Creating brand loyalty can start by making an authentic connection with consumers.
A while back, I was shopping at Trader Joe’s for a friend who didn’t have much of an appetite. So, I choose tiny foods that would give her variety but not overwhelm her stomach: miniature tacos and quiches, coin-size cookies and such. The checkout clerk remarked on the theme of my cart and when I explained why I was buying the diminutive treats, she stepped away and came back with a free bouquet of flowers to pass along to my friend.
That kind of empathetic customer care is partly why Trader Joe’s has legions of fans.
Building brand loyalty is increasingly difficult, according to a recent study of nearly 19,000 U.K. and U.S. consumers from Bloomreach, a custom experience brand based in Mountain View, California, and EMarketer, a New York-based market research firm. But creating an emotional connection with consumers is more effective in building loyalty (58.4%) than offering transactional incentives, like coupons and discounts (41.6%), the survey found.
“Emotional connections create preference over the competition. … Customers don’t know what they really want. They say they want a product, but what really drives business value is emotional attachment,” says Zhecho Dobrev, the survey’s author. He is also principal consultant at Beyond Philosophy and author of the “Big Miss: How Organizations Overlook the Value of Emotions.”
Offering financial incentives to buy is easy. Building emotional connections is harder. Here are some ways to do so:
Authentic Storytelling and Community Building
Let consumers get to know you and your team as people. Maybe share stories about your own sleep troubles and the solutions you’ve tried. Highlight the ways you individually and collectively make a difference in local organizations.
Leverage Trusted Media for Authentic Marketing
Perhaps because of the popularity of video platforms YouTube and TikTok, consumers increasingly trust video ads (61.9%) at least some of the time over sponsored content (57%), affiliate ads (55.1%), targeted ads (54.5%) and banner ads (50.7%), according to the research. To make video ads most effective, be authentic and make sure your messages fit within your overall branding strategy.
Hyper-Personalize Your Messages
“Customized communication can also play a major role (in brand loyalty),” says Anirban Bardalaye, chief product officer for Bloomreach. “When brands leverage AI to personalize communication channels such as email, SMS or in-app notifications, customers receive both relevant alerts and timely information about products they’ve shown interest in.”
The Post-Purchase Experience is Crucial
“The job isn’t done when a consumer makes a purchase — the post-purchase experience is just as crucial in driving loyalty,” Bardalaye says. Most important to consumers post-purchase are having customer service available (32.5%) and free delivery (22.1%). Of course, consumers also like to save money, especially these days. Offering a personalized discount on a future purchase is a great way to combine strategies and build loyalty.
