Improve customer loyalty using in-app stories

Finding and acquiring new customers is never easy. You need to have a good understanding of your customer base and what they prefer. And you need to find a novel way to gain their interest and guide it to your brand. With this in mind, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that retaining customers is only becoming more and more valuable. Companies that know how to work on customer loyalty stand to have much more lifetime value from their customers and have to worry less about finding new ones. So, let's explore different ways in which in-app stories can aid you with customer loyalty.

Understanding customer loyalty

A lot of people believe that providing quality behind your brand is enough to have loyal customers. While this is true to a certain degree, it is by no means enough to actually tackle customer loyalty. Understand that in the modern day and age, customers are plastered left and right with marketing content. Regardless of whether they spend their time watching TV shows or scrolling through their phone, they will get constant offers. Therefore, their minds are likely filled with information about various companies and brands. And if you don't remind them about your brand and the good it did for them, they are quite likely to simply forget about you.

There are different ways to remind customers about your brand. An effective one is to send personalized emails at adequate times. Just think of New Year cards or Happy Birthday wishes that companies send. Although these seem minor, they are a natural way for a company to reengage with their customers, and even offer them a discount. These seemingly small steps go a long way in ensuring customer loyalty and having them come back to work with you. If you also provide rewards and benefits to those customers that stick with your brand, you have a good chance of building a sizable, loyal customer base. Now, the question becomes can you use in-app stories in this regard?

How to improve customer loyalty using in-app stories

For the purposes of the article, we will assume that you have a functional app that your customers know how to use it. Having such an app alone will improve customer loyalty. And once you learn how to use in-app stories, it will do even more so. Also, for the purposes of this article, we will assume that you know what in-app stories are and what they can entail. If you don't we suggest that you check out our articles and learn the basics before you proceed. Now, let's see different ways in which you can use stories in your app to retain customers.

Set up app notification

If your customers have your app on their phones, you have a neat way to notify them. Without an app, you would either have to rely on emails on DMs. While these can work in certain situations, they are by no means a substitute for app notifications.

The idea behind app notifications is that your customer would like to use your app. It's just that they've forgotten. Exercise apps are a great example of this. Almost all of them ask the customer how often they would like to exercise. And then they use that knowledge to set up a schedule for notifications. If the customer uses the app on a regular basis, they are by definition loyal. Therefore, there is no need to notify them. But, if they start slacking off, you can look to push a notification. Here is where in-app stories come into play.

It is quite easy to create in-app stories and use them as notifications. Seeing that you can personalize almost every element of an in-app story, it should be fairly easy to create ones that will engage your customers. What is key here is to understand the timing of your notifications. There is a fine line between notifying people in due time and being obnoxious with your app. If the person considers your notifications to pushy, even once, you can rest assured that they will either mute your app or delete it. So, it is paramount that you have an in-depth knowledge of your customers before you start pushing notifications. Once you understand when their need for your app naturally comes, you will be able to time your notifications and see decent results. Anything before that and you will have diminishing returns.

In-app explanations of updates

If your customers don't have a reason to regularly use your app, it can be difficult to notify them in a natural way. After all, if you don't think that reminding them will lead them to use your app, why should you push any notifications? Well, another reason why you might notice your customers is regarding updates and explanations. Namely, if there is something that you feel your customers should be aware of, you should feel free to notify them via an in-app story. A quick summary of the update will be all you need to remind your customers about your brand and help maintain their loyalty. Here the main issue is content that will be interesting to your customers.

Again, you'd be smart to use these app notifications sparingly. While a well-crafted notification can rekindle the interest of your customers, a boring, poorly timed one will only drive them away. Ideally, your in-app story will help convince the customer to engage with your app, which then might lead to future dealings.

Showcasing loyalty rewards with in-app stories

A great way to work on customer loyalty is to introduce loyalty rewards. Showing attention through emails and reminding your customers to do business with you is helpful. But, you shouldn't ignore the benefits of simply rewarding the loyalty that your customers have for you. What's important is to first outline the long-term financial benefits of having loyal customers. Doing so will help you understand the value of loyalty. Therefore, you will know how much money you should invest in loyalty rewards.

Discounts, for instance, are a great way to reward returning customers. The more time they return to work with you, the greater the discount should be. Again, it is important to make the whole ordeal financially feasible. This is why it is paramount that you have a good understanding of your industry, and what a customer's lifetime value is like. With in-app stories, you can showcase these discounts, and give your customers an idea of the benefits they will get if they stick with your brand. With in-app notifications, you can also showcase seasonal offers, and give your customers the FOMO (fear of missing out). All in all, in-app notifications are a clear, direct way to tell your customers why it is in their interest to stick with you. Your customers need to feel that you aren't simply blowing smoke, but actually providing tangible rewards for their loyalty.

Final thoughts

What we've listed so far is enough to illustrate how beneficial in-app stories can be for customer loyalty. They are dynamic, bite-sized, easily alterable pieces of content that you can easily incorporate into any app design. But, in order to use them properly it is important to understand customer loyalty and the factors that impact it. With that in mind, we would advise you to carefully research what keeps customers loyal within your industry. Different techniques can bring drastically different results. And the sooner you understand what your industry is like, the sooner you can utilize in-app stories in your app retention strategy.

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