If you want customers to become more loyal to your brand or business, the first step is to engage them. Some examples of engaging are building relationships with customers and using social media activities like fan pages, blog posts, and events to let customers know about your business. Customer loyalty is also influenced by having regularly scheduled events and information for your customers. You have to build and maintain relationships with your customers to build trust. The longer you keep customers loyal, the higher chance they are going to continue doing business with you and will be more likely to recommend your products or services to others.

To engage customers, you need to have something in common. Common is being able to relate to their challenges and struggles. It’s not enough to say you care about their needs or wants. Connecting emotionally with someone is known as rapport. The greater the connection, the more likely customers will be to buy from you. Getting customers to care about your company—to perceive you as a friendly option that wants to help them solve their problems—is key to building a strong bond with a potential customer.

Your customers are key to your business. They decide whether you will succeed or not. Most people think of engagement as a promotional tool, rather than an essential aspect of running a successful business. But engaging customers is more than just making an offer they have to take action on (like signing up for an e-mail newsletter). You also have to think about how you are going to keep the customer engaged over time. This means thinking about their needs and desires, both their expectations and their needs within your product or service. The goal here is to convert as many prospects into customers, in as little time as possible.