Consumer Loyalty Builds Brands

Loyalty programs for your existing client base promote a positive brand experience as well as revenue generation.  In a niche market such as life insurance, growth is equally as important as new business.  Reviewing your current marketing strategy to ensure that you are maximizing your digital exposure is the key to proper brand management.

It is true that bad news spreads faster than good news, but a solid consumer base takes time and trust to establish, so it is understandable that an organic, positive user experience may take longer to trickle into a social media experience, but the reach will be far greater than that of a negative outcome.

Enhancing The User Experience

Relegating a customer loyalty program to the forefront of your digital marketing strategy can open up new doors to customer satisfaction.  By creating a platform where clients can be rewarded for making use of your product or service, your clients are more likely to refer your service to close friends or family members.

Rewards Programs Generate Referral Business

Actually, 65% of new business comes from referrals, which is a fantastic way to reduce costs.  Rewards programs can mean that your clients do your marketing for you!   It is reported that consumers who are referred to a specific organization are four times more likely to buy.

With the use of social media on the rise, clients are more likely to recognize their favorite brands for making an effort to keep them happy.  Insurance companies benefit especially well from this service, saving clients money instantly by offering them deep discounts on premiums depending on years of service.

Rewards programs offer significant value to your corporation by helping you understand your demographic better while satisfying the client’s need to be valued.

Two Forms of Digital Marketing

Digital push pull marketing is a way to achieve the above-mentioned with astounding results.  Derived from expressed market need, push and pull marketing is an effective way for organizations of all sizes to increase exposure while reducing costs and maximizing their client base.

Digital Pull

Potentially the most powerful form of digital marketing is pull marketing.  Normally achieved through the Internet and blogs, the consumer seeks out content by way of search engines.  This type of marketing is important because it gives organizations the opportunity to manipulate their web content in order to maximize their visibility.

This advertising platform becomes intensely important in telecom, where smartphones made by Apple and Google dominate the market.  For example, using search engine optimization, telecom giant Nextel can ensure that their affiliates promote web content in such a way as to yield the top spots in the search engine results after consumers search for popular phrases such as “push to talk”.

Digital Push

This marketing strategy, while more challenging to use, is equally as important as pull marketing.  Digital push marketing involves sending, or pushing, information to the consumer through emails, text messages or subscription services.  In this case, a database of subscribers is required and can either be purchased through third parties, or developed through blogs and web feeds.

Both strategies require not only an intense knowledge of the customer demographic, but also a through understanding of digital marketing techniques.  Utilization of both together is a powerful, potentially unstoppable marketing tool.

Quick Response (QR) codes offer an exciting opportunity for businesses that are looking to increase their visibility in a niche market and garner the attention of a target demographic. QR codes are on the road to becoming a critical marketing tool in this ever-changing digital market.  More than 87% of consumers are making use of QR codes and they can be found in store windows, at bus stops and on restaurant menus.

Once a consumer scans a QR code with a camera-supported smartphone such as an iPhone or Android device, their device can take them on a journey to a specific webpage, let them access exclusive digital content or enable them to take advantage of a discount on services or goods.

Integration Into Direct Marketing

Insurance companies regularly send promotional material to clients in the form of emails.  Many consumers receive these emails on their smartphone and the calculated placement of a QR code can direct them to the website or a loyalty promotion with just the tap of their finger.

Smart insurance advertisers can use an introduction such as  “Combine and Save” with the QR code, prompting consumers to use their smartphone to access important information about saving money on a combined insurance product.  If your organization distributes a newsletter or has regular news releases, QR codes can ensure that your clients are getting important, valuable information.

Business Cards

Several large insurance and marketing agencies are making use of QR codes by using them on the reverse side of their business cards.  In some cases, the only information that can be found on some business cards is the QR code.  Scan the QR code and a virtual business card opens, allowing the user to add the contact to their phone or computer, instantly.  The next time the consumer is in the market for a multi-line insurance product, who do you think will be their first phone call?

Through the use of a QR code, you can also create a memorable video with important information about who you are and what you do.  Putting a face to the name places a human spin on the sea of insurance agents, who will be better in the community.

Whether you are celebrating 100 years of service or offering discounts for client referrals, QR codes provide incredible value when integrated into your advertising platform at any level.

Crowds clamor to snap up the latest mobile device, but phone calls are the last thing that telecom customers intend to use a smartphone for today.  Apps rank highest on the needs list for smartphone shoppers and with good reason.

There’s An App For That

Whether it is tracking your daily calories, managing your schedule, balancing the budget or taking pictures with Instagram, there is quite literally a mobile app that can meet a client’s every need and succumb to their every whim.  Apple’s adage holds true, even today with an overabundance of apps available to consumers worldwide.

Telecom has a number of significant advantages over the mobile app market, most importantly that they manage mobile technologies.  The development of an app for telecom companies can generate more customer interactions as well as a more positive brand experience.

Mobile App Store

Transforming your online store into a mobile equivalent offers a significant advantage not only to your existing client base, but to potential clients as well.  Make contract and promotional pricing available for new clients and upgrade pricing for existing clients based on the information already contained in their customer profile.

Account Services

From making payments through secure app applications to changing a monthly package, facilitating the process of account management for customers plays an important part in customer retention.

Customers are all about ease of use, and having the information they need right at their fingertips is exactly why mobile apps thrive, even if they are free.  For the small cost associated with the apps development, you can open an entirely new channel of communication for your target demographic.

The face of car insurance is changing, and insurance companies need to be flexible enough to roll with the punches.  In 2012, we have seen a trend towards consumers not necessarily becoming more cost-conscious, but more spending-conscious.

So, what does this mean for car insurance companies?  It means that you’ll need to evaluate your digital marketing strategy to ensure that it is presenting the value of the services that you offer as opposed to simply cost savings to your target demographic.

There are several ways in which insurance companies can modernize their advertising platform while assuring customers and potential clients of the value-added service that they provide.

Location-Based Check-Ins

Popular social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook offer a check in feature, which allows users to literally check in at the location provided by the GPS device in their smartphone device.  Insurance companies need to take advantage of this feature for a number of reasons.

For car insurance, check-ins through your corporate mobile app can also mean helping a client out if they are involved in an accident in a remote area.  How many times have you asked a client where the accident occurred only to realize that they are still shaken enough not to know?  A check-in from the location of the accident can facilitate the claims process but also provide you with traffic trends and accident statistics depending on the area being monitored.

Corporate Mobile App

It is said that brand advocacy is the driving force behind most successful marketing programs and in a social media based society, this has never been more relevant.  Creating a mobile app is a form of pull marketing.  Clients seek out your brand at their leisure, most often at a time where there is a need for your particular service.

Your mobile app will help reinforce the qualities that set you apart from the murky waters of the insurance market.  A well-designed app should also be consistent with your corporate branding and be updated regularly.

Corporate apps have the advantage of communicating important information to clients in real-time and can facilitate two-way communication between car insurance companies and clients, providing a positive brand experience for consumers.

Is this a good thing? If you know how to implement digital marketing strategies at the same time you do your networking, then yes, this will be a very good thing. In fact, it will seem like you have all of the answers for creating customer loyalty and revenue generation. Of course, it is not as simple as that.

Understanding This Channel of Communication

Let’s use a simple example: insurance. The insurance industry is certainly one of the first to jump on the proverbial band wagon of mobile Internet marketing. They create all kinds of readily accessible sites that clients can reach through an iPad, Android, or Smartphone.

They also implement standard marketing tactics such as print and TV ads. They ensure that all of these things are designed to appeal to their customer demographic, and then they utilize this for effective social media efforts such as Facebook messages, blogging techniques and more.

They create a channel of communication through which their clients are receiving information that translates to value. They are not “selling” so much as “serving” and that creates customer loyalty. This is networking at its finest because it ensures that a positive brand experience happens whenever any facet of the digital marketing is used.

Using Trends in Insurance Marketing

So, whether you have a telecom firm in Spain or an insurance firm in the United Kingdom, consider the ways that you might use digital marketing, social media, mobile Internet and a positive brand experience to your benefit.

It is very interesting to see just how many modern businesses are still working outside of the best digital marketing plans. This is probably due to the fact that things changed so rapidly that it was almost impossible to keep up with the technologies. While many were thinking of ways to use a modest computer network to get customer loyalty, the entire mobile Internet was already up and running.

Trends in Insurance Marketing

We can all take our cues from the trends in insurance marketing. This is a group that has been using the mobile Internet to the largest extent possible. Not only do they create sites that are iPad, Android or Smartphone friendly, but they are also making it possible for clients to access auto insurance quotes, home insurance plans, or life insurance policies through these convenient channels.

They are giving in order to receive. Here’s another example, not only are they making for a positive brand experience by providing an easy channel of communication between a mobile device and their networks, but they are also using social media as a clear advertising platform. For example, a blog about the value of life insurance as an investment can be posted to social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. This blogging will direct loyal customers to consider their own existing policies and how they can use their existing relationship as a savvy financial opportunity.

This is “giving” in order to “receive”. Whether your firm is in Mexico, the United Kingdom, or anywhere else on the globe, you should use modern tactics to ensure more customer interactions with highly mobile modern consumers.

Not only is digital marketing the most direct channel of communication with modern consumers, it is the one that will have the best ROI in the coming years. It is anticipated that mobile Internet usage is going to increase by around 17% before 2015, and that traditional desktop usage will decline by the same measure. This means that any site not already using technologies suitable for the latest mobile device is at a deficit right out of the gate.

The Classic Approach

“Wait a second,” you are yelling “we’re already using social media like Facebook and Twitter…doesn’t that count?” The answer is yes and no. How are you implementing strategies? For instance, are you measuring the results of blogging through these sites? Have you made sure that all of the links you create are accessible through iPad devices, Smartphones, and more?

You see, the new path to revenue generation is a two-fold system that relies on giving customers a simple way to get things done (thereby establishing customer loyalty) and by ensuring that your marketing is not just a flood of “one way” information.

Consider that you might send messages about your firm’s high ratings, your latest industry awards, or your newest CEO…but what does that “give” your clients. For instance, if you are in the insurance industry you don’t want to “impress” them with a Twitter message about your newest executive. Instead, wow them with a social media message about your affordable home insurance or your newest life insurance plan.

Be sure, however, that they can access the “deals” through the latest mobile device, and you are going to get a lot more customer interactions than ever before.

Building a Set of Tools and a Team

For example, many firms understand that they need:

• Organization;
• Strategy;
• Methods to Measure; and
• Technology Innovation

Regardless of the size of the firm, many are seeking professional innovation consultancy in order to ensure that they are doing all of these things in a way that benefits the firm and the clients alike. This may sound unique in terms of growth, but the key to success is customer loyalty, which takes a lot of thought and effort.

Here is what we mean: let’s say you are in telecom in Spain, but you have a global marketing agenda. How do you use things like social media (Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) to get results? How do you use blogging to generate more customer interactions? How will you utilize all of these facets of digital marketing to get the results you need?

Developing Your Channel of Communication

If you do organize your plans, develop a strategy and find ways to measure your results, you will have to start with a solid channel of communication. That is going to usually be through the Internet, or the mobile Internet. Today’s businesses and consumers are far more likely to access your information and site through an iPad or Smartphone than they are a standard desktop computer.

This means that the steps you take must be developed around the WiFi and VoIP network systems that give customers complete access to things like online accounts, direct customer service, on site assistance and more. You must use innovation as a two way channel, and then you can find more customers than ever before.

For instance, are customers being sent feedback forms? Industry statistics demonstrate that there is an average return rate of almost 70% when clients are asked for their opinions, and that almost 60% of those provide positive responses. Why would this actually matter – apart from enhancing marketing data? It generates customer loyalty because the modern consumer or business-to-business relationship should be based on user-generated reactions.

Understanding the Relationship

Here is what we mean: You are using the latest channel of communication – digital marketing. You are rely on a computer network to create more customer interactions, but unless you are implementing a measurable and completely interactive system, your telecom customers may not get anything out of it.

This is why telecom, insurance, and dozens of other industries are looking for ways to make their technologies rewarding to all parties involved. From places like Mexico and Spain to the United Kingdom and Brazil, customers want to be able to use the tools of digital marketing to get something back rather than just paying for services and giving input. Thus, the feedback forms and their high rate of return.

The same can be said for the use of blogging, social media, PPC and more. For instance, if you are a Telecom firm that uses Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn to release news and details about new technologies or offers, you should be sure that there are some incentives for clients to interact with your messages. More customer interactions leads to clearer data, ways to reduce costs, and long term customer loyalty because your clients know they are being heard and rewarded.