Brand Loyalty and Social Networking
When a website offers “exclusive member benefits” many savvy surfers take that offer with a grain of virtual salt. Sure, it’s possible that, by signing up at a particular site, customers will gain access to money-saving discounts or specialized content. But the deal cuts both ways – at the same time that site members gain access to these benefits, the site owners gain direct access to the membership, making it easy to send promotional material to a self-selected group in order to boost sales.
As a website owner, asking visitors to sign up as members makes sense. By collecting basic information, you get important feedback about who’s viewing your site, and whether your marketing strategy is succeeding with the intended target audience. And the creation of mailing list of customers who have “opted in” means that at least some of the marketing arrows you launch will hit the target.
But the advent of web-based social networking has created new ways to make your site visitors feel like they belong. By using social tools, it’s possible to form a self-perpetuating community that bonds around issues (or products), and actively recruits new customers for your business. Best of all, by leveraging your content’s ability to inspire discussion, social networking helps spread the word – that your website is a place worth returning to, again and again.
Loyalty to the Group
For example, let’s say you operate a site devoted to travel and tourism. In addition to selling airline tickets and tour packages to the casual Web-comber looking for the best deal, you’d like to create customer loyalty – and establish your site as the best place to do business.
By integrating social networking capabilities into your website, you give your customers the opportunity to interact within specific groups. That means that “alumni” of your 2009 summer cruise to the Greek Islands can stay in touch, compare notes, and make plans for their next get-together. And social “chat” groups and blogs with talk-back opportunities give added value to any website that targets a special interest group.
Social networking can also increase profits. For example, there are lots of event planning sites on the Web, but a site that manages family-wide planning (from an RSVP engine down to negotiating the dirty details of who sits next to whom at dinner), you’ve got a distinct advantage over the competition. This extra functionality – which gives customers “red carpet service” as they plan their event, promotes loyalty in a big way.
Conduit – A Customized Loyalty Network
Conduit toolbars build loyalty to your site by helping them make contact with people who share their values and interests. Social networking capability is built right into the Conduit toolbar creation engine – something that increases the feeling of “belonging” subscribers get when they’re at your site.
In addition to chat and blogging capability, Conduit toolbars are designed to be customized with fun features that match your subscribers’ market-specific appetite. Offered as a free download, the toolbar is modular – every individual toolbar feature – be in radio station, video channel or newsfeed – can be branded, and shared with friends. This can transform your subscribers’ friends from curious click-through visitors into loyal customers.
When you create a Conduit toolbar for your site, you’ll be launching a network that is engineered for fast and furious information sharing. Not only does this make it easy for your central marketing message to go viral, it also encourages your subscribers to stop by frequently, to keep up with the conversation.