20 Oct Guest Engagement = Guest Loyalty

For most businesses, and for restaurants and bars in particular, repeat custom is vital for making a profit. It’s hard to be sure of the exact number, but most research reports that acquiring a new customer is around 6-7 times more expensive than it is to retain an existing one.

So how can you keep previous/existing guests of your establishment coming back to spend money with you?

The answer is: by engaging with them. It sounds simple, but can be complicated to pull off effectively.

The development of social media means that everyone can interact with each other just about all of the time. This has inevitably caused brands and businesses to ‘invade’ what was previously a social space amongst individuals, personifying themselves and turning platforms like Facebook and Twitter into something much more commercial and powerful in terms of getting to know your customers.

Of course, your guests aren’t going to be happy with you hounding them via Twitter 24/7, but making them a part of your online presence is a great way to make them feel a little closer to your brand’s story, and therefore increase the likelihood of them becoming a loyal customer.

But what does ‘engaging’ with customers look like?

• Whenever you post on a social network, take some notice of who interacts with it. If someone Likes, Shares, RTs or favourites your content, make time to thank them and maybe even offer them something special like a voucher or discount code

• Make your fans part of your content itself; run a photo or ideas competition where your audience has to make and send you something, then share those on to the rest of your followers. Customers will not only feel like they know you a little better and that their contribution has been recognised, but will be able to physically see themselves as part of your brand.

• Live customer feedback is one of the biggest benefits that social media has provided businesses with; the responses you receive to the content you put out there, or in regards to your business in general, are extremely valuable, and taking them on board will not only help advance your brand but let your customers know that you’re listening to them.

These are just a few examples of how engaging with guests or customers can help to increase their sense of loyalty to your brand; to find out more about this way of driving sales and how Konnectifi WiFi can help you achieve it, contact us at hello@konnectifi.com today.