How to Earn Brand Loyalty

Ronnie Murphy: Vice President of Strategy; Mammoth Creative Co.

If you want a career that doesn’t draw the ire of customers—try pizza. Nobody hates pizza. But definitely don’t go into advertising.

To be fair to consumers, advertising has earned its poor reputation. It is a disruptive form of media, interrupting favorite shows and mindless scrolls.

Advertising also has a bit of a disingenuous history, preying on the insecurities of consumers, promising their product as the solution to all problems.

A man named Mark changed all of that.

Social media—like Facebook—gave audiences a platform to directly respond to brands. With the communication loop between companies and consumers closed, brands now have to earn loyalty. You have to give your customers a reason to believe.

That’s because people don’t buy brands, they buy what a brand stands for. The best brands integrate almost seamlessly into the lives of their consumers and become a part of their identity in a way that the consumer doesn’t even have to think about. Good brands make us want to be better or perceived as something more.

Modern consumers are very brand loyal, they often just don’t know it.

But it is important to know an organization’s brand is much more than the logo on a business card. It is the feelings the logo evokes. It is what they perceive about an organization’s actions. It is expectations about the way the organization can help their life and others.

Start earning loyalty for your brand by standing for something, delivering on that promise, and treating your brand like a banner.

STAND FOR SOMETHING

Your company’s mission, vision, and values shouldn’t be reserved as decor for the break room. Your organization values should be central to all of your communications and marketing efforts.

Cause marketing—popularized by brands like TOMS and Patagonia— attracts loyalty by giving to a cause with each individual purchase. This works for these brands because it is true to who they are as companies.

Your brand doesn’t have to give something away every time you earn a new customer but you will earn more customers if they know what you’re about. Discover whether your organization values are known to everyone by asking if everyone in the company can tell customers what and why the company is in business.

If they can’t, it might be time to reexamine or rediscover your values and make a branding plan to put them into action.

DELIVER ON YOUR BRANDED PROMISE

A brand promise is a pact that you make with your consumer, it tells them what they can expect from an interaction with your brand. Define what it is you want your customers to know about your organization and deliver on that every time. This is an important step in earning brand loyalty.

Fast food restaurants are masters at the brand promise. It’s the reason you visit the same national burger chain when you are on the road—you know the double cheeseburger in Garden City is going to be the same as in Topeka.

MAKE YOUR BRAND A BANNER

Family crests are often considered the first form of branding. The medieval symbols contained elements that told the unique family story and carrying the crest said something about the individual behind it.

Short of creating custom chain mail, the best way to earn this type of loyalty for your brand is to put it on everything and give it to everyone. Our design team knows they have successfully captured the soul of an organization when they reveal their design work to the client and the first response is “I can’t wait to get that on a t-shirt!”

That’s because our clothing choices are a matter of personal branding. We want to wear things that make a statement about who we are and what we stand for. Make sure the quality of the swag you buy is consistent with the quality you want your brand to be known for.

Above all, remember people don’t buy brands, they buy what brands stand for. Being the kind of brand that inspires loyalty takes planning and a lot of consistency.

Authenticity is the consistent thread woven through every successful brand. The consumer can spot a fake and they have plenty of other options. Don’t alter your brand to try and attract the customers you think you want. Instead, hold close to your values as an organization and use those values to attract customers who will stick with you.