Business owners love the idea of making all customers loyal customers. But, in reality, fostering true customer retention is about as easy as Donald Trump giving a soft-spoken speech: You think it's probably within the realm of possibility, but it's unlikely.

The importance of customer retention vs. customer acquisition can't be overstated. Most companies tend to focus on new customer acquisition, when in reality the cost of retaining customers is a mere fifth of that which it costs to obtain new customers. And, increasing customer loyalty by just 5% can yield a whopping 25%-95% increase in profit!

Social listening, also known as social monitoring, has become an essential way for businesses to help create customer loyalty in a whole new way. Social media is the mountaintop from which your consumers shout, whether to praise or vilify. And, if they're talking about your business, you can bet your bottom dollar you don't want to miss it.

The reach of a positive social post gone viral is almost invaluable, and a proper (if necessary) response to a negative social post can be the best marketing you never paid for.

Ever heard of Liberty Bottleworks? Its founder's well-spoken reply to an ugly Facebook post spoke volumes to observers and resulted in the small business's being inundated with support. That's how you keep your head in the game.

Here are four ways you can keep your head in the game and harness the power of social media listening tools to stay at the forefront of your customers' minds.

1. Be more nimble and quick than Jack over the candlestick

We are in the age of lightning-fast technology, and our patience is MIA. By the time someone posts an inquiry on social media, he wants the answer... yesterday.

How impressive, then, for a company that's hip to social monitoring to hop right on and immediately offer an answer to a question, a solution to a problem, or, better yet, a link to everything the questioner ever needed (your website). And don't forget: Others will also see your social responses.

That's how you can acquire and retain customers in one fell swoop. Facebook even notes on business pages how fast (on average) the business owner replies to messages:

Screenshot example of Facebook displaying response speed on a business page

A customer feels valued and confident in your competency if you are quick to communicate. Customers wouldn't hesitate to message The Find Auctions on Facebook upon seeing they'd likely to get a quick response from the company.

2. Use 'bait' to inculcate loyalty

Mention how much you love us on social media? Have some reward points! Give us a raving review online? Have some bonus bucks! Brag about us on your blog? Here's a coupon code!

What some might call bribing, we call giving incentive. Think "checking in" to your store on Facebook for a 10% discount. Another commonly used tactic is prompting fans to share, follow, or like your page on social media in return for a chance to win a contest.

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Four Ways to Use Social Listening to Boost Customer Loyalty

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of Samir Palnitkar

Samir Palnitkar is the founder of Zinrelo, a technology company that specializes in loyalty rewards programs. He is also the founder of four other successful startups, he holds five technology patents, and he is the author of two technical books.

LinkedIn: Samir Palnitkar

Twitter: @samir_palnitkar