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With the long-awaited Amazon Prime day on July 11th and its recent acquisition of Whole Foods, the question “What can’t Amazon do?” is a trending topic of conversation. Acquiring and retaining customers left and right, customer loyalty to the Amazon brand has become increasingly unparalleled.
While Amazon has certainly capitalized on the B2C market, by implementing these three principles of strong brand loyalty that are inherent to Amazon’s own marketing strategy and applicable to all, your B2B organization can capitalize on Amazon’s magic.
Know your buyer personas
The proof is in the pudding, and a recent study conducted by Yes Lifecycle Marketing reveals that 4 out of 5 millennials purchased from Amazon in the past month. With a sharp focus on market segmentation and personalization, Amazon has been successful in reaching their target customers where they are and providing them with exactly what they want.
Companies who understand the needs and behaviors of their buyer personas have a significant advantage when it comes to creating marketing strategies that will not only resonate with but retain consumers to maintain brand loyalty. To follow in Amazon’s footsteps and begin crafting your buyer persona’s, follow these 5 simple steps:
- Develop questions your personas would likely have
- Decide the type of research you will do to create your personas
- Convert your notes into a holistic persona that includes a story around the buyer
- Look at examples of buyer personas that have already been created to use as a guide
- Gather research and use it to answer your questions
Practice lifecycle marketing
Customer Loyalty programs, like Amazon’s, are not a conventional B2B marketing tactic. However, B2B Marketers can learn a lot from Amazon’s loyalty program, which implements lifecycle marketing by nurturing brand loyalty after the first purchase has been made.
In B2B marketing, loyalty rewards that better help your clients sell, will perpetuate the constant loop and benefits of this lifecycle. Personalized products, services, and even exclusive access for loyal clients (webinars or e-books etc.) are all amenities that can help continue the lifecycle and keep clients coming back to the community you have created around your brand.
Customer Service is Key
Loyal clients remain loyal to your brand because they love doing business with you. Amazon was able to secure the top spot in the National Retail Federation Customers’ Choice Awards because customer service remains at the forefront of their brand values. B2C and B2B marketers alike should be focused on providing consumers easy, accessible, and efficient service in order to foster a reliable relationship.
Learn a lesson from Amazon and apply these three strategies to create brand loyalty for your own marketing practices. Think you’ve got what it takes? Visit our blog today!
