Why Good Branding Can Improve Customer Retention
As obvious as this may sound, good branding greatly improves customer retention. Branding used to be viewed simply as the combination of design elements like a logo, slogan, and unique sales strategy to differentiate between brands. However, branding has evolved into a more complex system with a broad scope. A good brand is centred on the following:
- A well defined stellar brand identity
- Identification of a target market
- Improved service delivery
- Credibility
- Mission and long term vision
- Getting feedback from customers
- Improving user experience
- Improving customer retention and brand loyalty
- Pricing and advertising strategy
The highlighted points are essential components of a good branding strategy. A business should clearly outline its goals and objectives and draft possible ways and techniques to actualize them with minimal effort.
According to brand strategist Scott Talgo- “A brand that captures your mind gains behavior. A brand that captures your heart gains commitment.” Good branding defines how outsiders and potential customers perceive a brand, their views and how best they can stay motivated and continue using their services or products and stay loyal. Branding does go a long way in improving customer retention.
What is customer retention?
Customer retention is the overall process of motivating and engaging already existing customers to maintain patronage of their products and services. To a point, the brand would have already converted and closed in on some customers but will want to ensure that they keep on coming back for more.
Businesses with good branding in place have a better chance of success. This gives you an edge over your teeming competitors who will stop at nothing to claim a huge share of the market.
Good branding helps you build and maintain sustainable relationships with your customers. Since the ultimate goal of every business entity is to maximize profit, employing different ways to achieve that would go a long way and one of them is a good branding strategy.
Always make sure your business’s brand identity, good pricing, feedback system, advertising system, and brand value perception has been duly established. This will greatly have an impact on customer retention. You wouldn’t want your customers to go elsewhere when you can easily win them over with strategic offers and benefits.
The present business world is fiercely competitive. Utilizing strategies that would promote the brand while holding a greater part of the overall market share is a major concern. This is essential for gaining revenue, the growth, survival, and expansion of your business. Good branding will give your business an edge over other competitors and also boost customer retention.
I guess we are all aware that of the popular saying that ”Customer is king”, their decision-making process involves a strong feeling or perception towards a brand. You have to ask yourself the question: ‘does my branding stand out in a line-up of business in my chosen niche’? If not, then you will need to work on it.
It is a known fact that profit maximization is a whole lot easier when good branding works out for your business. What this simply means is that good branding has a great impact on customer retention, customers value brand they can easily relate with.
Also, certain brands have strong values that evoke a feeling of perceived quality and emotional attachment by the consumers. For instance, most customers of popular renowned brands like Apple and Samsung are core loyalists. Their customers are die-hard fans and will continue to patronize the brand, they rather use phones from these brands or use no phone at all. They can also go at any length to promote these brands although they are not official ambassadors. This is a typical example of how good branding can improve customer retention.
A huge chunk of profit comes from patronage by retained customers, as well as new customers. It has been proven that customer retention is much easier when good branding has already been implemented. Most companies are not quite sound in terms of acknowledging one of their greatest strengths which lies in improving service delivery and satisfying their customers. They would normally spend a large part of their marketing budget on promotions geared towards acquiring new customers although this is a more expensive path to take.
Every business should learn the essence of good branding and how it can significantly improve customer retention. Brand image is like ‘a promise to your customer‘ which defines what to expect when they acquire your products or utilize services you offer. This clearly distinguishes your business from that of closely related competitors.
What is Brand Equity?
Let us talk about brand equity which is an integral part of branding and how it aids customer retention:
Brand equity is the value that is generated from the impact that the brand’s name and recognition have on the consumers’ behaviour and their purchases. For instance, Apple computers are generally perceived as premium and easy to use, caterpillar tractors are supported with excellent services and AMD microprocessors are associated with a superb performance at low price points..
Brand equity facilitates customer retention. In customers’ minds these brands are the most accessible, easily recalled and offer quality user experience. This is notable in consumer markets where perceptions can range from product functionality to abstract emotional associations which promotes customer retention.
A good branding strategy is great and should be implemented by every business that wants to succeed in competitive markets. Brands should learn to carry out effective customer support services as well. This will boost their credibility and enable customers to trust the brand more.
When you give customers what they desire and always exceed their expectations, they are bound to keep coming back for more products and services, in some cases bringing referrals to the brand.
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