Loyalty strategy: 4 effective steps [Real-life example].

Why implement a loyalty strategy? How do you effectively build customer loyalty? What is the definition of a loyalty strategy? And how can you improve customer loyalty with Instagram?

A loyalty strategy will enable you to:

• Develop your sales over the long term.
• Develop a loyal customer community.
• Create a real brand image.
• Attract new prospects.

This is why it's so important to clearly define your loyalty strategy.

To help you, we invite you to read this article in its entirety. For ease of explanation, we've applied these tips in the case of an Instagram loyalty strategy. But the advice given can be applied to your entire marketing strategy. Are you ready? Let's get started!

If you're one of Instagram's millions of monthly users and you need to stand out?

The first question to ask yourself is: Are you using your Instagram account to its full potential?

Strong relationships with followers on Instagram are extremely valuable.

A 2018 survey of 22,000 buyers showed that "brand trust" was a key factor in deciding whether or not to buy.

Genuine interactions on Instagram (and other social media channels) build trust. This contributes to the long-term loyalty of your followers, and even to the growth of your account. This is why implementing a loyalty strategy on Instagram is so important.

{{INTERN}}

What is the definition of a loyalty strategy?

Loyalty is about creating and maintaining a good relationship between a customer and a brand, with the aim of the customer developing real engagement with the brand. The definition of loyalty strategies, therefore, corresponds to the implementation of coordinated actions, to develop a lasting relationship between prospects and a brand.

Personal messages and frequent interactions drive word-of-mouth and can strengthen your relationships with your customers over time. If you communicate well, Instagram can be the key to creating a thriving and loyal network of customers, starting one person at a time.

Here are our guidelines for building quality relationships with your prospects on Instagram.

Favor a qualified lead and use the right levers.

Many community managers tend to focus on the number of followers and likes. But the truth is, it's more useful to have a small number of active followers who see your brand in a positive light than to have thousands of people who barely know who you are. To do this, monitor the engagement rate.

Integrate this into your loyalty strategy for best results.

The best thing is still to have lots of followers who know who you are, hence the importance of having a good Instagram profile and a professional use of Instagram.

Little personal interactions build goodwill and, ultimately, customer loyalty to the brand.

Instagram allows you to personally connect with your customers from your profile. Writing personalized comments and messages will show customers that their feedback, views, opinions and user comments are important to you.

Here are the most personally relevant forms of communication and levers to use on Instagram:

• Comments
• Direct messages
• Tagging

"likes" are cool, but comments are where real conversations start.

A long string of comments on a post means either:

• you're really good at engaging your audience.
• something has gone terribly wrong.

Hopefully it's the former. But even if it's the latter, it's worth responding to every comment (if any).

When someone makes the effort to actively comment on your publication, responding shows that you appreciate it and signals that their opinion has been heard.

You can automate all these actions to save time and grow your community more easily.

Netflix is excellent about the responses they make to the thousands of comments from these subscribers. Of course, they don't answer them all, but at least they answer the most frequently asked questions, and do so with a sense of humor. Thus adding a lot of value.

MDs are the longest and most private way to communicate on Instagram. It's also the best way to respond to your followers'questions, comments or problems. So it's important to incorporate them into the loyalty strategy.

For complex or extremely enthusiastic comments, a DM may be more appropriate than a comment.

If you want to build business relationships or partner with an influencer, a DM is probably the best way to communicate.

Finally and most importantly, you can respond to other people's stories. Whether it's to thank them for a mention, show your solidarity or brighten their day.

You can also automate sending a first DM to a new subscriber.

Mentions are shorthand for someone or something that requires your attention.

Read your subscribers'mentions carefully to see what they're saying about you. Think about why they might tag you in a post and note who you're tagged with.

These mentions can give you valuable insights into consumer trends to improve your customer loyalty strategy.

While responding to individual comments may seem time-consuming, try to avoid generic responses. This isn't your helpdesk or your email, but Instagram, a place where people hang out with friends and share their interests.

Use a casual tone (including emojis if you like) and write as if you were chatting with a friend. Your prospects will respond warmly to a brand voice that sounds like a person.

Good loyalty strategy = reciprocal positive exchanges.

According to one study, brands only respond to . Customers are increasingly turning to social media for help. It's important to respond quickly and consistently to customer questions and comments.

Regular contact from your branded Instagram account is an easy way to remind your customers that you exist. Reminding them that you continually provide value and that you want to maintain the relationship, actively participates in customer loyalty.

A quick response time can help you stand out from your competitors and keep your customers happy:

But you don't have to wait for your customers to contact you to get in touch with them.

Publishing content consistently is essential to appearing on news feeds.

A fresh stream of photos, videos and stories gives people reasons to check your account frequently. But beyond a simple media calendar you need to generate. You need to actively engage with your followers if you want to build loyalty to your Intagram account.

Don't be afraid to follow people. Whether they're new subscribers, long-time fans or simply people you find interesting. Comment on content that matches your brand values.

Reply via DM to the stories of people you follow. Tag people into content they would find interesting. Make your Instagram business profile a fountain of support and positivity, where prospects can expect daily, well-vetted interaction.

You'll find that in no time your community will do the same for you, so fidelization of your followers will be underway.

When you establish regular contact, you can more reliably expect responses to the content you post. For example, if you want feedback on a new product, you can count on your network to respond enthusiastically.

Quest Nutrition, a protein bar company, regularly publishes polls and sliders in their stories (sometimes with humor).

This is a great example of how a company finds out from its subscribers what keeps them coming back. Find out here how to do Instagram polls.

Interactions with Instagram are fun, and you may want to post and comment more often with your Instagram business profile. But there's a fine line between a brand that stays in touch and one that demands attention.Your customers don't want to see a comment or message from you every time they open the app. Sometimes, they just want to be with their friends. So respect the boundaries, don't contact people too often and don't post for the sake of it, your marketing strategy will only be better.

Word-of-mouth, a key to your loyalty strategy.

Once you've identified the personal and frequent communications on your Instagram business profile. You can incorporate a word-of-mouth system into your customer loyalty strategy to expand your network.

The more often people see their friends and family using your products, the more likely they are to trust your brand.

In a typical referral program, it's easy to quantify the impact of one person's efforts on sales.

But in the world of digital marketing and social networks, it's not always so simple. Some people may link directly to your website to facilitate natural SEO. Others may simply include your product in their photos and videos, gradually building awareness among your target audience.

If you want to set up a referral program or hire influencers and ambassadors to talk about your products, then go for it! But there are other affordable ways to develop word-of-mouth.

You can:

• Create a contest for your subscribers.
• Send surprise gifts to people who mention you in publications. Find original, personalized gift ideas.
• Promote people who have mentioned or posted publications with your products.
• Team up with another brand you admire to create fresh content and cross-promote your products.
• Create engaging, fun content that people will want to share and discuss with their friends.

L'eau pétillante La Croix offers creative content to its 175,000 subscribers, encouraging others to publish posts on La Croix.

On Instagram, you can't just say "Look at me!"". That won't make people like your brand. By rewarding people who spread the word about your product, you can give back in a meaningful way.

Customer loyalty is based on reciprocity.

Subscriber and customer loyalty starts with a relationship that you nurture and strive to improve.

If your Instagram account contains only faceless brand posts, you won't build an active customer community.

If you focus on personal, consistent and mutually beneficial interactions, you'll find Instagram a rewarding channel for building trust and gaining new loyal customers. Use our robot Instagram Boostfluence, to help you develop this community of engaged people.