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| © Getty Images | Businessman holding a wooden block with the word 'brand loyalty'. |
By Clark Boyd, The Blueprint
Attracting new customers is difficult. After going to so much effort
to win customers over, you certainly want them to stay loyal to your
brand.
There are hundreds of books on how to build a brand,
which only points to how complex this field is. Brand loyalty escapes
easy definition, because it is both pragmatic and emotional.
What
is it that keeps customers coming back to the same brand time and again?
It’s partly down to habit, but it’s a conscious choice, too.
In
the digital age, customers are overloaded with choice, with plenty of
options at their fingertips. And yet, for you, brand loyalty is more
important than ever before. Below, we set out the steps to build brand
loyalty for your business.
Overview: What is brand loyalty?
Brand
loyalty is the tendency of customers to keep buying from the same
company, regardless of competitor activity or changes in the market
environment.
Once a customer develops this brand allegiance, they
will continue to purchase from their preferred company. Think of the
customers who always buy the same brand of coffee, soda, or detergent.
Customers
are loyal to a brand for many reasons. They may have an emotional
attachment to the company, based on shared values. Or, they may simply
prefer the quality of service they receive from the company.
Today, there are new drivers of brand loyalty. Social media content
can build relationships, and loyal customers can even act as brand
ambassadors on their own social media accounts. At the same time, there
are more threats than ever to brand loyalty today.
When everything
can be purchased from Amazon with one click and delivered for free,
some would argue that loyalty is an outdated, nostalgic concept.
Pragmatism has trumped emotion, they would argue.
The evidence
suggests otherwise. Brand loyalty has not gone away, but it has
certainly taken on new forms. Before we dive into the tips, let’s
separate brand loyalty from customer loyalty.
Brand loyalty vs. customer loyalty: What's the difference?
Put
simply, brand loyalty is about customer perception, preferences, and
attitudes. Customer loyalty is more closely related to consumer
spending.
A customer that is loyal to a brand will also purchase
from the company, so there is clear overlap between the two fields.
However, customer loyalty retains a narrower focus on spending patterns.
To
put it another way, brand loyalty will be defined by your values, your
reputation, and the customer’s previous experience with your company.
Customer loyalty is driven by low prices, discounts, and rewards.
Price
will always be important to the customer, but depending on this as a
competitive advantage puts a company in a weak position. A competitor
can simply discount their products further. Building customer loyalty to
your brand is a longer-term strategy with a wider range of benefits.
5 ways to build long-lasting brand loyalty
These five strategies will keep customers coming back long after their first purchase.
Strategy 1: Incentivize purchases
You
can’t buy loyalty. Sure, you can offer your customers financial rewards
to entice them to make a one-off purchase. But to engender true brand
loyalty, you must offer more.
Decades of brand psychology research
show that loyalty is built on a value exchange between customers and
companies. We see this everywhere today.
For example, The North
Face has a loyalty scheme called VIPeak. Apart from a relatively good
pun, it also offers early access to new products, free tickets to
events, and competitions.
The emphasis is on community, even if a financial incentive is offered up front to pique customers’ interest.
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| © Provided by The Blueprint | Text and icons displaying the member benefits of The North Face’s VIPeak loyalty program. |
There are lessons for social media strategy here.
Rather
than broadcasting to an audience about why your company is the best,
focus on the incentives you can provide them. Why should they stop
scrolling and care about what you have to say? Loyalty is a two-way
value exchange.
Strategy 2: Share customer stories
To
engage with people, you need to show your humanity, the human side of
your company. A corporate logo will only do so much for brand loyalty.
There are many ways to achieve this goal.
GoPro, for example,
gives customers the tools they need to create great videos. Then it
allows them to share the content, all including the company’s logo.
These videos essentially become free advertising for the company and its
capabilities, while giving customers a shot at online glory for their
creations.
Airbnb takes a different route. It asks customers to collaborate and build their brand through personal stories.
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| © Provided by The Blueprint | ix images of Airbnb customers with their names overlaid on the images. Below, their home city and an introductory line to their story. |
At its core, Airbnb is a technology platform that connects spare
rooms with travelers. The company looks beyond this to explore what this
platform enables for its audience.
This develops brand loyalty
because of the emotional attachment these customers feel for the
service. It is also attractive to prospective new customers, as they see
the company in a positive light.
As part of your brand audit, look at the resources you already have. You can use employee stories for this strategy, as well as customers.
Brand
loyalty is based on the premise that the company offers more than just a
sterile service. Human stories are a tried and tested way to
communicate this powerful message.
Strategy 3: Listen to feedback
When
trying to build customer loyalty retention, you need to go beyond the
transaction to understand what really makes the customer tick. Too many
companies assume they know what customers want, but oftentimes they
don’t.
You can ask for feedback from existing customers, but don’t
be afraid to ask lapsed customers about their experience too. It can be
fruitful to understand why customers decided to switch to a competitor.
The
key is to be accessible and open. You can then demonstrate your
commitment to customers by showing the changes you have made in response
to their feedback. Customers are not always inclined to fill in
feedback forms. So, you need to craft these forms with care.
Consider these tips when asking for feedback:
- Keep it simple. The customer is doing you a favor by filling out the form -- be considerate of their time.
- Make most fields optional. Let the customer fill in the areas they want to discuss.
- Include white space. This makes the form less daunting and invites the customer to share their thoughts.
- Add a rating scale. They’re easier to fill in, and they give you something tangible to monitor over time.
You can then use social media management tools to track audience sentiment, so you can see the impact your changes have on brand loyalty.
Strategy 4: Communicate with consistency
Predictability
is underrated. When a customer interacts with a brand, they want to
know what kind of experience they will have. They want to know that the
service will be as good as it always was. Loyalty takes years to build,
but can be lost in an instant.
It’s challenging to maintain this
required level of consistency in the social media age because your brand
is almost certainly active on numerous social networks, all
communicating with customers every day.
Once you have nailed your brand positioning
strategy, apply the same tone in your visuals and your communication on
every customer touchpoint. Social media platforms only allow so much
customization, but you can still make your accounts your own.
Oreo
does a great job of incorporating its signature style into its
Instagram and Twitter accounts. It takes a lighthearted approach to
communications with its audience, but addresses customer concerns
seriously too.
Businesses of all sizes can apply these same
principles. Customers are more likely to be loyal to a brand they can
depend on, after all.
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| © Provided by The Blueprint | Oreo Instagram profile page, containing images of Oreo cookies. |
Strategy 5: Work with influencers
Influencers are most
effective when they connect emotionally with your audience. Businesses
can use this to their advantage to build brand loyalty, if they approach
the situation thoughtfully. There is more to this strategy than simply
choosing the most popular influencers and paying them to promote a
message.
The influencers brands choose will immediately make a
statement about the brand’s values. If the influencer is not aligned
with the company’s ethos, the campaign can erode trust in the brand.
It’s
worth looking beyond the headline numbers an influencer can offer to
consider the impact their message will have on the audience.
Start with the metrics that will reflect the performance of your social media campaign,
then identify influencers that can help you hit your targets.
Typically, this will mean going beyond broad metrics like campaign
impressions, towards metrics related to customer engagement.
Influencers are not a substitute for a solid brand strategy, but they can help amplify your message.
Building loyalty that lasts
Customer brand loyalty is a delicate commodity. Its value is both quantitative and qualitative.
You
can bring some rigor to this vital marketing area by taking on board
the tips and examples shared above. There are no shortcuts to build a
relationship with customers, but if you put in the work, it will be
repaid with loyalty in the long run.
See more at The Blueprint
