Building Your Community of Customers
How creating a community of customers helps your business
Whether you’re a business owner or a customer in the Philippines, you will have heard the term “suki” at least once in your life. Translated, a “suki” is what those in the business world often call a repeat customer. These are the groups and individuals who swear by a brand or product and will, as the name suggests, come back for more. Repeat customers are more likely to repurchase a particular product or even venture further into what a business has to offer because of the existing rapport that has been established between brand and customer.
Such customers come in all shapes and sizes and each individual will have their own reasons for staying loyal to a brand or product. Whether their loyalty is due to product satisfaction or even sentimental reasons, these people are essential to the growth and success of any business. They are also most likely to promote the brand to their own circles and communities on their own account, which allows the brand’s following to grow with minimal effort or expense in advertising and marketing.
Creating the community
But how can you turn your one-time customers into repeat customers? There are many ways, and we’ve summarised some best business practices that might help you turn your next customer into your next “suki.”
- Keep the conversation going. One example of keeping in touch with your customers is through SMS marketing. In this day of Ecommerce websites and online shopping platforms, establishing a relationship with your customers may seem more complicated. You may think that the lack of person-to-person contact is a hindrance to community creation, but it’s not! Using SMS gives businesses a direct and personal line to their market, allowing them to offer and remind people of ongoing promotions or even informing them of new products available.
- Reward loyalty. There are many variations of how loyalty to a brand can be rewarded. Some of them are through loyalty cards that allow customers to accumulate points in exchange for their in-person or online purchases. Others have more elaborate customer loyalty programs that offer a whole catalogue of rewards. Whatever program a business chooses, it’s important that the customer feels their loyalty is being appreciated.
- Build a database. An added benefit of the ever-growing Ecommerce platform is the ease of creating a hub of customer profiles. Because their purchases are done online, a business gets invaluable information on who their customers are and what they’re buying. That way, you can easily craft marketing campaigns or even new products with the needs and wants of your customers at the forefront. What better way to make sure they come back for more!
How can ZAP help?
Zap’s loyalty program, available both for physical and e-commerce stores, can be adapted to the needs of any business. Through this tool, you can collect data on your customers and create targeted SMS campaigns just for them. Customers simply have to register through whichever option is most convenient to them – by entering their mobile number via the in-store merchant tablet or by purchasing on the Zap E-Store platform.
Other than that, Zap also offers various automations to complement its SMS blast system – from time-based automations to customized or targeted texts, this ensures that a company is able to stay in touch with its clientele, thus increasing its chances of creating a community of repeat customers.
Once a member is registered, their information becomes key to a brand or business’s engagement with them. The more we know about our community, the better we can serve their needs. It’s really that simple!
One of Zap’s partner companies – Nature Republic – a Korean skincare brand that’s all the rage in many parts of Asia and beyond, makes use of Zap’s many loyalty program features to engage with their clients. Through the data collected by Zap, Nature Republic is able to offer its customers specific rewards, such as birthday coupons, and promotions that are specifically targeted to their needs, such as skin care products for varying skin types.
Ready to take the next step in building your business’s community? Check out zap.com.ph for physical stores and zapestore.com for Ecommerce platforms for more information on how you can partner with Zap!
