If you want to have loyal customers, you need to get people invested in your brand. 43% of people spend more money on brands they're loyal to, there's no questioning the financial value having loyal customers can do to a business. 

With 65% of a company's sales coming from existing customers, it's time brands started to shift their customer acquisition strategies to customer retention. In this article, we'll explore how you can pique your customers' interest and get them emotionally invested in your brand in the long run.    

Four examples of brand engagement strategies

Below we'll highlight four strategies that we believe they can boost your brand engagement big time. Keep in mind that constant brand monitoring is the first step in the strategy of making your customers more invested in your company.

Live your mission and vision 

Customer loyalty comes easier if you can build trust. Trust comes by staying committed to your promises. The biggest consistency in your brand's journey should be an effort toward your mission and vision. 

Where you can, showcase the path and progress you're making to achieve your mission. Use communication channels like social media, email, and even live webinars to showcase efforts. 

People join your business on its journey because they agree with your values and product— remind them of this at each opportunity you get. 

A mission is easier to get behind if it's conscious of our world and is it out to build a more sustainable future. The Kind Store does exactly this, leading the way with their 10 sustainable principles for a sustainable future, based around "people + planet + animals." 

The Kind Store's mission-driven business resulted in a 70% increase in sales 38% increase in web visits in 2020. Results like this prove that if a business can lead with a mission and make public efforts to get there, brand engagement will climb alongside. 

Show customers you care 

Today, customer service should be any business's top priority if they hope to not only win new customers but retain their current ones. 

According to Hubspot, In 2020, 90% of Americans use customer service as a deciding factor in whether or not they do business with a company, and 73% of customers remain loyal with a brand because of friendly customer service. Show customers your business cares at every opportunity you get. 

Implement this strategy by reducing your reply time on social media, introducing easy contact options on your website, and having an omnichannel customer service base. 

In showing your customers you care, you'll generate a more loyal customer base who's willing to forgive you when you make mistakes and celebrate with you when you reach success. 

Sally' Cottages do this well on Facebook; their quick responses and determination to reply to every post engagement helped them to generate a following of over 600k on Facebook alone and a staggering engagement rate on their posts. 

Champion your community 

A dedicated community is hard to build, but it can see an increase in customer retention, brand engagement, and even become a USP for your product— if done genuinely. On average, communities have proven to generate a 6.4% ROI for organizations that nurture them.

A community is not the collection of people that use your products; those are your customers. Your community should be a group of people who share a mutual love of something, and your brand helps them celebrate that love. 

Give your community a platform to connect— champion core members, and let future customers know it's a safe space. In doing so, you'll forge genuine relationships, both between people and between your business and customers. 

Behance is a fantastic example of championing a community. Their Instagram feed is flooded with "Daily inspiration from the world's best creative community" and has racked up a well-deserved 1.4 million followers. 

However, where Behance takes things a step further is with their website. The company is continually rotating work from their creators, featuring new work daily, and celebrating some of the most diverse creativity available.

Constantly improve

Last on the list, but certainly not least, is a brand's efforts at continually improving. If you want people to be more invested in your company, you need to show you're making an effort as well. 

There are a few ways you can showcase you're always improving: 

Customer care

If you're ever unsure of what your customers expect from you, then ask them. Use a customer satisfaction survey to understand how satisfied your customers are and what you can do to meet their future expectations. Follow up on the survey by communicating the actions you'll take from your learnings.  

Product innovation

Your product is never complete. Strive for product-led growth and show ways you're innovating and improving what you offer to current customers. This can be done with a newer version or extended features to a current product. Psst. Social communities are an excellent resource for product ideation and prototyping. 

CSR initiatives

If you're not able to make a social impact with your product, you can launch a positive initiative with your CSR program. Find ways to run your business that drives employees to work more sustainably and live in a healthier and happier world.  

Optimize processes 

Much like you're forever improving your product, you should be doing the same with your processes. Always strive for more efficient and eco-friendly processes, and your customers will take note.

All of the above are fantastic retention strategies; they build trust and show that a customer can always expect more from your business in the future. This will keep customers with you longer, and you'll begin to see more people supporting your journey every day. 

Wrapping it all up 

If you're hoping for a brand engagement boost, there are a few ways you can go about it— as this article has explored. However, brand engagement should never be a short-term goal. It needs to be a long-term strategy, and you'll need to implement genuine processes to help achieve this. 

Get rid of ideas like hosting quick engagement building competitions, "tag two friends to win" style posts on social media, for example. These strategies may give you instant results and up your metrics; however, they're not getting customers more invested in your company on a long-term basis. 

If you really want to manage your business reputation well, you need to identify larger, more operational changes you can make and showcase them creatively. In doing so, you'll see your business—and your customers— go from strength to strength. 

Author Bio 

Ray Slater Berry has been working in social media and content marketing for eight years. He is a content manager at Studyclerk.com and is a published novelist with his first book, Golden Boy..