Have you ever wondered how whenever you wander into a grocery store, you have a tendency to buy products from a company you’re more acquainted with? That is known in the marketing world as brand loyalty. If you ever find yourself in need of chocolate goodness and your eyes immediately scour the shelves for some Hershey’s, you’re being loyal to your preferred brand. According to a statistical report performed by Customer Thermometer, ninety-one percent of customers have a positive connection with brands. This means that most customers feel more comfortable buying products from brands they are used to. You probably feel the same way, since brand loyalty is all about the psychology of customers.
Let me give you an example, so you have a better understanding of a customer-brand relationship. Susan is going to the store because she needs to buy some shampoo and diapers for her son. She goes into the supermarket and heads for the toiletries aisle where she finds a variety of shampoo. Some of the products are on sale and there are some products she’s never heard of. She looks for the brands she’s been using for the past few years and puts them in her shopping basket. Her brand loyalty is based on the positive results from past experiences with the current brand she’s using.
Before you think about brand loyalty and all it represents as a customer and as a company, you should all about brands. You should be informed of what they are, why it is important, the benefits and drawbacks of brand loyalty and then some. If you’re interested to become one of those global brands, don’t worry. We can tell you how to do that too!
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What is a Brand?
Different brands offer multiple products, until there is an entire network dedicated to one brand
The most common brands that inspire customer loyalty are: Apple, Facebook, Ford and many more, based on a survey on More. Now, you must be wondering what exactly is a brand and how does that apply to your everyday life. It’s pretty simple; the definition of a brand is a company that offers products and services that you use every day.
Whether it’s peanut butter or a cup of coffee, there are brands everywhere that are being sold to you! Brands are considered to be designs, features, symbols or names that allow customers to differentiate between labels and companies. If you see a Coca-Cola logo in an advertisement on television, you know exactly who they are. That is the meaning of a brand!
We’re sure that you’ve heard the term “name brands.” Name brands are multinational companies that have a global audience that distinguish their logo from their competitors. They are multinational corporations who sell their products and ideas all over the world. There are also companies that rely on their personal branding as the theme of their product or service. As an example, people in the self-help industry or virtual influencers known as “Youtubers” are personal brands; they market themselves and their careers as their brands to the public eye.
However, there are two types of brands that you will be associated with in your daily life: concept brands and commodity brands.
Types of Brands:
A concept brand is a brand that is selling abstract concepts and ideas. An example of concept brands would be a campaign that raises awareness for breast cancer or for environmentalism. A concept brand for breast cancer awareness would be the pink ribbon that represents the campaign; we’re sure you’ve come across it.
Commodity brands are the most common brands that you will see in your daily life; customers associate these brands with products and services that are sold. An example of commodity brands would be the logo of Apple, a white apple with the right side bitten off. Whenever you see that logo, your mind automatically associates the product with the Apple brand.
Now, that you know what a brand is and what it represents, it’s time you learn all about brand loyalty.
What is Brand Loyalty?
If you’re part of the digital marketing world, then you’ll know all about brand loyalty. However, if you aren’t, it’s beneficial for you to understand brand loyalty. This is important as an employer and a customer, because it is a mutual beneficial relationship between both parties. Brand loyalty is when customers are more inclined to constantly buy one brand’s products and services than any other brand.
If you’re thirsty and fancy a soda, brand loyalty would be your automatic reaction of choosing Pepsi over Coca-cola. The behavior of a customer towards a product determines if a consumer will continue to buy the product in the foreseeable future.
You have to understand that brand loyalty is one of the main factors of profit for brands; this is a guarantee that consumers will come back to the product with no disregard to any circumstances. Repeated purchases help companies to achieve higher revenue and foster a positive relationship with their consumers. You can achieve brand loyalty through a variety of ways, even through the unpredictable social media accounts. The most common method of brand loyalty at the moment would be brands on Snapchat.
Now that you have been familiarized what brands is, you’ll understand the importance of brand loyalty as a customer and as a company!
Why is Brand Loyalty Important?
According to the Marketing dictionary, known as Track Maven, brand loyalty is important to both the customer and the company. With loyal customers, a business will be able to push past its professional competitors and give it an advantage in the market they are selling.
Strong brand loyalty will see that consumers will repeatedly purchase its products, despite changes in price or supply. Brand loyalty is important to a company because their customers are less likely to be persuaded to change brands or be affected by the marketing methods from their competitors. It is essential to build brand loyalty with your customers through the establishment and the maintenance of a positive relationship.
Along with having high revenue from customers, company loyalty allows brands to enjoy an expanding customer base. Brand loyalty can lead to open advocates and brand ambassadors for the company, which will lead to brand awareness. Brand awareness can refer to new customers and give the brand advertisement without any cost or loss.
As for the customers, if a company’s brand reputation is positive, this helps the consumers feel more comfortable with the product. A customer will only buy a product and service if they are comfortable and trusting with the brand. They will be able to trust the quality and the features of the product, leading them to continuously buying it, if the company treats them well.
Building Brand Loyalty: Time to Go Pro!
It is very important to maintain brand loyalty with your customers. However, keeping your consumers loyal to your brand is a tricky thing to do! People are very unpredictable and one day, poof! They can change their mind about your product and move on to another brand. This article is here to show you seven quick ways to make sure your customers don’t walk away from your brand; we’re here to show you how to build brand loyalty to become as popular as the name brands. However, this does not apply to you if you’re branding yourself and your career, or as they say “personal branding.”
Interact With Your Loyal Customers
Customers are the key to achieving
Brand loyalty
Your customers would love to hear you respond to them and make them feel heard. If you’re a company and you want to build your brand loyalty, along with an expanding customer base, we suggest that you interact with your customers. Customers need to feel like they are a part of your community and that they want to be as helpful as possible.
They would love to give their feedback and know that they aren’t wasting their time with you. Send them personalized responses and make sure that their positive and negative comments are appreciated. It would also help your public image if you respond as fast as possible and to as many as possible.
Understand What Annoys Your Customers
Along with interacting with your customers, make sure you know what makes them tick. Try to understand where your customers are coming from, so you can improve your product with future clientele. It is best to appear to your customers that you don’t shy away from “human contact” and that you actually encourage it. You should show your customers that you are willing to change anything about your product that dissatisfies them.
Encouraging your customers to interact can happen through in-depth discussions and active engagements. When you find out what works with your customers and what doesn’t, you’ll be able to keep your brand on track and achieve brand loyalty.
Consistency, Consistency, Consistency!
According to Sue Cockburn, consistency is the key to a successful brand and to achieve brand loyalty. “Companies like McDonald’s and Starbucks weren’t always big guys. They started out small and grew. And their growth was laid on a foundation of consistency, in their market, in terms of the quality of their products and their service.” This shows that all brands can have brand loyalty through consistency. You’ll need to follow through with all the promises you are advertising to your customers, in order for them to come back. Once you follow through, your customers will be reassured to continuously buy your products.
It’s all About the Design to Catch Your Eye!
This is all about psychology, and you should have a little experience about it when you start your own company. Whenever you decide to create your own logo, make sure the colors transmit a message that is appropriate to the theme of your brand. Colors represent the personality of your brand and the message you offer to the public. As an example, the logo for Youtube is red and black. The color red gives the audience the idea to be more active and passionate for their brand. This also applies to your brand, as well.
When you have a catchy logo and a brand name that reflects your brand for your audience, it makes it easier for your customers to associate your logo with your brand, without any background or explanation. The logo helps your audience distinguish you from any of your competitors in the market you are selling.
Your Brand Should Be in Harmony with Your Core Values
When your brand is aligned with your company values, then you’ll be able to maintain brand loyalty with your customers. Once you promote your brand with its target base and your principles aligned with it, then you’ll be able to offer a level of quality and service that persuades loyalty from your customers. You will also be able to promote your company’s values and you will be known as the kind of brand associated with your core mission. By having both your core values and your brand on the same page, you will be able to sell your product better; you will be entwining your brand and your source of inspiration into one.
Encourage Your Consumers to Stay the Whole Nine Yards
The best way to achieve brand loyalty and brand success is by giving your customers a reason to come back. Virtually speaking, many users would most likely go back to the sites that they have previously visited and had a successful interaction with. The most common method to offer incentive for your customers to stay and consistently purchase your product would be through rewards.
Reward programs will give your customers a reason to come back and keep them wanting more of your product. You can provide reward programs by offering discounts, coupons or even giving them a reward for their engagement. These two reward programs have been a successful way to help your brand gain more exposure and build brand loyalty.
If you offer a great reward, then you are likely to expect more revenue from your customers. The reward program will help you both achieve brand loyalty and maintain your relationship with your consumers.
Let The Influencers Influence!
One important method of building your brand loyalty would be having the right people to promote your product. It’s a very persuasive option because many people are inclined to purchase products that are endorsed by influencing celebrities. Influencers will want to have a close relationship with your brand and that will benefit you and your company in many ways. If you find an influencer who will encourage your brand and respect your company’s values, they will recommend your product to the public. This is why many companies use most of their budget to attract major celebrities and influencers, to help make their brand popular.
Brand Loyalty: The Advantages and Disadvantages in it
Brand loyalty has many benefits to your company, along with many negative drawbacks. You will be able to achieve many things from customers to exposure when you have sustainable brand loyalty. However, you must be prepared, as a company, to handle the disadvantages that follow. Of course, you’re thinking how is it possible for there to be disadvantages? But, the disadvantages lie with the risk that follows brand loyalty and the customers that come with it.
The Pros of Brand Loyalty: All about the Yes!
Brand loyalty all depends on brand perception and how your customers see your brand. If your customers are comfortable with your brand then you’ll have a long queue of loyal consumers waiting to buy your product, no matter what. Once you have achieved and maintained brand loyalty, customers won’t care about how much your product costs; they’ll just want to buy it. Brand loyalty leads customers to be confident in your choices in raising the price and they become insensitive to any price changes. Your customers will also listen to you and appeal to your product if you establish a positive relationship with them and if you are able to attain brand loyalty.
Brand loyalty will help you expand your customer base; you will also have the guarantee of the existing consumer foundation that is already established. Once your consumers have company loyalty, you will be able to predict their patterns. You will find it extremely helpful to predict consumer behavior because you’ll know exactly how to keep them wanting more of your product and, hopefully, raise awareness for your commodity. In order to understand brand loyalty, you need to understand who your consumers are and what they want from your product.
The Cons of Brand Loyalty: What to Watch Out For
In order to attain brand loyalty, you’ll need to understand the brand attributes of your company and what they stand for. Simply put, whatever you’re selling, you’re buying. Just like how there are advantages to brand loyalty; you will find that there are disadvantages to it, as well. The most demanding setback is the inconvenience that follows brand loyalty. Brand loyalty is when your customers actively look for your product and buy it consistently.
But, let’s say you have a shortage of the product and you cannot supply as much as you’d like; what happens then? Your customers will get very anxious and they will not want to buy a substitute of your product. They will be too busy complaining and arguing over your product to look for an alternative. Customers will also be very verbal when you have a shortage in the market, taking it to the virtual world to express their unhappiness.
Another disadvantage is the lack of variety that comes with brand loyalty. Because you’ll be offering one product, so you won’t be able to provide an assortment of products to your purchasers. This will cause you to have a shortage of diversity in creating your product. However, if you’re a start-up business then having one product is a good way to incorporate yourself in the business world.
Examples of Brand Loyalty:
There are many examples to brand loyalty that we are associated with on a daily basis, on a global scale. A very prominent example would be Google, the top search engine across the world. There is not a single person who does not use Google as a search engine. You’ll be able to know if the web page you are using is related to Google, all by just looking at the “G” that is associated with the search engine. The colors that associate with Google are multiple primary colors. According to brand graphic designer Ruth Kedar, the color green that is used in the “L” in Google shows that they do not always follow the rules.
The brand loyalty that comes with Google is due to their ability to deliver quality service and the best results; that is what distinguishes them from any other search engine. They are able to give the customers what they need and they offer rewards that are appealing to any consumer who has a virtual presence.
Conclusion: This is Where It Ends
As a customer, you will find yourself more comfortable buying products that you are acquainted with. Brands are designs, features, symbols or names that allow customers to differentiate between labels and companies. A concept brand is a brand that is selling abstract concepts and ideas. Commodity brands are the most common brands that you will see in your daily life; customers associate these brands with products and services that you are selling to them. Brand loyalty is when customers are more inclined to constantly buy one brand’s products and services than any other brand.
Once you have achieved and maintained brand loyalty, customers won’t care about how much your product costs; they’ll just want to buy it. Brand loyalty leads customers to be confident in your choices in raising the price and they become insensitive to any price changes.
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