to promote your brand. Again, as mentioned earlier, potential clients are more likely to trust the words of your happy customers than your ad campaigns. Always make it a point to feature unedited reviews by your current clients on your website.
As much as possible, add the name and photos of the customers (with their consent) to make the testimonials and reviews more authentic and credible. If you can, dedicate one page on your site solely for testimonials or a series of reviews on your blog.
You may also share the reviews of your happy customers in your promotional emails. Remember, positive feedback can encourage potential clients to purchase on your website.
3. Create Referral Campaigns
By nature, people love to invite their friends and family members to try products or services that they have good experiences with. So, why not use this opportunity to promote your brand?
Through a referral program, you can give your happy customers small but valuable incentives for inviting their friends and family members to buy or use your products and services. It’s a win-win game because you would be able to keep your old clients happy and satisfied while doubling your sales.
In a survey conducted by Nielsen, it was revealed that 92 percent of consumers trust referrals from people they know. A separate study from BCG back in 2013 also showed that 66 percent out of the 32,000 consumers in Europe and the United States consult friends and family before making their online purchases.
When it comes to creating your referral program, there are plenty of options for you to choose from. Always consider all the marketing options that you have because the possibilities are endless as long as there are human elements involve and the sources are trusted.
If you want to know more about making effective referral programs and how you can use them to grow your business, you may click here.
4. Leverage Customers for User-Generated Content
Leveraging user-generated content is considered one of the most effective ways to promote your brand. Boost the perceived interest in your business by getting your happy customers to share their positive experiences while purchasing or using your products.
User-generated content gives your customers a way to express their creativity while using your product or service. And, it gives you free, high-quality content. UGC reflects how your brand affected the lives of your clients. Take, again, for example, what Fiskars did.
By reaching out to a group of people that could maximize the full potential of their product, Fiskars was able to establish an online community that produces valuable content for their social media campaigns.
In a study conducted by SEMrush in 2015, about 86 percent of brands are utilizing UGC to enhance their online presence and gain the attention of potential clients. Another study also revealed that user-generated content is also a compelling way to increase a website’s traffic, retention rate, conversion, and sales above all else.
Key Takeaways
Again, we would like to emphasize that customers make or break your business in many ways. Keeping them happy and satisfied could even generate essentially-free promotion for your brand.
Furthermore, marketing your products and services should not always be costly. By leveraging your happy customers, you can actually come up with marketing strategies that won’t burn a hole in your pocket.
Take advantage of the positive reviews that you’re getting and use them in your promotional materials. Never be afraid to get in touch with your clients. Turn them into your brand’s evangelists by creating programs that would give them incentives for promoting your business.
Take advantage of the tips that we provided not just to promote your brand, but to build your relationship with your customers, as well.
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