Ways To Build Customer Loyalty Through Marketing In Nigeria

As Nigerian business owners, you know that getting new customers isn’t enough to make a business great; you also need to keep the ones you already have. For long-term success and progress, keeping customers coming back is very important. In a competitive market, loyal customers increase sales and spread good word of mouth about your brand. This piece will discuss 8 ways to build customer loyalty through marketing in Nigeria.

Using successful strategies made for the Nigerian market can help you build lasting relationships with your customers and keep them coming back to your business repeatedly. Let’s look at the 8 most important ways to build customer loyalty through marketing in Nigeria

Table of Contents

6 most important ways to build customer loyalty through marketing in Nigeria

Get to know your customers
Give excellent customer service
Set up a programme to reward loyal customer
Make marketing more personal
Use social media to talk to customers
Put together useful content
Get people to trust and believe you
Give special rewards and benefits

Before we examine each of these ways to build customer loyalty through marketing in Nigeria, let’s consider how to keep customers loyal.

How to keep customers loyal

Before using marketing to attract customers, you must understand customer loyalty and why it’s essential for your business. Customer loyalty occurs when a customer stays loyal to your brand over time. Loyal customers always choose your goods or services over your competitors and often go out of their way to tell others about your business.

Why keeping customers is a good thing

Steady revenue: Repeat purchases from loyal customers are a reliable way to make money. Also, they’re more likely to try your new services or goods.
Cost-effectiveness: Getting new customers is usually more expensive than keeping the ones you already have. Focusing on keeping customers coming back can cut down on marketing costs.
Word-of-mouth marketing: Happy, loyal customers spread the word about a brand by telling their friends and family about their good experiences. This free advertising is beneficial and can bring you new customers.

Key things that affect customer loyalty

Quality products and services: Always providing high-quality goods or services is very important. When people buy from your business, they need to trust that they will get good value for their money.
Excellent customer service: How you treat your customers significantly affects their loyalty to your business. Customers will return if the service is quick, friendly, and helpful.
Personalised experiences: Customers like it when companies remember what they like and give them a unique experience. Customising your contacts with each customer shows that you care about them.
Believe and openness: People will believe you more if you are honest and open about your business, products, and services. People who trust a brand are more likely to stick with it.
Emotional connection: Getting to know your customers on an emotional level can make them more loyal. You can do this by sharing similar beliefs, getting involved in the community, or showing that you care about and value their business.

Get to know your customers

To get people to stick with you through marketing, you must know them well. If you know who they are, what they want, and what they value, you can make sure that your marketing meets their needs and builds trust. To learn more about your business, follow these steps:

Research the market: A market study is essential to understanding what your customers like, how they act, and what they need. To get specific information, you can use polls, focus groups, and conversations. Ask them how often they buy from you, what they like about your services or goods, and what they think could be done better.
Profile your customers: Based on your study, create customer personas representing different parts of your audience. A persona is a detailed profile of a typical customer, including their demographics, hobbies, pain points, and why they want to buy. These characters help you picture your customers and ensure your marketing strategies work well for each group.
Divide your customers into groups: Divide them into groups based on things they have in common, like age, location, past purchases, or hobbies. When you segment them, you can send more relevant and targeted texts to each group. For instance, you could send personalised suggestions to customers interested in specific goods or offer a special deal to people who buy from you often.
Use analytics for data: Use data analytics to track what your customers like and how they behave. You can learn much about how people connect with your brand from tools like Google Analytics, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and social media insights. You can use this information to find trends, guess how people will act in the future, and make your marketing more personal.
Find out what customers think: Regularly ask your customers for feedback to learn from their experiences and find ways to improve. Use internet polls, feedback forms, and social media sites to determine their thoughts. Listening to your customers shows that you care about what they have to say and want to meet their needs.
Talk to customers directly: Talk to your customers in various ways, such as through email, social media, and in-person events. Answer their questions, comments, and worries quickly and professionally. Setting up a way for both sides to talk to each other helps you learn more about your customers and builds community around your brand.
Watch out for competitors: Watch what your competitors do to see how they deal with their clients. Look at their strengths and flaws and find ways to make your brand stand out. You can learn much about what works and what doesn’t in your business by watching what your competitors do.

2. Give excellent customer service

Giving excellent customer service is one of the most important things you can do to keep customers returning. Customers who feel important and cared for are likelier to return and tell others about your business. Here are some essential things you can do to make your customer service stick out:

Ensure you train your staff well: Your customer service team is your company’s first line of defence. Ensure they are appropriately trained, knowledgeable, and equipped to handle customer problems and questions. Your staff can provide better service if they get regular communication training, learning about products, and solving problems.
Be flexible and easy to reach: Make it easy for buyers to contact you by phone, email, social media, and live chat. Quickly answer questions and issues. Quick and helpful responses show you care about your customers’ time and worries.
Pay attention: Pay close attention when people talk. Pay attention to what they say, what they need, and what they like. Active listening helps you understand their problems better and determine how to solve them. It also makes buyers feel like they are being heard and valued.
Make your service unique: Personalise how you talk to each customer based on their likes and past contacts with your business. Use their name, talk about past encounters, and make suggestions that are specific to them. Personalisation makes your customers feel unique and connects them more deeply with your brand.
Go the extra mile: Go above and beyond in your service to exceed what the customer expects. Small things, like a handwritten thank-you note, a follow-up call to make sure they’re happy, or a small freebie with their order, can go a long way towards making them faithful.
Give your employees power: Give your customer service team the power to make choices and solve problems without getting approval for everything. This gives your workers more freedom, which speeds up service and shows that you trust them. This can make them happier at work and improve their interactions with customers.
Take complaints in a classy way: When things go wrong, you should listen to issues and fix them quickly. I sincerely apologise and offer ways to correct the problem. If you handle complaints gracefully, you can turn a bad experience into a good one and show people that you care about their happiness.
Get feedback and act on it: Regularly ask your customers about their service experiences. Use polls, feedback forms, and direct talks to determine their thoughts. Look at this feedback to find areas for improvement, then make the necessary changes.
Build a culture that focuses on the customer: Ensure everyone in your organisation cares about the customer. Everyone in the company, not just customer service, should know how important it is to keep customers happy and work to improve their experience.
Give rewards for loyalty: To show appreciation, offer special perks and bonuses to your loyal customers. Customers who receive rewards like discounts, personalised deals, and loyalty programmes are more likely to stick with your brand.

3. Set up a programme to reward loyal customers

A customer loyalty programme is a good way for people to stick with your business through marketing. If you make a good loyalty programme, you can thank your customers for buying from you repeatedly, making them more likely to purchase from you again. To make a customer reward programme work, do these things:

Pick the right kind of loyalty package: There are different reward programmes, and it’s essential to pick the right one for your business. These are some common choices:

Points-based programme: Every time a customer buys something, they get points that they can exchange for discounts, free goods, or other rewards.
Tiered program: This program offers different rewards based on the customer’s level of engagement. The more they spend, the higher they climb in the tiers, unlocking better benefits.
Subscription Program: Customers pay a recurring fee to receive exclusive benefits, such as free shipping, early access to sales, or special discounts.
Cashback program: Customers receive a percentage of their purchase amount back as cash or store credit, which they can use on future purchases.

Come up with appealing rewards: Your benefits are a big part of how well your loyalty programme works. Make sure that your customers will want and value your awards. They should think that the benefits of joining the programme are more significant than the work that needs to be done. Daily rewards include discounts, free goods, special event access, and personalised offers.
Make it easy to sign up: Make signing up as easy as possible. Customers should be able to join your reward programme quickly, whether in-store, on your website, or through your mobile app. Make it clear why they should join and how to start getting rewards.
Grow your loyalty programme: Advertise your reward programme well to ensure your customers know about it. Tell people about the programme through email, social media, website, and store signs, among other marketing tools. Stress the advantages and how simple it is to join.
Make the experience your own: Customise your loyalty programme to make your customers feel valued and loved. Customer data can be used to give personalised benefits and suggestions. For example, send them personalised surprise deals or special offers based on purchase.
Engage and talk to each other often: Talk to your customers about their rewards status, future deals, and new programme features to keep them interested. Send them email newsletters, push notifications, and text message tips about the programme to keep them up-to-date and interested.
Keep an eye on and change the programme: Monitor your reward programme regularly to ensure it is meeting your goals. Look at essential numbers like the number of people who sign up, the number of people who redeem their coupons, and customer comments. Use this information to improve the programme as needed.
Build a community: Make your loyalty programme feel like a group. Customers should be encouraged to talk about their experiences and interact with each other on social media and other websites. Making them feel like they fit can strengthen their connection to your brand.
Reward people who send you referrals: Add a referral feature to your loyalty programme to encourage users to tell their friends and family about it. By giving extra rewards to people who bring you new customers, you can attract more customers and keep the ones you already have.
Honour important milestones: Celebrate significant events with your customers, like when they’ve been with your brand for a year or hit a certain number of points. Giving customers praise for these accomplishments makes them feel valuable and keeps them returning.

4. Make marketing more personal

One vital way to get people to stick with your marketing is to make it more personal. Customers are likelier to stay loyal and interested in your business if they think you understand and meet their needs and wants. Some good ways to make your marketing more personal are listed below:

Use lists of customers; Gather and look over information about your customers to learn about their habits, likes, and past purchases. Sort your viewers into groups using this information, then make your marketing messages fit each group. For instance, if a customer gets a particular item often, you can send them personalised deals or suggestions.
Make email campaigns more personal: Sending emails to your customers is a great way to get to know them better. To send personalised emails, use the information you’ve gathered to address them by name and provide content related to their interests. You could send birthday greetings with a discount or suggest goods based on what they’ve bought before.
Use social networking sites: Social media sites are great for getting to know your customers on a human level. Quickly answer comments and messages, and use social media data to find out what content your followers like best. Share personalised content that speaks to your followers and gets them to connect with you.
Give personalised suggestions for products: Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning can help you give people personalised product suggestions on your website or app. This can make shopping more enjoyable by showing customers items that match their tastes and what they’ve already bought, which makes them more likely to purchase from you again.
Create unique content: Create content that talks directly to your customer groups. This could include blog posts, movies, or social media posts about specific topics or problems. Personalising your content shows that you understand your audience’s wants and helps you connect with them better.
Set up personalised loyalty programmes: Add personalised features to improve your loyalty programmes. Give your customers gifts that align with their interests. For instance, give customers a choice of awards or special deals on items they buy often.
Set up retargeting campaigns: You can reach customers who have interacted with your business before but haven’t bought anything with retargeting ads. You can use personalised ads to remind them of the items they looked at or offer incentives to get them to finish the buy. They may return and buy more if you treat them like a person.
Get feedback and do something with it: Ask your customers for feedback regularly through polls, reviews, and conversations on social media. This feedback can improve your services, goods, and marketing. Customers will be likelier to stick with you if they see that you care about what they think and act on it.
Put on customised events: Add events that appeal to all your customers. This could include workshops, product launches, or VIP parties for your best customers. Customers will be more loyal to your brand if you give them personalised events that make them feel unique and valued.
Provide Great Customer Service: Make sure your customer service team personalises encounters by calling customers by name, discussing past interactions, and devising solutions for them. Personalised customer service can make a lasting impact and encourage people to return.

5. Use social media to talk to customers

One crucial way to build customer trust through marketing is to interact with customers on social media. There is a direct and interactive way to connect with your audience on social media. You can meet their wants and build a community around your brand. Here are some excellent ways to use social media to interact with your customers:

Do things and stick to them: Stay involved on social media by sharing often and talking to people who follow you. Consistent with your brand helps people remember it and shows that you want to connect with them. Make a content calendar to post interesting and valuable content regularly.
Quickly answer comments and messages: Customers like it when you respond to their opinions and messages quickly. Answering questions, thanking customers for good feedback, and promptly dealing with any problems or complaints should be a top goal. Responding quickly shows that you care about your customers and know their needs.
Give out applicable content: Share content that your readers will find helpful. This could be blog posts with useful information, videos showing how to do something, behind-the-scenes looks at your business, or material made by other people. You can keep people interested and returning for more by giving them helpful information and fun things to do.
Use the interactive parts: Social media sites offer many ways to engage, such as polls, Q&As, live videos, and stories. Use these tools to get your viewers involved. You could hold live Q&As to answer customers’ questions immediately or use polls to determine what people think about new product ideas.
Show off customer tales: Share customer stories and reviews on your social media pages. Share posts from happy customers, showcase user-generated content and honour significant customer achievements. This gives your customers social proof and makes them feel valued and loved.
Hold contests and give things away: Free stuff and contests are great ways to get people involved and interested. Make fun and exciting contests, and ask people to interact with your content by commenting, liking, or sharing posts. Offer appealing gifts to get people to participate and get them more involved.
Make a neighbourhood: Create a group of people who like your brand on social media. Encourage your customers to share their stories, join discussions, and get to know each other. People in a strong neighbourhood are likelier to stay loyal and feel part of something special.
Make your interactions more personal: Personalise your contacts with customers on social media by calling them by name and mentioning other times they’ve interacted with your brand. Customers will be more loyal to your brand if you respond to them in a way that makes them feel valued and special.
Take note of and respond to feedback: Consider what people say about you on social media. What people say will help you improve your goods, services, and customer interactions. Deal with nasty comments positively to show customers you want to make things right.
Work with influential people: Working with influential people can help get more people to see your work and boost your reputation. Pick influencers whose values are similar to yours and who have a real relationship with those who follow them. Influencers can make accurate content that connects with their followers and gets them involved with your business.

6. Put together applicable content

Making material people want to read is an essential part of marketing that will keep them returning. You build trust in your brand as a resource when you give your audience material that teaches, entertains, or solves problems. This helps you connect with your customers better and keeps them coming back. To keep customers coming back, here’s how to make helpful content:

Find out what your audience wants: Before making helpful content, you must know what your audience wants. Take polls, talk to people on social media, and look at what customers say to find out what interests them, what bothers them, and what they like. Ensure your material speaks to these issues and connects with your audience.
Give out educational materials: Customers will understand your goods or services better if you include educational content. It also shows that you know a lot about your subject. Make how-to guides, tutorials, and blog pieces full of helpful information and tips. For example, if you own a skincare business, you can advise people on how to use your products and do their skin care procedures.
Tell interesting stories: You can connect with people emotionally by telling them stories. Tell stories about your brand’s history, what makes a customer happy, or what happens behind the scenes at your business. Storytelling helps people connect with your brand more deeply by making it relatable and remembered.
Use a range of content formats: Adding variety to your content keeps it exciting and new. Different types of material should be used, such as blog posts, videos, infographics, podcasts, and social media posts. Different styles will appeal to other parts of your audience, keeping them more interested. For example, some customers might like reading blog posts more than watching movies.
Help people solve their problems: Make content that helps your customers with problems or issues they often face. By giving them answers in your content, you show that you know what they need and are willing to help. FAQs, troubleshooting guides, and help from experts are some examples of this. People are more likely to trust your brand if your material is helpful to them.
Bring attention to customer reviews: Use recommendations and case studies to showcase the good things your current customers have said about your business. This gives your customers social proof and makes them feel valued and loved. Real-life success stories can help potential customers trust your business and keep current customers returning.
Encourage content made by users: Tell your users they can create and share their content about your brand. Picture, video, or review files could be used. Using user-generated content makes your marketing more natural and gets people more involved. Share and praise this content on your channels to show your support and bring people together.
Stay up-to-date and relevant: Make sure your material is up-to-date and relevant by writing about current events, trends, or holiday topics. Keeping up with current events and news in your business shows that your brand knows what’s happening in your customers’ lives. People will stay interested in your messages and look forward to them because they are relevant.
Make content simple to find: Share your content on several platforms where your audience is already busy. This includes your website, social media pages, email messages, and sites that aren’t yours. If you make your information easy to find, people can read and interact with it from anywhere.
Check and improve it: Regularly examine your content’s performance to see what your audience likes best. To figure out how well something works, look at response rates, shares, comments, and conversion rates, among other things. Use this information to improve your content plan to better meet your audience’s needs.

7. Get people to trust and believe you

Through marketing, you must build trust and trustworthiness to get people to stick with your brand. Customers who trust your company are more likely to return, buy from you again, and tell others about your business. To build and keep your customers’ trust and trustworthiness, do the following:

Always be open and honest. Honesty builds trust. Always tell your customers the truth about your business, goods, and services. Tell your people exactly what they can expect, and don’t make promises you can’t keep. Tell your customers immediately if there are any problems or delays, and describe the steps you are taking to fix them.
Deliver quality all the time: Make sure your services or goods are always high quality. People should always be able to count on your brand to live up to their hopes. Keep an eye on your products and services and make regular improvements to keep the quality good. Quality that stays the same builds trust and gets people to buy from you again.
Provide outstanding customer service: Building trust starts with giving excellent customer service. Teach your customer service reps to be informed, friendly, and helpful. Answer questions and solve problems quickly. People are more likely to trust your brand and stay loyal if they feel valued and cared for.
Show off reviews and testimonials from past customers: Getting good comments from other customers can boost your credibility. On your website and social media pages, showcase reviews and recommendations. Encourage happy customers to write reviews and talk about their experiences. Real-life examples and testimonials show that others trust you, which is social proof.
Keep your online presence strong: Your brand’s trustworthiness is shown by how it looks online. Ensure your website and social media pages look professional, are up to date, and are easy for people to use. Share high-quality, relevant information that shows you know what you’re talking about and care about your customers. New and old customers are more likely to trust you if you have a robust online profile.
Get involved in your community: Get involved in your neighbourhood to show that your brand cares more than just making money. Help with local events, do good deeds, or do social causes that align with your brand’s values. Community involvement shows that you want to make a difference and make your customers like you more.
Keep customer data safe: Data protection is critical in this digital world. Make sure your customers’ personal information is kept secure and used smartly. Implement robust security steps and make your privacy policies clear. People need to know that you will keep their information safe.
Make promises and offer guarantees: Customers will be more likely to buy from you if you back up your goods and services with guarantees and warranties. Customers are more likely to buy and stay loyal if they know they can return a product or get help if something goes wrong. You should be ready to fix your goods if something goes wrong.
Proper communication: To build trust, you must communicate clearly and effectively. Tell your customers about changes, new goods, and updates. Ensure your words get to the right people by using email, social media, and your website, among other things. Being open and honest with each other regularly builds trust.
Show that you are knowledgeable and in charge: Share helpful information, tips, and thoughts to make your brand look like an expert in its field. Post helpful blog posts, join forums for your business, and hold webinars or workshops. Expertise not only helps your customers but it also makes you look like a more trustworthy authority.

8. Give special rewards and benefits

Offering special perks and rewards to customers can be a great way to get them to stick with your business. To improve your relationships with customers, you can use this approach in the following ways:

Programmes for loyalty: Set up a loyalty programme where customers can earn rewards or points for every purchase. Give them rewards like discounts, free stuff, or early access to new goods. This will make customers feel valued and push them to buy again.
Offers made just for you should be tailored to each customer based on likes and past purchases. Send emails or texts with deals or discounts tailored to each person. Personalisation makes them feel like you care about their wants, which makes them more loyal.
Feel like a VIP: Make a VIP level for your best customers and give them extra benefits like early access to sales, personalised help, or invites to special events. Customers feel valued and special when they are treated like VIPs.
Reward for referrals: Customers who tell others about your business should be rewarded. Give discounts or free goods or services to people who bring you new customers. This not only keeps people coming back, but it also gets new ones through word of mouth.
Birthday and anniversary gifts: Celebrate essential days like birthdays and weddings with unique gifts. To mark these important events, give discounts or unique gifts. It shows that you value their friendship.
Limited-time deals: Limited-time deals only available to loyal customers can make people feel rushed. This makes them more likely to take advantage of deals and more faithful to your brand.
Only this content: Offer unique content, like sneak peeks of new products, behind-the-scenes footage, or insights into the business. Customers feel like they are part of an exclusive group when they have this kind of access.
Give and get feedback: Ask your loyal customers for feedback, and show your appreciation by following their ideas. Including them in decision-making makes them feel like they own it and makes them more loyal.
Easy to understand: Ensure everyone knows your loyalty or awards system and how it works. Ensure your customers know how to receive benefits and use them. Clear communication helps people trust each other and gets more people involved.

Conclusion

In conclusion, for a business in Nigeria to be successful, it needs to use good marketing techniques to keep customers coming back. Using these methods, you can build long-lasting relationships with your customers and improve your brand’s image. Are you ready to grow your business? You can add your business to our online list right now, making it easier for people looking for your services to find you. Take advantage of this chance to make your business bigger and become known as a reliable brand in Nigeria. Get in on it now and enjoy the benefits of a solid online profile!