Loyalty360’s Mark Johnson recently chatted with Vesta Co-Founder and CEO Sue Frech about customer loyalty and about how brand communities are helping brands build lasting loyalty.
Sue shared insights into how she sees brand communities helping marketers generate meaningful digital connections with consumers, and the role of communities in building loyalty between transactions by personalizing experiences that create a powerful emotional connection. Sue emphasized that building an online brand community gives marketers the option to give to their consumers, and in return to gain back lasting loyalty.
1. Brand communities give your consumers a home.
An online brand community allows marketers to provide loyal users with a home and destination where they can cultivate and build their relationship between transactions. It enhances your digital presence outside of a transactional environment and brings users together with a like-minded community who reinforce the affinity with your brand. And at a time when consumers are increasingly concerned about social media channels, an online brand community offers a safe and trusted space where brands can own and deliver their desired experience.
2. Brand communities give your consumers a voice.
There is a big opportunity to build loyalty by leveraging real-time conversations. Marketers that have created that two-way dialogue and ongoing feedback loop through their brand community have been able to gain real-time insights and provide responsive customer service, confirming their commitment to their consumers.
The advantage of this was made clear this spring, when Vesta Community clients were able to communicate with their consumers about supply, address their questions and concerns, and provide needed support during a challenging time. Being able to easily stay connected with users enabled marketers to reinforce their brand’s commitment to their consumers, and dramatically increase brand opinion and loyalty by their community members.
3. Brand communities give your consumers better value and experiences.
Building loyalty with today’s consumers is about more than just providing value in your product or service. Marketers need to go further, acknowledging the importance of their patronage through enhanced and meaningful features and experiences at every touchpoint. Brand communities allow marketers to easily build that value at scale, providing enhanced information, access, content, and experiences to loyal users.
The best brand communities understand the importance of delivering value in building loyalty, and are focused on how the community can benefit their consumers rather than how can they push their brand or product. Those marketers turn to their communities first to share news, launch new products, provide special offers, and reward with free products. They utilize the Vesta Community platform’s progressive profiles to segment and deliver personalized experiences at scale. And in return, they are rewarded with lasting brand loyalty, as well as predictive insights, zero-party data, and authentic brand advocacy.
To learn more about the ways online brand communities build loyalty, click here to view a video of their discussion.
