By Amol Roy, Founder, The Shutter Cast
Businesses value their customers and work with a customer centric approach. Hence, retaining them is of prime importance for any organization in the market. It is indeed an undeniable fact that customers that are happy and satisfied tend to stick around for long. However, this can only be done by adding value to customer experiences which keeps them engaged and further paves the way for customer retention and loyalty. Content marketing plays a pivotal role in helping businesses in creating a loyal customer base and connecting with them effectively.
Content Marketing: A new Age Solution for Brand
Innovation is the need of the hour. Hence, businesses need to be creative, innovative and transparent in their approach in order to extend high-end consumer experiences. However, these experiences should not be limited only till the time they make a purchase. Rather, brands should aim at engaging with them and creating a loyal customer base so as to convert the customers into advocates. Content marketing works with the same approach and hence is gaining popularity as a new-age solution. Devising and implementing effective content marketing strategies with the appropriate tools will help in fostering customer engagement thereby leading to customer retention and loyalty.
Consistency is the key
Consistently sharing fresh and relevant content with the customers is one of the ideal ways to communicate with them and keep them engaged with your business. Blogging, posting videos, podcasts, vlogs, and influencer marketing are some of the new trends that brands are leveraging to target their audiences and interact with them constantly.
Community building with social media
Understanding the power of social media, businesses have a robust social media presence which further encourages community building. Building a forum, discussion board or social media groups help keep customers engaged with your brand. Initiatives like these also help provide them a platform to voice their opinions, instantly resolve their queries as well as connect with other members in the community. This trend was highlighted by Deloitte in its recent report which states that brands need to build community forums to ensure customer participation and engagement.
Customer feedback: An essential element for success
As per Deloitte’s recent report, customer feedback is a critical element for any business’s success. Customer reviews, surveys, live chats, direct mail are appropriate tools for gathering feedback as well as analyzing the pain points of customers in order to modify the content marketing as well as organizational strategies accordingly.
Adopting a personalized approach
Adopting a personalized approach is another effective way to achieve the goal of content marketing. This is important because personalization helps drive revenue for businesses since the customers demand the same. The new-age customers prefer developing deeper connections with businesses that offer such personalized interactions. McKinsey in its recent report points out this trend and states that organizations that grow at a fast pace drive 40% more revenues from personalization. Adding to it, 71% of consumers at the global level expect companies to deliver personalized experiences and 76% of them stay disappointed in the absence of the same!
Offering access to exclusive content such as online resource centres, blogs, weekly newsletters etc. along with personalized emails provide more value to the customers and help establish meaningful relationships with them thereby driving their loyalty towards your business.
Sharing content via storytelling format
Incorporating the storytelling format in content marketing strategy is another beneficial concept that helps share about your brand, its offerings and customer experiences effectively amongst your target audiences. Case studies, testimonials and sharing success stories are effective ways to grab customer attention and ensure their engagement with the brand.
Summing Up!
Considering the modern customers are present everywhere, brands need to adopt an omnichannel approach for their content marketing strategies and tap them at their preferred touchpoints. Providing them with relevant, quality and encouraging information helps build their loyalty towards the brand. Educating customers and regularly keeping them in loop by informing them of latest developments through high-end content helps inculcate a sense of belongingness amongst them and hence creates a sense of responsibility towards the brand.
Conceptualizing a content calendar and strictly adhering to it would help in achieving the goal of consistency as well as quality content sharing with the customers. Content marketing with its holistic approach ensures that the customers are engaged and retained for longer tenure with brands. Hence, it is emerging as a new-age solution for businesses that helps ensure customer retention and loyalty further paving the way for greater conversions and sales!
