Customer loyalty represents a powerful, lasting bond between a business and its customers.

To get there, you'll need to focus on building trust, delivering consistent positive experiences, and making genuine connections.

Loyal customers shop regularly, become brand ambassadors for your product or service, and ultimately drive repeat sales. And all that can lead to sustainable growth for your business.

This article explores the ins and outs of building a loyal customer base. We’ll look at different types of customer loyalty, offer a few tricks for measuring loyalty and customer engagement, and highlight proven strategies for creating a successful retention program. 

We'll also let you in on some advanced tactics that elevate the customer experience. Along the way, you'll learn how solutions such as Brandwatch Consumer Research or Brandwatch Social Media Management fit into the picture.

By the end, you'll be able to structure a customer loyalty strategy that drives growth, boosts revenue, and creates truly loyal customers who stand by your brand for years to come.

In this guide:

What customer loyalty means

Before diving into specific tactics, let’s define what customer loyalty means. In the simplest sense, it means that your customers consistently choose your business over competitors. They’re loyal to you.

They favor you not only for prices or convenience but also because of positive interactions, confidence in your company’s values, and the emotional connection they’ve built with your product or service.

However, customer loyalty means more than just repeat purchases. It involves creating a strong sense of belonging that resonates with people at every touchpoint – from awareness to advocacy. 

The great thing about loyal customers is they're more likely to share positive feedback, recommend your brand to family or friends, or actively engage with your updates on social media. They become brand advocates.

Think of it as forming a long-term relationship: you nurture, support, and reward your audience so they see your brand as a part of their life and identity.

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Why loyalty matters more than ever in 2025

Shifts in consumer expectations, the continued rise of online shopping, and the dominance of social media have placed a larger emphasis on loyalty as a strategic advantage. 

Today, new customers can come from any corner of the internet, but acquiring them can be expensive and time-consuming. Because of that, retaining customers holds an undeniable value.

Loyal customers spend 67% more than occasional buyers, offer repeat purchases, and often become brand ambassadors who promote your business to others – like telling their friends or sharing a product they love on social media. This behavior will help boost your customer retention rate. 

Even better, a loyal customer base is a buffer against nasty surprises. When you have an established group of satisfied customers who stand by you, your business is more resilient to market changes, like new competition, disruption, or crises.

Understanding different types of customer loyalty

Loyalty can come in many forms, and it’s helpful to understand the different types of customer loyalty when developing a marketing strategy. Most loyal customers can exhibit at least one of these loyalty types.

Understanding each type helps you take a balanced approach to fostering deeper connections. Ideally, you want customers to feel loyal in multiple ways – particularly the emotional kind, which is difficult for competitors to disrupt.

Transactional loyalty

Transactional loyalty is built around incentives, such as loyalty points or a rewards program. For example, some retail memberships let customers build up cash rewards they can then deduct from future purchases. Customers keep coming back because they get value from the perks you offer. Four in five British adults have joined a shopping loyalty scheme, making transactional loyalty one of the most common and trackable types.

Emotional loyalty

Emotional loyalty develops when customers genuinely love what you do, how you treat them, or what you stand for. They might be inspired by your brand story, admire your values, or find your customer experience consistently excellent. Sports teams tap into emotional loyalty to keep their fans committed through thick and thin.

Habitual loyalty

Some people stick with certain brands simply because they’ve grown accustomed to them. For example, you might buy a sofa from the same place you got your bed. This form of customer loyalty isn’t always rooted in strong brand connections, but it still results in repeat business. It also highlights the importance of providing a great customer experience on their first purchase, as habitual loyalty is linked to repeat purchases.

Situational loyalty

Sometimes, customers remain loyal due to circumstances, such as a convenient store location or the availability of particular brand products. For example, perhaps you buy a bottle of Dasani water from Hudson News every time you pass through an airport. While helpful, this kind of loyalty can be less stable if conditions change.

Key metrics to measure customer loyalty

Understanding how to measure customer loyalty is essential for refining your approach over time. While there’s no single silver-bullet metric, these are a few commonly used measurements.

Tracking and analyzing these metrics consistently allows you to spot trends, make data-driven decisions, and hone in on the factors that truly make a difference. With clear insights on your strengths and weaknesses, you can tailor your tactics to further increase customer loyalty.

Net promoter score (NPS)

NPS indicates how likely a customer is to recommend your brand to others. A high NPS suggests a strong loyalty factor and a willingness to advocate on your behalf. You can get your net promoter score by asking one crucial question in a post-purchase survey or similar: “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?”

Customer effort score (CES)

CES is a customer satisfaction metric that measures how easy it is for people to interact with your brand, such as solving an issue or completing a purchase. When the customer effort score is low, it means the process is seamless, which tends to lead to happy customers and higher loyalty. Just like NPS, this can be tracked through post-purchase or post-customer service surveys.

Negative churn

Churn is the rate at which customers stop doing business with you. Interestingly, negative churn gives you a figure for customers gained through expansions or upgrades that outpace cancellations, indicating strong retention and positive loyalty patterns.

Repeat business ratio

This metric measures how many sales or transactions come from repeat customers versus new customers. If your repeat business ratio is climbing, it’s a good sign that you’re doing a good job when it comes to customer loyalty.

Customer lifetime value (CLV)

Customer lifetime value measures the total revenue a customer is expected to generate during their relationship with your business. Focusing on this metric is all about looking at the bigger picture – it helps guide your investments in marketing strategy and customer experience initiatives.

Building customer loyalty: Core elements of a winning strategy

Developing a robust customer loyalty strategy isn’t an overnight process. It requires a consistent, multi-faceted approach that weaves loyalty into each stage of the customer journey. 

There are five foundational elements to a loyalty strategy that brands need to set in motion.

1. Provide excellent customer service

High-level customer service makes you stand out from the crowd and is often the backbone of a successful loyalty initiative. 

Attentive service, swift issue resolution, and genuine empathy can make customers feel valued and turn negative experiences around. If a customer has a concern, going above and beyond to address it quickly helps retain customers and fosters an emotional bond.

For example, John Lewis is famed for its high-quality customer service and ensures a strong level of in-store customer loyalty. People want to shop at John Lewis because of the customer service.

2. Personalize experiences

Customers love feeling recognized and appreciated. But personalization means more than just adding someone’s name to an email – it involves delivering relevant recommendations, tailored offers, or even messages that reflect their preferences. 

This approach makes the customer experience more meaningful, leading to deeper loyalty over time.

For example, Henri Lloyd’s has a fitting service in its online store, where customers enter their age, weight, and height to ensure their clothes are "made to measure."

3. Reward repeat customers

A key part of building customer loyalty is acknowledging your most valued customers. 

Whether you’re offering discounts, special perks, or early access to product launches, creating unique ways to reward loyalty can go a long way. This is also where a well-structured rewards program fits in, giving people tangible incentives to stay engaged with your brand.

American Express is famous for its rewards program, which allows customers to collect points for every dollar spent on its credit cards.

4. Focus on customer relationships

Encourage customer loyalty by viewing every interaction with your audience as an opportunity to deepen the relationship. 

Use multiple channels – email, in-app messaging, live chat, and social media – to provide consistent, positive communication. Over time, these small moments of connection add up, reminding people why they continue to choose your particular brand.

5. Maintain transparency and trust

Transparency is a critical driver of loyalty. Being upfront about pricing, potential delays, or any business changes builds credibility. 

If your customers see that you act with integrity and communicate openly, they’re far more likely to remain loyal.

Creating a successful loyalty program

A rewards-based approach often acts as a cornerstone for many organizations looking to foster customer loyalty. 

Today’s programs go beyond simple point-collecting mechanisms. 

Indeed, any program you create should reflect your company’s mission. Your brand values should be really clear. If sustainability is core to your brand identity, center rewards around eco-friendly initiatives or charitable contributions that matter to your audience.

Secondly, meaningful incentives can make all the difference. Points and vouchers are popular, but you can also further reward customer loyalty through exclusive experiences, early product releases, or VIP content.

British phone network O2 offers these sorts of rewards to its customers. You don’t get vouchers, but you do get early access to music tickets.

Loyalty program members feel special when they’re treated to privileges that aren’t available to everyone else. It creates an air of exclusivity.

You can even go a step further and launch a tiered loyalty program that helps achieve continued engagement. As customers level up, they gain access to increasingly appealing perks. This approach not only motivates repeat business but also cultivates a sense of achievement among participants.

A loyalty program only works if you can track and measure outcomes. Otherwise, there’s no means of determining who is loyal and who isn’t.

Be sure to watch out for engagement, reward redemption, and repeat purchases. Continual measurement reveals whether your program genuinely boosts customer lifetime value or if adjustments are needed.

A successful loyalty program is easy to understand, and the process for earning and redeeming rewards needs to be straightforward. Minimizing friction increases the chance that customers will stay active.

How social media helps foster customer loyalty

Social media is often where the first impression of your brand is formed. 

A strong social presence across a variety of platforms means you’re actively reaching new customers, engaging with existing fans, and showcasing your brand personality.

If your brand is new to social media, then much of your content will be aimed at raising brand awareness. After that, you can start to focus on conversions and advocacy.

Posting valuable or entertaining content on social media is a must. It prompts people to interact, share, and comment. While high-value content raises engagement, it’s also a subtle way to encourage customers to build loyalty. Over time, regular interactions help you establish a loyal customer base that values your updates.

Newspaper and magazine brands do this really well because the stories they post on social media encourage interaction. Over time, users return to the same accounts and rely on them for news and entertainment.

Social media also gives customers a convenient way to contact you directly, which can boost satisfaction if you're quick to offer customer support.

Prompt responses to complaints or questions demonstrate excellent customer service and can transform a frustrated user into a brand advocate.

Next-level social tactics to encourage loyalty

To take your customer loyalty to the next level, you might want to consider running social-exclusive promotions or referral program incentives shared only with your social media audience. 

This gives customers a reason to keep following, fosters repeat business, and sends a message that your followers get special perks.

Of course, social media is also a great place to create brand ambassadors.

Dedicated fans are more likely to share your brand’s posts, comment on discussions, and defend you from criticism.

These enthusiastic supporters are your brand ambassadors. By acknowledging or rewarding customers who champion your brand on social media – perhaps by entering them into a prize draw if they use a certain hashtag – you reinforce their loyalty and encourage loyalty among others.

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Using data-driven insights to cultivate customer loyalty

One of the most effective ways to refine your customer loyalty strategy is to tap into robust data analysis. 

Platforms like Brandwatch Consumer Research empower businesses with the ability to collect, analyze, and act on consumer insights gathered from various online channels. 

Here’s how data makes a difference.

1. Identifying customer loyalty drivers

By analyzing your data, you can pinpoint which factors inspire loyalty. 

Is it product quality, great customer service, competitive pricing, or unique brand values? 

Once you identify your top customer loyalty drivers, you can invest more heavily in them.

2. Segmenting your customer base

Not every group of repeat customers will respond to the same incentives. 

Data segmentation allows you to design offers, content, or loyalty tiers that align with different audience segments. Use Brandwatch’s Audience tool to understand and segment your customer base.

Remember, targeted approaches often yield better retention and higher customer lifetime value.

3. Predicting and preventing churn

Monitoring social media sentiment, transaction history, and web analytics can reveal early signs of dissatisfaction. 

You can then deploy proactive strategies – like specialized campaigns or well-timed engagement messages – to retain potentially at-risk buyers. 

4. Tracking ROI in real time

When you tie loyalty-related goals (like repeat sales, net promoter score improvements, or social media engagement) to trackable metrics, you gain a comprehensive view of your customer loyalty efforts. 

Continual monitoring tells you which tactics are effective and where to adjust for maximum impact.

This approach is crucial for reducing customer churn and keeping your repeat customers engaged.

Overcoming common challenges in building customer loyalty

Despite the best intentions, brands often face hurdles when trying to improve the customer experience or measure customer loyalty.

Perhaps the hardest thing to overcome is the lack of a centralized data system. Disconnected tools can hamper your ability to fully understand customers. It's hard to see the overall picture if you can't gather everything together.

To avoid this, consider using a platform like Brandwatch that integrates social media, analytics, and CRM data in one place, making it easier to track customer relationships and cultivate loyalty effectively.

Then there is the issue of consistent brand messaging and complex customer loyalty programs. When teams aren’t all aware of your key messages and how you communicate them, confusion among customers can erode trust. 

It gets worse if your loyalty program is too convoluted or doesn't seem to offer much value. Engagement can quickly stall if your audience doesn't understand what you’re offering.

Regular team training, updated brand guidelines, and a simplified approach to loyalty help keep your brand voice and customer experience in check.

Finally, you need to be wary of the customer-facing challenges. Slow or unhelpful support is deeply frustrating and can turn loyal customers off. Equally, it’s much harder to create loyalty if you don’t appear to care.

This issue can unwittingly appear when you focus too much on new customers. Brands chasing new leads and sales can forget to look after customers who have already been converted. So, make sure your marketing efforts are evenly split so you retain customers and attract new ones.

Real-world examples of brand loyalty in action

Below are a few examples of well-known companies that are really good at cultivating customer loyalty.

Sephora

Sephora doesn’t just rely on brand power to keep customers coming back – their loyalty program plays a major role in building long-term relationships.

The Sephora Beauty Insider program is a tiered system that rewards members the more they spend. With millions of participants worldwide, it’s one of the most recognized and successful programs in the beauty industry.

Members enjoy a wide range of perks, from free samples and birthday gifts to exclusive events and early access to product launches. And the more you engage, the more you get – each tier unlocks new experiences and better benefits.

The real power of the program lies in how it builds emotional engagement. By targeting pride, delight, and anticipation through experiential rewards, Sephora turns every customer interaction into something special. It’s worth noting that everything in this campaign is about making the experience more comfortable and rewarding for existing customers, rather than pushing them aside to make room for newcomers.

In short, it’s not just about points – it’s about making loyalty feel personal and worthwhile.

Levi's

While you might think that customer loyalty comes naturally to a company as well-respected as Levi's, the truth is that they do a lot to encourage returning customers.

Their member program, Levi's Red Tab, currently has 38 million members globally – and that number will soon go up as the initiative has just been extended to some parts of Europe.

Members of Levi's Red Tab benefit from an extended product guarantee, with lifetime access to tailoring services, including repairs. This not only helps justify the typical price tag but also promotes sustainability.

Beyond that, there's a more typical points-gathering scheme and the promise of free shipping on online orders, as well as access to exclusive events, personalized birthday offers, and early access to exclusive collaborations.

In other words, the benefits of the member scheme are surprisingly wide-ranging and hard to resist for many of the brand's customers.

Conclusion: Your next steps to building customer loyalty

Encouraging customers to remain emotionally and practically tied to your brand is a great way to secure long-term success. 

And if you can develop a well-rounded customer loyalty framework – one that includes a rewards program, personalized communications, and consistent engagement across social media – you’ll gain more than short-term wins. 

You’ll see a measurable increase in repeat customers, a rising net promoter score, and a growth in overall customer lifetime value.

By centering your marketing strategy around loyalty, consistently rewarding customers for their support, and offering a thoughtful customer experience, you’ll lay the groundwork for strong customer relationships that stand the test of time. 

From here, it’s a matter of refining, adapting, and constantly striving for ways of improving customer loyalty – ensuring your brand remains the go-to choice in your industry for years to come.