Load One - Blog #customer loyalty

The Year in Review: Top 5 Posts of 2020

Wed, 30 Dec 2020 09:00:00 +0800

#5 How to Attract Customers Using Online Channels

Whether you're an old hand at online businesses or transitioning from a brick-and-mortar business, attracting customers through online channels has never been more important that now. We hope our post has given you some ideas on how you can continue to do business online regardless of the quarantines.

#4 Raising Customer Loyalty with SMS and Chat

With online consumption and online shopping at an all-time high, it's even easier to stay connected to your market and build a relationship with them. SMS and Chat is a great way to stay connected through these months of social distancing.

#3 Top 5 Ways to Acquire and Retain Customers on Your E-commerce Store

E-commerce continues to be an important piece in today's business climate, and it shows, with two out of five places in our top 5 list. Customer loyalty and retention is important, especially now when customers are spoilt for choice.

#2 4 Ways to Adapt to the Lockdown Reality By Going Digital

Traditional business owners, we hear you. Transitioning your pre-COVOD-19 business to the digital world is an important undertaking, and one that so often feels like too much of a challenge. We hope this short guide can help you manage these new waters of technology.

And our top #1 post for 2020 is...

#1 5 Reasons To Take Remote Offices Seriously Now

Our top post is about remote offices, naturally. One of the biggest shifts in today's world is the move to remote workplaces and offices. Health and safety reasons called for the change, and many workplaces have had to adjust quickly. Remote work does bring many positive benefits other than health concerns, which we focus on in this post.

Conclusion

As we move into the new year, let's continue to work smartly and diligently in this new normal. Whether it's through learning more about the digital landscape of business, or continuing to make our remote workplaces a better place for our teams, let's move forward together.

Did our top 5 posts surprise you? What is your top topic for 2020?

Building Brand Loyalty with Conversational Marketing

Wed, 04 Nov 2020 09:00:07 +0800

Online consumption is at an all-time high in 2020. Businesses and brands have enjoyed high viewership and online engagement from internet users who have turned to online means of reaching out to businesses. Whether it's for their necessities or luxuries, customers have used the internet to fulfill these needs.

On the other hand, the higher consumption rate and increasing internet know-how for potential customers have also meant stiffer competition between brands. Businesses without an online presence have needed to learn how to get online, and fast. But it's oftentimes not even enough just to be online.

Businesses often need to go to great lengths to attract new customers and even keep loyal customers. The wealth of variety and information online can lead to an overall decrease in customers' trust and loyalty.

How can businesses keep their customers' trust in this environment? One of the best tools for this task is chatbots, for their power to build conversations and relationships with customers.

What Drives Brand Loyalty?

While having a stellar product is important for brand loyalty, there are other key drivers for loyalty. Some of the biggest trends in driving loyalty include:

Personalization - 79% percent of customers are very satisfied with loyalty programs with high personalization
Presence - the ability of a brand to be present across multiple channels and seamlessly interact with the customer through these channels mean higher customer engagement
Social responsibility - customers like supporting brands with a purpose that resonates with theirs
Emotional loyalty - companies that can build an emotional connection with their audience enjoy 46% more spend than customers without emotional bonds

Investing in improving customer loyalty is key to business longevity. It may be a challenge to develop solutions in measuring loyalty but the payback is significant.

Chatbots and Brand Loyalty

Chatbots are uniquely positioned to help with this need to maintain emotional connections with customers.

While they are not replacements for human interaction, chatbots help in resolving many common issues and queries. This can be done to help maintain customer expectations on responsiveness and reliability without the need for a large support staff. Human staff can handle special, complex issues while chatbots can help in more routine tasks.

Chatbots Can Drive Personalization

A greeter chatbot on your website can help maintain a friendly demeanor for your brand, as well as obtaining the details of your potential customer and storing it for later use. A chatbot that is later on able to greet your shopper by name helps customers feel important and valued by your business.

However, make sure you don't fall prey to petty personalization that does nothing special for your customers. Reward customers when they connect with you, whether it is with promotions, updates, or a more tailored experience according to their tastes.

Chatbots Driving Presence

Businesses need to be where the customers are. With messenger and chat applications in heavy use by everyone, your business's ability to be in the applications that your customers are in is important. A customer is more likely to connect with your business if you are available where they need you to be.

Unfortunately, maintaining multiple channels can be a daunting task, which is why multi-channel chatbots can be a lifesaver. This also makes sure that when your customer interacts across multiple chat applications or your website, your business is responding to them in the same way, and they won't need to repeat themselves.

Chatbots Driving Social Responsibility

Consider making your brand's advocacies and purpose resonate through your chatbot's personality. Don't fall prey to forgetting about personality when it comes to programming your chatbot. Use your chatbot's personality to drive home your brand's image as well as your vision and mission.

Consider these two chatbot messages:

Thank you for purchasing! Please check your email for your order confirmation.

versus

Hooray! You've saved up to 5 trees by purchasing our recycled paper.

We'll send you an order confirmation soon, so check your email!

The latter drives home the fact that your shopper has just helped make the environment just a little bit better by purchasing from your business.

Chatbots Driving Emotional Loyalty

Lastly, a chatbot with a personality that speaks to your brand's values will help customers connect better with your business. This depends heavily on your brand's identity as well as your target market's expectations, so make sure you check your buyer personas when building your chatbot's personality.

Sentiment analysis is important when it comes to chatbots. When this is a challenge for some AI engines, the ability to quickly flag a conversation to handoff to a human customer care personnel is important.

Consider using keyword and phrase triggers to determine when a customer needs to be handed over to a human being. An effective transition helps in keeping customers happy without sacrificing responsiveness for your overall brand.

Putting it All Together

An effective loyalty program for any business does not stop at just reward points and mailing list updates.

Being available and responsive to your customers is an important part of your whole program. This boost in customer experience can be very favorable to any business, regardless of the industry.

5 Facebook Messenger Selling Secrets You Need to Know

Wed, 28 Oct 2020 09:00:36 +0800

Whether you're a small business or a big franchise, there is one common denominator when it comes to driving sales in the current climate: you need to make social media work for your business. A strong online presence and social media presence can cement brands and push revenues for all kinds of business.

The current hot topic on everyone's lips is harnessing conversational marketing and selling through chat channels like Facebook Messenger, Viber, Whatsapp, and others. All brick and mortar businesses study branch locations carefully, because being where the customers are is important. That's no different when pushing online sales.

Here in the Philippines, when 96% of internet users are on Facebook and 89% are on Messenger specifically, any business would benefit from a solid Facebook and Messenger presence.

Source: https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2020-philippines

Furthermore, SproutSocial and Pew Research Center's Facebook demographics show that 74% of high-income earners use Facebook.

With these numbers, it's clear that Facebook is simply too big to ignore as a sales channel. Many people are already using Facebook to sell, to various degrees of success.

There's no time to waste. We've collected five important tips that you need to know or do in order to power your online sales in Facebook messenger.

Harness the Power of Groups

It sounds simple, but it's important. Facebook Groups and the Marketplace are actually big drivers when it comes to online sales, especially when you hit the right note. Aside from getting your business the online traffic it needs, the pandemic has driven hyperlocal marketplaces to overdrive--and it continues to be the case many months in.

Brand awareness is important, and if your brand is active in local Facebook Groups that is appropriate to your business, this comes back as goodwill towards your company. You should have a healthy mix of community-driven Groups and marketplace Groups. While the latter are likely the lowest-maintenance groups to join, don't underestimate the former for their power to push brand awareness.

Product Photography is Important

Pictures attract eyeballs, and the more eyeballs directed to your product posts, the better it is for your online sales.

An inviting, clear shot of what you're selling is important. Ditch the cluttered background and off-focus shots so that your audience knows what the picture is for immediately.

But make sure that your photo is accurate and shows exactly what you're selling. A stock photography of a "similar item" can mean disappointed buyers who have different expectations of what they'll get.

Respond Quickly

The longer customers wait to get a response from brands, the more time they have to look for your competitors' products or get distracted with other things on Facebook. Buyers want and expect answers fast.

If you're finding it hard to keep up with inquiries, consider investing in a chatbot to make sure that your brand is not seen as unresponsive. A snappy answer and a friendly chatbot can tell customers your brand is serious about customer experience and that they can rely on you for what they need.

Follow Through

Don't forget to follow through after a sale, whether it's by sending them an email or message through Facebook Messenger. Set up an automated email or chatbot message to make sure you don't forget and to free up your time.

This act can help turn one-time buyers in loyal customers. Make them feel like a VIP after they order from you, by doing some of the following ideas:

Check with them if they've received their order
Ask them for feedback on their order
Give them exclusive promotions if they order again
Etc.

Even if they didn't complete their order with you, they still deserve a message! Look into sending recovery emails or messages when you have abandoned carts. Recovering a good chunk of these can help you boost sales.

Stay Updated

Facebook and the communities around it can change drastically from one day to another, so it's important to stay updated and do your research. Look out for what's selling in the areas you do business in. You can see how your competitors are pricing and marketing their products, and even what emerging trends your business can utilize.

Remember that Facebook Messenger and the Marketplace are great places to test out a new product or marketing campaign. You don't need to invest a lot to see what will sell, so make sure you use these insights to your advantage.

Raising Customer Loyalty with SMS and Chat

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 09:00:00 +0800

Getting new customers can be difficult. Oftentimes, this can be one of the most difficult tasks a company can have. In today's economy when the market is tightening their collective belts, new customers can be a challenge. However, being able to depend on your loyal customers can significantly ease concerns on cash flow and longevity.

Notably, the top 1% of your customers can spend more than 30 times your average customers over time. This makes them even more valuable. Turning new customers into regulars must be a focus for any business.

Thankfully, with online consumption and online shopping at an all-time high, it's even easier to stay connected to your market. When businesses use chat and SMS together, the effectiveness of conversational marketing is even more pronounced.

How Chat and SMS Help Retain Customers

Engaging with your customers in the channels they prefer is important to build goodwill with your customers. Remember the following facts:

82% of customers expect an immediate response when they have questions (source)
53% of buyers are more likely to buy from a business they can communicate with (source)
61% say that messaging as a way to communicate is the easiest way to connect with a business (source)
Millenials are increasingly gaining the predominant purchasing power, prefer instant messaging as a support channel (source)

Whether it's a conversation through instant messengers or SMS, consumers expect quick responses to their questions to the businesses they interact with. Failure to respond quickly can mean loss of opportunity and sales.

Making sure that your business can interact with your customers through both SMS and chat can be a differentiator. If they're on Facebook, Messenger can be a key communication tool; otherwise, SMS can reach those who do not have mobile data.

Follow Through After First Contact

Make sure you follow through after the first time they interact with your business. This is why automated responses are important, whether it's on instant messenger apps or SMS.

Regardless of whether it's an actual purchase or simply an inquiry, making an impression afterward can be favorable to your business. This is why setting up a message to thank them for their purchase is important.

Don't be pushy, but give them the option of signing up for further updates through a mailing list or an SMS list. If you have a website for your products and can set up membership for your customers, even better. Make sure they know the perks of building a better relationship with your brand: saving their details for faster checkouts, accessing past orders, remembering their favorite products, and so on.

Give Back to Your Customers

Don't underestimate the power of lead magnets. These are offers, promotions, or other incentives that you can give potential customers in exchange for email address or phone number.

These can serve two things: as freebies and support for your current customers, but also ways to grow your own customer base.

What's great about this is that once you provide these, you can leave it available for your current and future potential customers alike.

Evaluate and Update

Don't forget to always review your customer retention strategies. The market is always changing, and what works a year ago might not be as effective now. This is even more important in a fast developing marketing landscape like conversational marketing.

Always check to see if your marketing efforts to keep your customers engaged are working as you want it to, or if you need to change it up.

A little planning can help you easily turn potential customers into loyal customers.

7 Ideas to Start and Grow Your SMS Subscriber List

Wed, 23 Sep 2020 09:00:00 +0800

Many people think that SMS as a marketing tool is outdated and old-fashioned. It's underutilized and often forgotten, with more focus placed on online advertising, email lists, and other tactics.

But a channel that has an open rate anywhere from 82% to 98% can't be ignored. Especially here in the Philippines: with 159% mobile connections compared to the local population and 14% don't even have data connectivity, the reach SMS can bring you is well worth a shot.

It's never too late to start your own SMS subscriber list for your business. We've got seven great ideas that you can use if you're starting your list, or if you need help growing it.

Promise and Deliver VIP Treatment

People love feeling like a VIP. Getting exclusive rewards and promotions, breaking news, early access to products and services--all of these are great hooks to get your customers to opt into your SMS list. The promise of having exclusive deals can be very attractive to your customers.

But make sure you deliver. Don't promise something and end up spamming your subscribers with unrelated messages or promotions.

Reward Subscribers On Signup

It's important to start off with a bang. An instant promotion or reward when your new subscribers sign up gets you off on the right foot.

You can also look into rewarding your subscribers the longer they stay signed up with you. Try scheduling sending rewards to your subscribers on the anniversary of their signing up with you. They'll be delighted and possibly tell friends of the surprise you had in store for them.

While we're talking about telling friends...

Start a Referral Program

A great way to grow your list is having a referral program in place. Your subscribers can be some of the best promoters of your brand and products: if you can offer them incentives to share your list with their friends, you might get a steady stream of new signups.

You can do something super simple such as a one-time reward for signups, or an ongoing points system. Make sure it matches the product and brand you're promoting.

Use Existing Checkout or Signup Forms

If you've got an online shop, try to maximize the use of your current forms for signing up and checking out. They're already on your website and giving you information -- why not use that to get more subscribers?

A simple checkbox at the end of the form that customers can check if they want to be signed up to your SMS subscriber list is all it takes.

Get Opt-Ins from Previously Collected Phone Numbers

Don't forget that you probably already have a number of previously collected phone numbers from past orders and customers. While you cannot immediately sign them up to your new SMS subscriber list, you can send them a one-time message inviting them to opt in.

Make sure you explain why you're contacting them now, and how they can continue to hear from you if they wish. You can use keyword opt-ins for this as well. For example:

You gave us your number for an order before.
We started sending exclusives to SMS
subscribers recently, do you want to hear
about them? Reply Y or N

Promote on Packaging and Receipts

Don't underestimate how effective printing your SMS subscriber list call to action on your product packaging and receipts.

It's something you have great control over, so why not maximize that space that your customers can see? Check out Papa John's invitation for reviews via mobile:

Source: https://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/papa-johns-brings-customer-feedback-to-pizza-boxes-with-sms-and-qr-codes/

Combine Facebook Ads and a Chatbot with Automatic SMS Opt-In

Everyone's on Facebook, and Facebook Ads can be a great way to extend reach. Facebook Click-to-Messenger Ads can send your ad's viewers directly to Messenger to chat with you, which is an added touch of intimacy with your potential customer.

You can then use a Messenger chatbot to have an interactive conversation with your customer, and sign them up to your SMS subscriber list during their conversation.

Get Started Now

SMS may be a little more traditional than your usual marketing channels, but handled correctly, your subscribers may become one of your most loyal and active customers. But your subscriber list won't grow without some work.

Take your pick, or use all of them:

Promise and deliver VIP treatment.
Reward subscribers upon signup.
Start a referral program.
Use existing checkout or signup forms.
Get opt-ins from previously collected phone numbers.
Promote on packaging and receipts.
Combine Facebook Ads and a chatbot with automatic SMS opt-in.

You can get started with your SMS subscriber list anytime. But the longer you wait, the longer before you can harvest the great returns a great marketing strategy can give you.

How You Can Help Your Franchisees During COVID-19

Wed, 12 Aug 2020 09:00:01 +0800

As the global crisis marches on, more and more businesses are finding it hard-pressed to keep the lights on. It is a time of extremes, with new businesses cropping up and some being forced to close down.

For seasoned franchisors, however, this is just a bump in the road. Long months or years of planning and execution is no stranger to businesses focused on franchise development. Concerns on the future of franchising and specific industries are certainly valid. However, it's business as usual when your business is used to playing the long game.

Franchisees and small business owners, however, may feel the pressure of a locked down economy more intensely, and have lower appetite for risk. Franchising used to be a fairly low-risk investment: it still is, but how can businesses take care of their franchisors and distributors in the current crisis?

This is a Heading

It's important to reassure your franchisees and partners that you are committed to riding out and addressing this wave of uncertainty and turmoil with them. The current pandemic doesn't change the fact that franchising comes with less risk. Your support as franchisor is invaluable.

Listen to your teams' concerns and work with them to overcome difficulties they may be having. Now, more than ever, it's important to communicate and be transparent. Open communication lines can help you react as quickly as possible to on-the-ground concerns: perhaps one of your franchisees has already found a solution to a problem starting to affect a different partner.

This is a good time to step up communication frequency while the economy is very volatile. Talk to them and share insights and tips with your franchisees. This will help your partners feel that they are in good hands.

Help Them Stay on Top of Fixed Costs

Some of the biggest challenges for many brick-and-mortar franchises revolve around meeting fixed costs like mortgage, rent, wages, and the like. Every peso saved is important.

Support you can lend to your franchisees to help them manage their cost will be appreciated. You can provide guidance in negotiating with suppliers and landlords. If there are relief packages or loan opportunities that they may be applicable for, let them know about these and help them secure ones that they may need.

Helping them transition to alternative channels of selling and servicing may also be needed so they can boost their numbers. Providing them education and guidance on important aspects of transitioning to online selling, for example, may help them maintain a healthy business.

Help Them Be Kind to Their Customers

Businesses who can be kind to their customers often earn their customers' goodwill and support for the long-term. If your franchisees have a little more leeway in offering special deals to their customers, it helps build relationships and loyalty and may boost morale both ways.

You can offer complimentary services or plan extensions for customers cancelling services due to income impact. Reasonable discounts on necessities and goods may be filtered down to end consumers and provide some relief. Occasional gifts and tokens that may be given to customers will also be remembered fondly and help build loyalty and good will.

Don't Shut Your Doors on New Partners

It may seem counterintuitive to open your coffers to new franchisees and partners during this time. Many businesses are seeing losses and budget cuts in many areas. However, continuing to market to new partners and taking new channels have two effects:

You are gaining new partners invested in taking more control of their future. They, in turn, can also generate more jobs for this struggling economy. This is the long game. While margins may be thin now, deepening your pool of franchisees will only solidify your business for the future.
It sends a confidence boost to your current franchisees. If they see you expanding, it sends a signal that this current situation is just another bump in the road that will soon pass. Don't underestimate the morale boost it will give your team.

If you have potential partners who are hesitant, it may help them to know that many similar-minded people have good projections on starting their businesses. Franchise Insights conducted a buyer sentiment survey last March that shows over 55% of respondents agree that now is a good time to start a business.

Source: https://www.franchiseinsights.com/franchise-development/buyer-sentiment-survey-franchise-inquirers-looking-past-pandemic-effects/

While 19.2% of respondents have put their plans to start a business on hold, the majority still believe that business conditions will improve in the next three months.

Keep Moving Forward

It is important that franchisors take the reins in moving forward through the economic crisis for their franchisees. Shared input and cooperation from your partners are important. But now, more than ever, a united front that is quick to establish guidelines and adopt better ways of doing business during the pandemic can turn the tide of business for the whole organization.

Remember these four tips:

Encourage and reassure your franchisees.
Help them stay on top of fixed costs.
Help them be kind to their customers.
Don't shut your doors on new partners.

Continue to invest in your franchisees and improve your business. Step up communication and pivot quickly if needed. Be transparent and clue in your partners to possible changes in the pipeline.

Together, we will get through this pandemic. We heal as one.

10 Tips for Compelling SMS Campaigns

Wed, 05 Aug 2020 09:00:00 +0800

Tip #1 - Get Permission From Your Subscribers

Just like any email mailing list, you need to get explicit permission from your recipients before sending them marketing text messages. This is the most important tip!

There are many ways to entice people onto your subscriber list--perhaps offer them special offers, product updates, and other perks when they opt into the list.

Remember that if they gave you their email address only as part of their online order, that isn’t an invitation to start messaging them about your new products. So take the opportunity to invite them to opt in while they’re checking out their online cart or in your order communications.

Tip #2 - Provide Great Value

It goes without saying that the best way you make sure your recipients are happy with your SMS program is to provide value to them. Remember that the high open and response rates enjoyed by SMS campaigns is due to how intimate SMS messaging is for most people. Subscribers have less patience for unwanted, useless messaging in their SMS inbox than in their email inbox.

This means that while you have higher chances of getting noticed with SMS, make sure that your message is something that they would really want to know about, and act upon. Your subscribers need to feel like a VIP.

Tip #3 - Tell Subscribers What to Expect

Managing expectations is important. You don’t need to have a long explanation of what your program is about. But it’s important to be clear what subscribers can get from joining your list. This minimizes disgruntled recipients and can be a compelling reason why subscribers might join.

Make sure to reiterate your program in the auto-response that subscribers receive after they join.

Tip #4 - Don’t Nag Your Subscribers

Nobody wants to get too many messages per month, or about the same campaign. Don’t annoy your subscribers, or you’ll see more people removing themselves from your list in short order.

It’s also good practice to tell your subscribers up front how many times they can expect to receive messages from you. Anywhere from 2-6 messages per month is a good number.

Tip #5 - Time Your Messages Right

Aside from regulations that limit promotional messaging to normal hours, your recipients are more likely to take action on your message during the daytime.

A message they receive while they’re getting ready to sleep will not likely inspire them to take your offer, and may even annoy them if they wake up to your notification. In addition, sending messages after office hours can also be counterproductive for your business.

Tip #6 - Be Professional and Don’t Use Shorthand

While many people use shorthand forms when messaging their friends and family, using the same in your promotional messages may come across as sloppy and unprofessional. Sending out your promotion copy in full will rarely cause readers to think negatively of your brand, while shorthand may be detrimental.

Additionally, the shorthand forms you know may be different for your target audience. Minimize the chance of misunderstanding by sticking to normal word forms.

Tip #7 - Respond in Real Time

One of the best aspects of SMS channels is the ability to develop customer relationships through conversational marketing. By giving them an opportunity to respond to you and start a conversation, you’re building long-term relationships and loyalty.

It’s important to keep these customers engaged. While manually responding to subscribers may not be ideal, usage of autoresponders can help in many scenarios, from instantly giving them access to purchase products in your catalog to responding to their feedback appropriately.

Tip #8 - Track and Measure Your Campaigns

As with many marketing campaigns, it’s important to measure your SMS campaigns effectiveness in order to maximize current and future efforts. Don’t just send your messages blind and hope that something comes back.

Check your provider if they have tracking tools available, but you can also use third party tools like Google Analytics to track your SMS campaigns’ effectiveness. These need to be embedded in the message you send out, so don’t forget to include it as you hit send.

Tip #9 - Personalize Where You Can

While there’s only so many characters you can include in an SMS, it’s important to show your business’ personality and care for your customer through the copy that you use. It’s easy to send an impersonal message through, but it has less chances of grabbing your recipient’s attention.

Where possible, try to personalize your messaging, whether it’s by adding their name or tailoring an offer for their interests. You’re more likely to catch their attention and they’ll feel closer to your brand if you make them feel like a VIP.

Tip #10 - Stay Transparent and Compliant

Lastly, using SMS for marketing purposes is more than just making sure they’ve explicitly opted into your program. There are many important laws regulating marketing on this channel, so make sure you’re following them.

These are things like:

Informing recipients about extra message/data rates that they may incur when they respond to your campaign messages.
Letting subscribers know how to remove themselves from your program.
Sending promotional messages only within allowed times of the day.

Keep up to date with the current regulations, and make sure your bases are covered.

Conclusion

SMS is a great channel that can fully round out your existing marketing efforts. Don’t ignore newer channels such as social media ads, messenger and chat apps, and the like, but don’t dismiss this veteran marketing channel. A solid marketing plan must harness all available channels to deliver a powerful message.

If you follow all the tips outlined below, your program and campaign has a better chance of delighting your customers.

Get permission from your subscribers.
Provide great value.
Tell subscribers what to expect.
Don’t nag your subscribers.
Time your messages right.
Be professional and don’t use shorthand.
Respond in real time.
Track and measure your campaigns.
Personalize where you can.
Stay transparent and compliant.

A happy subscriber list can help you build strong customer relationships and encourage brand loyalty to your subscribers. Taking care of them and making sure you bring value through your SMS program can give you great long-term results.