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Expectation matching key to customer loyalty

Each brand's customers have similar yet distinct interests and expectations, and long-term customer loyalty is dependent upon the brand's ability to understand them, not only when they're acquired but also to use a data-centric marketing strategy to drive brand engagement and make them into loyal brand advocates.

According to Mark Johnson, CEO for Loyalty 360, "When the expectations of both the consumer and the brand are understood and refined through a process of interactive dialogue, the expectation is matched, and mutually beneficial outcomes and financial benefit for the brand are created."

So 'expectation matching' happens when customer-centric brands create both brand loyalty and engagement by using behavioural insights gleaned through a proactive dialogue with their customers.

"Marketers believe that they know what is best for their customers, and through countless customer experience surveys they think they understand what their consumers want. Yet, we know that people are inherently irrational and what they tell you in a feedback mechanism may not mirror their actual behaviour or desires," warned Johnson. "Marketers that successfully cultivate loyal brand advocates do so by implementing a true voice of the customer model to create a comprehensive, 360-degree view of the customer. Only with this insight can marketers deliver a brand experience that matches and ultimately exceeds customer expectations."

Brands that do not meet the expectations of their customers typically resort to using discounting, gimmicks and other methods to entice potential customers to purchase from them. This practice is not new; it has been around for years in the form of coupons, free-standing inserts (FSIs), and other price-conscious campaigns. The idea is that the brand should offer a significant discount that will encourage customers to buy it, try it, but it's not a long term strategy because customers never know if the brand will do so more than once.

Johnson believes that this 'acquisition without expectation' mentality is detrimental: "I would argue that you harm the brand indefinitely when, from the onset of the relationship, you tell the customer that you will give them a huge discount to purchase their brand. Doing this creates divergent expectations and, since the brand is not going to exceed or even meet customer experience, there's really no hope that the customer will re-engage with the brand."

Have you seen The Marketing Factbook?

The Marketing Factbook will help you up your marketing game, walking you through the techniques, metrics, reporting, analysis, marketing models, technologies, tools and innovations you need for a hgih-profit, high-rentention marketing strategy.

This comprehensive marketing guide has 400+ packed pages of marketing strategy, trends, best practices, do's and don'ts, practical know-how, facts and figures, and tons of ideas to boost sales revenue, market share, ROI, and profits. It's the report no marketer can afford to be without.

Find out the best ways to gather, analyse, and act on customer data to increase profitability, build your brand, empower your customers, beat the competition, reduce churn, and increase customer profitability.

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Get the hard facts, forecasts and trends identified by our experts from the global Marketing Factbook's vast database of market data, studies, research and white papers, and gain an invaluable library of ideas and practical support you can call upon at will.

With The Marketing Factbook at your side, you'll have a true goldmine of easily adaptable and up-to-date strategies, walk-throughs, trends, research and market data, plus all the supporting arguments you need to build a solid, profitable marketing strategy: All the know-how, strategies and ideas you need to get your own Marketing Playbook right, first time.

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