Transforming your existing customers into brand ambassadors is a great way to increase loyalty and boost your brand. Discover how to engage with your current customers and turn them into valuable ambassadors for your brand.
This may sound like an obvious one, but it is one of the most effective ways to turn customers into brand ambassadors. Ensure you’re nurturing your existing customers by keeping them informed and interested in products or services you think they may enjoy based on their previous purchases.
Avoid sending ‘one size fits all’ messages to every customer, and instead, add that special, personalised touch by giving them sneak peek previews of new products or services. You could also send them a gift voucher, discounts for future purchases, exclusive deals or credit their accounts for their continued loyalty. All of these methods will help build a bond between your brand and your customers.
Another way to engage with your current customers is by asking for feedback, however, this method only works if you are prepared to accept and act on any feedback received.
Asking for feedback can be a great way to engage with customers and show them that you genuinely value their opinion. In fact, according to a report by Microsoft, “77% of consumers say they favour brands that ask for and accept customer feedback.”
The way your company and its employees interact with customers is the foundation of building great relationships which is why it’s so essential to excel at customer service.
No matter how great your product is, if it is accompanied by poor customer service then the overall customer experience will suffer. This is why it’s so important to ensure your customers feel valued. Monitoring the current standard of customer service and finding ways to continually improve it will help build a strong relationship between your brand and its customers.
Another way to transform loyal customers into brand ambassadors is by implementing referral programs. Referral programs traditionally involve offering rewards and incentives to your existing customers in exchange for them introducing your brand to their connections (eg. getting their friends or family members to sign up or buy a product).
There are many ways to incentivize your referral program, including offering discounts, free samples, cash prizes, or points if you prefer the idea of a points-based reward system. The Duel platform, for example, can help your brand create a bespoke, points-based system with rewards and perks.
As well as generating leads, referral programs help build a better bond between your brand and the referrer, further enhancing customer loyalty and retention.
Utilise user-generated content (UGC) created by your current brand ambassadors to help engage a pool of potential ones. UGC can include any written or visual assets, from beautifully-captured Instagram photos of your products to TikTok video reviews of your brand’s services.
Creating natural and genuine content that can be shared online, allows ambassadors to connect with consumers in a truly authentic manner. In fact, consumers are 2.4x more likely to say user-generated content is authentic compared to brand-created content, according to a Nosto report.
The more customers engage with high-quality, attractive UGC, the more likely they are to want to become ambassadors themselves and reap the rewards.
Having a good website and offering an exceptional online experience is a great way to attract brand ambassadors. Customers are more likely to engage with your website if it’s easy to navigate, simple to use, and looks good.
If your website isn’t aesthetically pleasing, you may struggle to acquire customers willing to help boost your brand. In fact, “38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout are unattractive”.
This is why it’s so important to ensure your website is attractive, engaging, easy to navigate, and that the browsing to checkout process is seamless. Make sure the returns policy is just as simple too!
Similar to the way you can attract potential ambassadors via referral programs, you can also use affiliate programs to turn customers into brand ambassadors. Affiliate programs allow customers to promote a particular product or service in exchange for a percentage of the money you earn from the transaction.
The affiliate is given a unique affiliate link which points to the product or service you’re looking to promote or sell, and each time a person makes a purchase through that link, the affiliate earns a commission. Usually, the result is a sale, but some affiliate programs can reward affiliates for free-trial users, leads, or even getting downloads for an app.
Affiliate programs can be very worthwhile for your loyal customers. 31% of publishers even say that affiliate marketing is one of their top three sources of revenue, while 9% say it’s their top revenue source. This shows that affiliate marketing is not only beneficial for your brand in terms of generating sales, it is also a great source of income for your customers.
Hopefully some of the methods listed above will help transform your most loyal customers into valuable ambassadors for your brand. There are many ways to manage your ambassadors, including via dedicated ambassador programs like the Duel platform. Find out how you can run a successful brand ambassador program, or if you’d like some inspiration, take a look at some great ambassador program examples.
Duel is a Brand Advocacy Platform which turns customers into advocates – we automate that lightning-in-a-bottle moment of a friend endorsing a brand. Click here to learn more about our platform.