I am a devoted drinker of Coca-Cola.
Maybe it’s because I was born and raised in Atlanta, the birthplace of the beverage. Or maybe it’s because Coke is incredibly delicious. Either way, when I am craving a soda, Coke is my go-to. If I’m ordering at a restaurant and the waiter says, “I’m sorry ma’am, we only serve Pepsi products,” it makes me want to cry a little — and then I get water instead. This is brand loyalty, and it’s one of the most important (and often most elusive) compliments a company can receive. The relationship between advertising and brand loyalty cannot be overstated, but building brand loyalty can sometimes be tricky to accomplish.
According to B2B International, 54% of B2B marketers focus on building customer loyalty. But what about that other 46%?
[ctt template=”1″ link=”Xa6Ho” via=”yes” ]”54% of #B2B marketers focus on customer loyalty,” says @B2B_Insight. What about the other 46%?[/ctt]
B2B companies can use a variety of tactics to cultivate a Coca-Cola-level of devotion, such as a partners program, customer-only events, and excellent customer service, just to name a few. For the sake of this post, we’re going to focus on building customer loyalty with the use of digital ads. Let’s look at four of the most effective ways to turn customers into brand evangelists using digital advertising.
Claim Bragging Rights
It never hurts to show your customers what other people in the industry think of you. If you receive an award, why not generate ads that toot your own horn a little? If you were voted best in customer service, for example, let your accomplishment do the advertising for you. Not only does this serve as a reminder to your customers of past positive brand experiences, but it also keeps your company fresh in their minds.
Not only that, but you can use account-based marketing tools to serve the same ads to decision-makers at lookalike accounts that share key characteristics with your current customers.
Upsell and Cross-Sell
Online ads make it easy to update your customers when you’re introducing a new product or service into the marketplace. Chances are you’re already updating them via email, but so many of those emails are destined for the trash bin (no matter how great your subject line is).
Showcase Your Content
A great way to win and retain customers is to frequently engage them with valuable content that educates them and builds trust. Utilizing digital ads makes it simple to expose your customers and potential prospects to all the incredible content you’ve created.
But how do you find out what type of content your customers are craving? Here are a few effective ways to determine which assets to feature in your display ads.
- Talk to your customer success team. They work one-on-one with your clients every day, so they know all about their pain points, questions, and interests.
- Use a customer success management platform. Tools like ChurnZero and Gainsight provide insights about how customers use your product, including which features they use the most and which they’re struggling with. Both of these topics make great fodder for customer-focused content.
- Ask them! Call up your customers or send out a survey to find out what kind of content they want more of.
Advertise Your Referral Program
Nothing shows an appreciation for your product quite like someone recommending it to others. If you have a referral program that offers customers rewards for sending interested accounts your way, consider promoting it to your loyal customer base to help attract new business.
Tip: You can effectively identify your biggest fans with an advocate marketing tool like Ambassador or Influitive, both of which integrate with your Salesforce CRM.
How to Reach Your Customers with Digital Advertisements
So, how can marketers make sure they’re reaching the right people with their digital ads?
Retargeting
Traditionally, marketers have used cookie-based retargeting to serve advertisements to people who have visited their website. While retargeting is a useful strategy to have in place, it’s far from perfect.
There’s a good chance your product’s end user (who’s seeing your cookie-based ads) isn’t a decision-maker at their organization. This is fine when you’re advertising your referral program or educating your customers about how to use your product, but what about when you’re trying to upsell or cross-sell? This is where account-based marketing comes in.
Account-Based Marketing
Account-based marketing allows you to target key decision-makers at accounts that meet your company’s ideal customer profile — even if you don’t have those individuals’ contact information. The same goes for the buying committee at your current customers’ organizations.
Consider this scenario: Client Company A has dozens of entry-level customer service reps who use your support ticket tracking system every day. You know from customer surveys that these reps would benefit from upgrading to a more advanced tier of your product — but targeting entry-level reps with digital upsell ads isn’t enough to close the deal.
Even if you have a dedicated upgrades and renewals team, it’s near impossible to get in touch with all the employees at Client Company A who would be involved in the decision-making process. You probably don’t have all their contact information in your CRM, and even if you do, it might not be accurate. In fact, SiriusDecisions reports that up to 25% of B2B data goes bad every year if you don’t use a data cleansing service.
With an account-based marketing strategy, you can expand your reach to more contacts in your target accounts — the buying committee in particular. Then, your marketing team can use display advertisements to help educate and upsell them.
Conclusion
According to Bain & Company, it costs six to seven times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one. This shocking statistic illustrates why brand loyalty is vital to every B2B company’s success. Digital ads enable you to engage and educate both your target accounts and your customers while building a positive relationship between your company and the consumer.
[ctt template=”1″ link=”w4S8e” via=”yes” ]It costs 6-7x more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one. – @BainInsights[/ctt]
To learn more about how digital advertising and brand loyalty fit into an integrated account-based marketing strategy, check out Account-Based Marketing for Dummies — a new book by Terminus CMO and Co-Founder, Sangram Vajre. You can even download the first chapter for free by clicking the banner below!
