Return to: Loyalty Law #2: Don't just talk to customers … listen
Delivering consistently on the brand promise plays a greater role in creating loyal customers than any other customer-facing capability, accounting for one-third of an organization's ability to achieve high customer loyalty, according to marketing and customer management research by Accenture. In fact, for all companies in the study, regardless of their industry or business model (i.e., business-to-consumer, business-to-business, et cetera), developing and delivering a branded customer experience comprises 33 percent of a company's ability to achieve strong customer loyalty.
How does social media affect customers' expectations of the brand? In the Web 2.0 world, consumers look for different traits from brands. While on one hand customers expect that the brand will deliver a quality product or service, the new brand/customer dynamic also raises the expectation that brands will behave a certain way online. In the realm of social and user-generated media, brands must be honest about their opinions and their identity.
As Max Kalehoff writes in his blog, consumer-generated marketing means "entering into direct conversations with consumers, where there is a far greater expectation of humanness, honesty and transparency." I believe that the best rule of thumb is to follow the WOMMA (Word of Mouth Marketing Association) Ethics Code Honesty ROI:
- Honesty of Relationship: You say who you're speaking for
- Honesty of Opinion: You say what you believe
- Honesty of Identity: You never obscure your identity
Next: Loyalty Law #4: Reward your best users
