Did you know that marketing to retain customer loyalty is five times more cost-effective than marketing to gain new customers, and that 65% of a company's business comes from existing customers? Customer loyalty within your marketing strategy is more critical than ever. Here is how to get the most out of your customer loyalty marketing strategy and retain more customers.

What is customer loyalty?

Customer loyalty is maintaining a positive relationship between a customer and a business, driving repeat purchases while encouraging existing customers to choose your company over your competitors.

Why your business needs customer loyalty

• Customers spend more time and money on the brands they trust and are loyal to. Increasing customer retention by just 5% can boost profits by 25% to 95%.

• It creates a strong sense of trust and loyalty between a brand and its customers. The value they get out of the relationship may outweigh the potential benefits. 56% of customers stay loyal to brands which "get them."

• It costs more to gain a customer than retain a customer. Marketing to retain is a more cost-effective strategy.

• Loyal customers will bring new customers to you. Retained customers are likely to share your brand with friends and family through word of mouth marketing and social media.

How to keep your customers loyal

• Be generous. Show your customers you genuinely value them. Offer loyalty rewards and programs that provide real benefits. Let them know about the products and services they may need or want, inform customers when there is information that may benefit them, and make sure you're always going the extra mile.

• Make sure your customers feel valued. Offering loyalty programs and updating customers regularly isn't enough to make your customers feel wanted and valued. You could send the occasional personalized email or letter thanking them for being a customer or express your company's gratitude across your social platforms. These are just a couple of examples of how you can make your customers feel wanted.

• Think outside the box. Although you can offer loyalty programs and discounts to entice customers back to your business, you may want to consider offering more unique benefits that provide a value that your competitors don't offer. You could donate a percentage of purchases from each of your orders to a charity your customer base is passionate about, or maybe work with another business to provide discounts on a product that also interests your customer base which they can access when they purchase from you. There are plenty of creative ways to diversify your customer loyalty marketing strategy.

• Build a community. A powerful way to retain customers is to build a community. Bring your customer base together into an already like-minded community, where they can interact on topics that surround your business. Social media has made this much more possible for many brands and is a big reason why social media marketing can be so successful.

Case Studies

• Amazon - With their prime membership, Amazon users get free next day delivery, no minimum purchases, unique savings and access to additional features such as prime video and prime music. Customers are offered benefits too good to refuse.

• Taco Bell - The fast-food restaurant is often known to give away vouchers and coupons, giving customers free access to one item on their menu. They also send out cards and coupons to inconvenienced customers.

• The North Face - The apparel and outdoor gear retailer run a rewards program that offers unique opportunities, such as access to North face events, limited edition collections and collaborations and test products before they are made available to the public.

• Boohoo - A leading online fashion brand with over 8m followers on Instagram; Boohoo has used social media marketing to grow the fashion community, giving the brand tone of voice suitable to their target audience while creating content to suit. They also work with influencers their audience follow and engage with to create clothing collections.

Want to know which areas of your digital marketing strategy your business could improve on? Take a digital snapshot report here and find out.