Building brand loyalty should be a core tenet of any marketing strategy — but how do you do it? Our guide has the answers.
Find out what drives consumers to choose their favorite brands
Everyone has their favorite brands. Maybe you favor a particular sneaker manufacturer or prefer self-care products from a familiar name. Perhaps you’ll watch any original content from your favorite streaming service. What makes consumers come back to the same brands again and again? Brand loyalty.
But what is brand loyalty and how can you foster it? By appreciating the value of your most dedicated customers and enacting strategies to build more loyalty, you’ll be able to establish your brand as an industry leader.
What is Brand Loyalty?
On paper, brand loyalty is a simple concept. It refers to consumers’ tendencies to buy products and services from familiar brands with which they’ve had positive experiences. Perhaps they were impressed by the quality of your products or felt that the customer service team was especially helpful — there are plenty of factors that contribute to consumers’ overall loyalty to any brand.
Data shows that 65% of a company’s business comes from existing customers, and it costs six to seven times more to acquire new customers than to retain existing ones. Fostering that loyalty is a critical building block in a company's long-term financial success.
Brand Affinity vs. Brand Loyalty: What’s the Difference?
It’s important not to confuse brand loyalty with brand affinity, though they are two sides of the same coin. While brand loyalty typically grows from a customer having repeated positive experiences (and sharing those experiences via word of mouth), brand affinity is more about the emotional connection between consumers and brands.
These emotional connections aren’t necessarily based on business transactions. They may be forged by shared values, savvy social media content, endorsements from favorite celebrities and influencers, or memorable marketing campaigns, just to name a few examples. Brand affinity can certainly turn into brand loyalty and help build your customer base, but it’s primarily driven by feelings, not logic. To learn more about how your marketing strategies — particularly connected TV campaigns — can affect brand affinity, check out The CTV Advertising Playbook.
How to Build Brand Loyalty
Develop a Clear Identity
Before building brand loyalty, you need to have an actual brand — and a story behind it. What was the inspiration for starting the company? What is its mission? How does it solve problems and address pain points better than its competitors or fill a much-needed niche? Once you can answer those questions, be sure to use consistent messaging throughout your marketing materials. Focus on the attributes that drive loyalty, such as quality and affordability.
Leverage Valuable Insights
Decades ago, marketers produced television commercials and print ads without any way to measure their success. Thankfully, the landscape is very different now, particularly among advertising platforms that offer complete data transparency. By analyzing data from your marketing campaigns, you’ll get a better idea of who your target audience is and what they’re looking for. From there, you can better accommodate their needs, which goes a long way toward building retention.
Deliver Exemplary Experiences From Start to Finish
High-quality products and services drive loyalty, but that’s not the only factor. You could have the best solution on the marketplace, but if there’s any friction in the purchasing process or your customer service is less than satisfactory, that leaves a negative impression that could easily drive consumers to your competitors.
That’s not the only side effect of poor customer experiences. Nearly every consumer (over 99.9%) reads reviews to determine whether or not to trust your brand. One negative review can have a domino effect, driving scores of potential buyers away from your company. On the flip side, reviews that praise the intuitive setup process and helpful, friendly customer support can give you the edge you need to rise above the competition.
Reward Repeat Customers
Once you start building brand loyalty, reward those who are driving it. Many of the biggest brands in the world, such as Starbucks, Nike, and Target, use loyalty programs to show their appreciation for the customers who keep coming back. These memberships, which can be free or paid, typically dole out discounts, exclusive perks, and other goodies — for example, Sephora gives its members a free beauty product during their birthday month.
If you play your cards right, your loyalty program can keep customers from churning while offering an attractive perk for newcomers. However, if your platform is too complex and convoluted — or it takes too long to actually earn any of its benefits — it’s likely to have the opposite effect.
Building Brand Loyalty with Performance Marketing
If you’re struggling to build loyalty after implementing the advice in this article, it’s time to take another look at your marketing strategy. Connected TV is one of the most effective advertising platforms available; it shows ads to people when they’re in a relaxed state, not when they’re distracted, and utilizes the power of the television screen to deliver clever, memorable creative.
Ready to learn more about the CTV landscape? tvScientific can help. Our sophisticated connected TV advertising platform allows you to target your key demographics, deliver brand-right creative, and analyze the results of each campaign thanks to real-time insights. To learn more about how tvScientific can help you build brand loyalty, get in touch and set up a free demo.
