It is no longer news that the fashion industry is a highly competitive one with new brands making their entry into the market daily. Due to the nature of this market, each loyal customer is extremely valuable to any fashion brand. According to startup fashion, 80% of future profits will come from 20% of existing clients and to make this work, brand loyalty should be top of your list as a fashion entrepreneur.
Several brands have adopted different methods of building brand loyalty over the years, and this is majorly influenced by the brand niche. The question is how do you make your brand appealing to your customers both existing and new, and at the same time get referrals from them?
3 steps to building strong brand loyalty as a fashion entrepreneur
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Focus on the story behind your product
In today’s fashion market, it is rare to find a brand that sells something different from others. The only difference might just be a few changes, but the products are still the same. In this case, it is impossible to build brand loyalty when you focus more on your product than the story behind each product. Why? because your customers can always get the same type of products from your competitors.
When marketing your product, it is important to focus on the “why” instead of the “what”, because it is the story your audience finds interesting. Consumer buying behaviour has changed from what it used to be and for them to connect with your brand, there must be an authentic story behind your products. They are driven by the story behind each product, and at the same time, recommending your products to other people interested in the story. Consider the following tips to make your product story successful:
- Develop a customer-centric view
- Create an emotional narrative
- Build trust and share social proof
- Share the end goals
- Be consistent
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Show your expertise
In this step, you are displaying your wealth of experience. You are an expert in your business niche and you should always flaunt your knowledge. Customers want to associate with a business that knows what they are doing, a business that has the experience and shows it. When you establish yourself as an expert in your niche, you command respect both from your clients and your competitors.
Here are some ways you can establish your expertise in your niche:
- Claim your expertise
- Create high-quality content for your website
- Host online/ offline fashion events
- Be a guest on internet radio stations
- Build a social media following
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Make yourself available
According to Zendesk, nearly three out of five consumers report that good customer service is key for them to feel loyalty toward a brand. Personal involvement is very important in any form of brand loyalty campaign. More advertisements are now focused on customers and the positive experiences they can get from using your product. This is influenced majorly by the increasing emphasis on the customer experience.
Customer service now serve as the distinguishing factor between brands that offer the same products as in the fashion industry. According to Salesforce Research, 89% of customers will make another purchase after a positive customer service experience. All of these statistics clearly state the benefits of good customer service which at times can involve you as the brand owner or a fashion entrepreneur. For every customer service mistake, roughly 50% of customers will switch to a new brand after one bad experience – Zendesk.
Here are few ways to ensure clients get the best customer service from your brand:
- Care about your employees
- Develop a good relationship with all of your customers
- Hire employees who are good communicators
- Focus on consumer retention strategies
- Take advantage of social media
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Focus on an authentic brand story to build brand loyalty
- Map out strategies to improve your customer experience today
- Consider using your clients as your brand ambassadors. By interacting with them on social media, you get a lot of UGC( user-generated content) to help with word-of-mouth marketing. You can also do this by creating a unique hashtag for your brand. When customers post pictures of themselves in your collection, they include your brand hashtag. In the 21st century, authenticity is as good as gold!- Startup Fashion.
