If you’ve been in business for any length of time, you’ll have noticed something rather interesting: the best businesses create customers who are like boomerangs. No matter how many times they attempt to escape the company’s orbit, they continually come back for more and more.
Typically, we just put this down to the company having a great brand or incredible marketing. But that’s usually a consequence of the product, not the cause.
Take McDonalds, for instance. The brand regularly engages in marketing, but nobody would say that it was world-beating. It’s not the advertising that’s making people go back time and time again, it’s the experience.
The same goes for other boomerang brands. Facebook, for instance, is essentially a blog and photo sharing site with some chat features. At root, it’s all quite basic, and yet people keep going back for more and more.
It all comes down to the feeling that people get when they use these products and services. It’s so enjoyable because of how it affects the brain that they want it more and more. Going for fast-food just once is never an option because of all the positive associations people have with their experience of the food. The same goes for just checking on Facebook once. It’s not possible.
That’s why all entrepreneurs should consider this type of business first before moving onto something else. You want to give customers something that provides them with a quick hit that encourages them to come back for more. That’s essentially how you create a world-beating brand.
Warren Buffett and other top investors understand this principle well. They buy companies that give their customers a little extra. They’re looking for brands that customers want to buy, not just those that provide necessary services that people have to purchase. By getting people hooked on their products, they’re able to guarantee long-term cash flow that other companies can’t.
Setting up an ice cream business, therefore, is an excellent idea. That’s because over time, people begin to associate consuming your products and feeling good. Eventually, they come back for more and more, especially if you can give them an ice cream experience that isn’t like anything else on the market.
Just look at the success of brands like Ben And Jerry’s. Originally, the company began as a small ice cream shop just serving local customers. But their approach to ice cream was so successful (because they gave people the taste sensations that they wanted) that they were able to grow a billion-dollar company.
So how do you keep your customers always coming back for more. Here’s a quick summary of what you need to do:
Make It Moreish
Whatever you sell, you need to make sure that you make it moreish. That means that you should be doing everything that you can to keep your customers coming back for more.
If you’re struggling for ideas, just look at what the leading brands in your industry are already doing. You’ll often find that they have some sort of secret sauce or approach that they use to make the magic happen. For instance, some takeouts spend months perfecting specific recipes to the point where their customers will love them.
Create Incentives
Another strategy you can use is to drip-feed your customers with rewards whenever they use your services. Facebook does this via likes and notifications, updating users periodically about the state of their status.
You can do something similar with either your products or your marketing. Give customers little things that will encourage them to purchase the higher-margin products that you offer.
Create An Experience
Another approach you could try is to create an experience and focus your marketing efforts around that. Red Bull, for instance, has a product that keeps people coming back. But it’s also a global success story because of the way it uses marketing to promote its brand. The company is all about having fun and providing its customers with entertainment as a way to sell more drinks. It’s a bizarre combination, but it works because of the associations that it creates in people’s minds. Red Bull equals fun for most customers.
Getting your customers to keep coming back for more and sharing their experiences with others is the secret to massive financial success. Once you can build a brand and move it forward, more people will know about you, and your success will start to accelerate. Just make sure that your products and services light up your customers’ brains in a way that your competitors don't.