• Brands can achieve comprehensive success by loving their customers and what they do. 
• Incorporating this strategy helps brands in more ways than one. 

The “Love Your Customers & What They Do” marketing strategy is about building strong customer relationships, eventually leading to increased sales. Every brand tries to get close to customers, understand their needs, and celebrate their achievements using the products and services. The strategy goes beyond just providing excellent customer service; it’s about building and maintaining relationships with customers.

This marketing strategy heavily emphasizes building an emotional bond with customers, making them feel valued, appreciated and understood. Brands can achieve this by facilitating personalized interactions, acknowledging their achievements, and showing genuine interest in their goals. It’s more like building friendships with your customers.  

Marketers incorporating this marketing strategy do not just sell products and services; they go a step further and help them succeed. They achieve this by having and hiring dedicated and motivated teams well-versed in providing great customer service, offering helpful resources, and ready to go the extra mile to ensure that customers get the most from what the brand offers.

How Harley Davidson became an Icon by Loving Their Customers & What they Do? 

Harley Davidson needs no introduction; it’s an iconic American motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1903 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The brand has a cult following & a loyal fan base, where everyone loves their heavyweight cruiser motorcycles with large engines and trademark exhaust sounds. Now, how did the brand become so successful? Apart from having a great product lineup, they love their customers and what they do. 

Celebrating the Customer LifeStyle

Harley knows and understands its customers and honors their lifestyles. They organize rallies and events worldwide, which help create a platform for riders to connect, share experiences, and celebrate their love for riding and the Harley-Davidson brand. Eventually, these events have become a pilgrimage for Harley enthusiasts, cementing the brand’s connection with their lifestyle. 

Harley established the Harley Owners Group (HOG), a members-only community for Harley riders. This creates a sense of community and exclusivity that entices others to join the group. HOG organizes rides, rallies, and social events that foster camaraderie and a sense of belonging among customers. The aim of this program is to build brand loyalty and boost the bond of customer relationships. 

Besides organizing such events, Harley Davidson sponsors motorcycle races, rallies & biker gatherings. The company skillfully establishes and fosters association with the riding culture, reinforcing their connection to what their customers do and honoring their passion for motorcycles.  

Having Content that Resonates with Harley Riders

Harley encourages riders to share their stories and photos on social media under their branded hashtags. This helps the brand automatically create a constant stream of content featuring customers enjoying their beautiful machines and riding their hearts out. These contents not only promote the brand but also inspire others to buy motorcycles and join the team.

The brand also features customer testimonials and stories on its website and marketing materials. These stories testify to riders’ journeys and adventures and the unbreakable bond riders and enthusiasts share with their Harleys. This seamlessly resonates with potential customers who are aspiring to ride and become a part of the Harley-Davidson community. 

The Harley Davidson magazine is published regularly, packed with stories about riders, events, customization tips, and singing praise of the brand’s rich history. This content caters to the interests of their customers and helps strengthen the connection with the Harley-Davidson lifestyle. 

Building a Loyal Customer Base Love Your Customers

Harley Davidson already has a strong, loyal customer base, and it has achieved this through meticulous planning and using the “Love Your Customers & What they Do”  marketing strategy. The brand is also known for its extensive customization options, which allow riders to personalize their motorcycle while expressing their individuality. 

This approach aims at catering to the desire for self-expression among motorcycle riders and deepening the customer connection with the iconic Harley Davidson. The brand also cultivates a strong brand image, capitalizing on its heritage and rich legacy. Its marketing efforts highlight the history of the brand and the iconic status of the motorcycle. 

All these efforts foster a sense of pride in riding and build a sense of belonging among customers who feel connected to something bigger than just a motorcycle. Harley Davidson became an icon by focusing on its customers’ lifestyle and celebrating what its customers do, which is riding motorcycles. Interestingly, this goes beyond selling motorcycles; it’s more like selling a sense of belonging to a community and a way of life. 

What is the “Love Your Customers & What They Do” Marketing Strategy? Love Your Customers

The “Love Your Customers & What They Do” marketing strategy goes beyond providing good customer service and the best product or service. It’s about fostering a deeper connection with your customers, which can be achieved only with a dedicated, empathetic, and enthusiastic workforce. The two aspects include customer love and celebrating what they do. 

Customer Love

Brands must love their customers if they want to establish and maintain an emotional connection with them. This strategy greatly emphasizes building a strong emotional connection with customers. It is more about making them feel valued, appreciated, and understood. This can be achieved through personalized interactions, acknowledging their achievements, and showcasing their genuine interest in their goals. 

The strategy goes beyond just selling the product or service; it revolves around helping the customers succeed, achieve their goals, and eventually love the overall experience. Obviously, providing excellent customer service, offering helpful resources, fostering a sense of belonging, and going the extra mile is a testament that a brand loves its customers and works with them. 

Celebrating What They Do Love Your Customers

This strategy is a two-step process. You cannot achieve resounding success with it by just loving the customers; you also need to celebrate what they do. The second step of this strategy focuses on celebrating what the customer does with the product or service, basically trying to capitalize on the customers’ experience. 

You could generate user-generated content by encouraging customers to share their success stories and testimonials (UGC). This could engage existing customers and showcase to potential customers the core values of the product or service while inspiring them to achieve similar results. 

Brands can focus on creating a platform where customers can connect, share experiences, and learn from each other, similar to Harley Davidson events. This can foster a deep sense of community and belonging, crucial in strengthening the bond between customers and the brand. 

What are the benefits & how can this strategy be implemented? 

The marketing strategy has multiple benefits, including customer loyalty, positive word-of-mouth, and increased customer lifetime value. If a brand is able to showcase that it genuinely cares and celebrates its success, it can create a loyal customer base that is likely to return and recommend the brand to others. Remember, happy customers are the best brand ambassadors. 

Customers are likely to share their positive experiences with friends, family, colleagues, and online communities whenever they feel loved and appreciated. The relatively free organic promotion is powerful and helps build trust around the brand. It can also increase customer lifetime value (CLV) by focusing on their success, keeping them engaged, and allowing them to return for more. 

If you too want to employ this marketing strategy, it can be done through 

• Social media engagement
• Customer Success Stories
• Running Loyalty Programs
• Personalized Communication

Brands can run contests and promotions, especially those encouraging customers to share their experiences. They should also respond to comments and messages promptly and in a friendly manner. Customer success stories should also be featured on websites, blogs, and social media, along with customer interviews explaining how the product helped them achieve their goals. 

Loyalty programs can greatly reward customers with exclusive discounts and early access to new products or special events. Sending birthday greetings or an anniversary discount also shows that you care. 

The most important thing required to implement this marketing strategy is a dedicated team. The team will lay the foundation and work on top of it to achieve the best results. Selection of the team is also crucial, as you would need people with empathy, love and affection for the customers, an eye for what they need, and a willingness to provide. 

Pros and Cons of “Love Your Customers & What They Do” Marketing Strategy Love Your Customers

Like every other marketing strategy, the “Love Your Customers & What They Do” strategy has pros and cons, as discussed below. 

Pros

Focusing on customer care and celebrating their achievements helps build strong customer relationships, trust, and loyalty. These could lead to a more positive brand perception and increase customer lifetime value. Moreover, happy customers are obvious brand advocates, spreading positive word-of-mouth promotions without a hefty spend. 

Establishing engagement with customers allows a brand to gather valuable information about their needs, wants, expectations, and experiences. These information points are crucial and can help improve the product, service, and marketing strategies. Also, focusing on happy customers helps translate positive online reviews and testimonials. 

This could also be social proof that builds trust with existing and potential customers. Moreover, when customers feel valued, they’re more likely to interact with social media and provide feedback while participating in loyalty programs. It could foster excellent two-way communication that strengthens customer relationships. 

Cons

Building a customer-centric culture and implementing this marketing strategy requires an initial investment of time, resources, and potential personnel. Brands should train their staff to provide excellent customer service and personalized interactions. The plan can backfire if a brand does not genuinely love its customers.

Inconsistent service or failure to address related issues could hamper the brand’s reputation. Even if the benefits of this marketing strategy are clear, measuring its direct impact on sales and revenue can take time and effort. Over-reliance on customer feedback could be risky; even if the information is crucial, it might not align with your business strategy and objectives. 

In conclusion, the “Love Your Customers & What They Do” marketing strategy can be a powerful tool if implemented strategically and skillfully. It can directly help build customer loyalty and drive business growth. However, to achieve the best results, brands must have well-trained, empathetic staff dedicated to providing the best service to their customers.