Advocacy is the final stage of the local customer journey and one of the most important. This is the stage where you focus on building loyal, repeat customers. These individuals have already become paying customers and are pleased with your goods or services. Now is the time to transform these repeat customers into advocates for your company.
- Why Your Local Customer Journey Is Critical for Success
- Uncovering the Awareness Stage: Maximizing Your First Impression with Potential Customers
- Enhancing Findability in the Local Customer Journey: How to Ensure Your Business Is Easily Discovered Online
- Building and Maintaining a Strong Reputation in the Local Customer Journey: The Importance of Positive Customer Experiences
- Successful Conversion Strategies: from Prospects to Paying Customers in the Local Customer Journey
Why is Customer Advocacy Important?
Developing customer advocates is not only important, but it’s also critical to future business success.
Repeat Purchases
As a small business owner, you know how important each sale is. You also know how long it can take to convert a potential customer into a purchasing one. Loyal customers don’t typically require the same time commitment. They often make repeat purchases with little to no coaxing. They are the first to attend sales events and participate in special promotions.
Recommend to Other
Customer advocates are also more likely to recommend your store to others, leave positive reviews and engage in social media. These factors are so important. According to a Nielsen study, 80% of Americans seek recommendations from their family, friends, and peers before purchasing. Without loyal customers to provide these recommendations and boost your store’s reputation, you risk losing out on these sales.
Boost Sales
If you’re looking for long-term success, your business cannot afford to overlook the power of customer loyalty. Between their repeat purchases and bringing in new customers, your most loyal customers have the potential to impact the success of your business significantly. One study reveals that your business could receive up to a 200% increase in revenue business growth with just a 12% increase in customer advocacy.
How to Develop Customer Advocates?
Now that you understand customer advocacy’s importance, you can build a strategy to develop customer advocates for your business.
Encouraging Repeat Purchases
Don’t take your most loyal customers for granted. Sure, they may not need as much coaxing to make a purchase, but they still need tending. These customers should be the first to know about upcoming promotions and sales events. You can direct them to these special offers and new products and services when they visit the store. If they’re shopping online, marketing tools, such as automated messages or special promotions at checkout, can help.
You can also encourage your most loyal customers to provide online business reviews on sites such as Google, Facebook, and Yelp. These reviews can serve as a promotion for your business and reach a larger audience.
Offering Customer Loyalty Rewards
Customer loyalty programs are among the best sales tools for building customer advocates. Not only do these programs give you a chance to thank your customers for their loyalty, but they can make your customers feel special and appreciated. There are many types of customer loyalty programs, including points-based, punch card, tier-based, and cashback. It’s recommended to choose a reward program that offers the best business alignment.
Providing Exceptional Customer Service
Your customer advocates are crucial to your business’s ongoing success, and you should treat them as such. Consider offering a special customer service number to your most loyal customers to ensure you handle any issue promptly. You also want to consider noting these customers’ premium status in your CRM platform to ensure they always receive exceptional customer care.
Our EZtransition’s all-in-one marketing platform can help you engage with customers, foster these relationships and convert your most loyal customers into lifelong advocates.
Book a 30-minute call to discuss our fully integrated platform, designed with robust customer features to guide you to follow up with your leads throughout your business’s local customer journey.