Earning loyal customers is the dream of all business owners. They give you a degree of financial stability upon which you can grow, but, more importantly, they’re living proof that your vision is becoming a reality.
However, gaining someone’s loyalty is not easy, and it’s especially challenging in today’s loud, advertisement-filled world. But a content marketing campaign is a great place to start. By working to create and promote content motivated by your brand identity and values, you can shape the association’s people make about you, facilitating a connection between brand and customer.
Here are some things you can focus on to make your content marketing successful at boosting customer loyalty.
Focus on your values
The purpose of your content marketing strategy is to broadcast your brand identity, which is the set of character traits you’ve assigned to help humanize your brand. As a result, every piece of content you create needs to reflect this identity.
When creating a brand identity, get as detailed as you can. Identify core values and beliefs, but don’t discount personality.  Projecting a distinct voice that cuts through all the noise means you’ll stand out more and be better able to draw people towards you.
Include examples
However, in this case, where you’re trying to earn someone’s loyalty, it’s important to provide some proof to stand behind your words. It’s great to position yourself as something with which your audience will connect, but if you can’t back up your words with actions, then your messaging will be perceived inauthentic.
Videos, photos, and written pieces such as blogs or press releases, are great ways to get the word out about what your brand is up to, helping to boost the effectiveness of your brand communication.
Be engaging
We must always remember that communication is a two-way street; it’s most effective when both the sender and receiver are participating. Because of this, you need to make sure every piece of content is both compelling and captivating. Otherwise, when people come across your content, they will not feel any connection to it, and this will discourage them from engaging with any of your other content.
To do this, you need to have a keen understanding of your target audience and what they like. But you also need to find a way to be unique, for this is what will make people latch on and remain loyal to you.
The most important thing to remember here is that quality is far more important than quantity. Many brands feel as though they need to post and promote lots of content right away so that they can make a splash. But if that content is missing people, then you’re losing people. It’s much better to start slow and build, adapting along the way to what you learn as a result of your efforts.
Plan your promotions
Every marketing campaign is different largely because each one has a different objective. And if you dedicate your energy to achieving that one objective, you’re going to be more successful. So when launching a marketing strategy designed to boost customer loyalty, focus on boosting customer loyalty, not conversions or sales.
Some think it can’t hurt to throw in a call to action at the end of every piece. After all, you’ve got someone there, so why not? But this really isn’t the best idea. Content designed to boost loyalty should educate and inform, not sell. Including language that encourages people to buy something when they’re expecting to learn something can distort someone’s perception of the brand.
Overall, trying to do everything at once will likely cause you to end up doing nothing. It’s best to set one or a few specific objectives for a campaign and stick to them.
Be consistent
Consistency is key in all things branding, but it’s especially important in content marketing. To gain people’s loyalty, you need to demonstrate a commitment to certain values, hoping that this commitment will create a connection that leads to trust and loyalty.
But if someone can’t even tell what those values are because your content is so inconsistent, it’s going to be a lot harder to build that connection.
This is why it’s so critical to spend time at the beginning of a campaign determining brand identity. It’s much better to start creating content after you’ve chosen brand values and personality, as it allows you to be more consistent and in-depth.
In conclusion
Quality, consistent content that resonates with your core values – that’s the secret to building a content marketing campaign that can actually boost loyalty. Of course, getting to this point is a challenge, but it’s also a lot of fun. So let’s get to work!
