What is brand loyalty and why do you need it?

Business
This statement is true in many facets of life — the business world being no exception. In fact, when it comes to building brand loyalty, creating relationships and building trust is vital and imperative for success. Once you have created relationships with your customers and you have earned their trust, you will also gain their loyalty.

“No one will care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” —Theodore Roosevelt

This statement is true in many facets of life — the business world being no exception. In fact, when it comes to building brand loyalty, creating relationships and building trust is vital and imperative for success. Once you have created relationships with your customers and you have earned their trust, you will also gain their loyalty.

beyond inception with TIRIVASHE MUNDONDO

Brand loyalty is when  customers feel they cannot do without a certain product
Brand loyalty is when customers feel they cannot do without a certain product

This is a huge sustainable advantage because once you gain loyalty, you could have a customer for life.

But, what is brand loyalty?

Brand loyalty is the consumer’s emotionally-charged decision to purchase a specific brand again and again. The consumer perceives that the brand meets their expectations and identifies with the consumer on a personal level.

This buying behaviour and decision-making process can be conscious or unconscious, but it is always based on trust that the brand will deliver on the consumer’s expectations for it.

Brand loyalists don’t purchase a substitute brand if their preferred brand isn’t available. You cannot possibly imagine an Apple loyalist buying an android phone because they couldn’t find an iPhone in stock. They will travel to multiple stores in search of their preferred brand and are more likely to forgo making a purchase if their brand cannot be found.

Brand loyalty is based on an emotional involvement that develops between the consumer and the brand. The consumer’s perception is that the brand fulfils some kind of physical need or emotional want in such a unique way that some kind of emotion is evoked during the purchase process and while using the brand.

For example, purchasing the same brand might elicit feelings of security.

“When I buy a Heineken beer, I will never have to deal with a hangover.”

On the flip side, not being able to purchase the brand might elicit feelings of fear or impending doom.

“If I don’t get Heineken beer, I am going to have to deal with a hangover the next morning!”

It’s that emotional connection to a brand that separates brand repurchases from brand loyalty. How do you feel about your favourite brand of toothpaste? If it’s not available, will you just purchase another brand without concern or will you visit another store to find your preferred brand? Do you feel like you might get a cavity if you don’t use your regular toothpaste?

Your answers to those questions tell you whether or not you’re loyal to your toothpaste brand. If toothpaste brands don’t matter to you, think about your favourite brand and how you’d feel if it wasn’t available. Those emotions will help you understand just how loyal you are to the brand.

Why brand loyalty matters to your business

A powerful brand with a loyal consumer audience behind it can withstand any micro- or macro-environmental factor thrown at it. Whether there is a recession at the macro-level or a corporate re-organisation at the micro-level, brand loyalists will keep on buying the brands they love.

The Toyota recalls of 2010 provide the perfect example of a brand that survived and continued to thrive despite micro-environmental factors because consumers still trusted the brand and remained loyal to it.

Brand loyalty equates to long-term, sustainable business success. You can count on loyal customers to keep buying your branded products and telling their friends about them. There is a value to that loyalty that correlates directly to brand equity. In other words, brand loyalty is an indicator of intangible value as well as a quantifiable measurement of your brand’s success to-date and future performance predictions.

Don’t underestimate the importance of brand loyalty. Emotional involvement is a powerful thing that trumps just about every other purchasing factor you can think of.

How to build brand loyalty

Brand loyalty comes after consumers hear brand messages, develop perceptions of the brand and expectations for it, try the brand, and are happy enough and agree with the branded experience that they want to buy it again and again. Your brand identity, promise, personality, and position must all be well-developed and focused to your target audience. Don’t even think about trying to build brand loyalty until your brand strategy and all of these brand elements are in place.

The first step to building brand loyalty is educating your employees about your brand and ensuring that they not only believe your brand promise, but believe it strongly enough to advocate for it. If your employees aren’t loyal to your brand, why should consumers be loyal to it? Therefore, always begin with internal brand building.

Next, you need to develop brand messages and branded experiences that consistently and persistently communicate your brand promise. These messages and experiences help to create consumer perceptions about your brand as well as consumer expectations for your brand.

Brand expectations and sensory experiences

When consumers try your brand and realise that it actually does meet their expectations and deliver on its promise, they’re more likely to try it again. When they feel like they can personally identify with the brand and develop emotional connections to the experiences the brand provides and feelings it elicits, you’ve hit the brand loyalty jackpot!

Typically, brands that are very successful in building loyalty are those that have strong emotional connections with consumers where perceptions of the brand match the reality of using the branded products. The marketing messages and branded experiences tap into the five senses and successfully stimulate consumers through varied branded experiences and touch points.

For established brands, you can start boosting brand loyalty right now by identifying your existing brand loyalists and making sure they are acknowledged and feel valued. They are your best brand advocates! At the same time, you should be working to create new brand loyalists by moving customers from the repeat purchase phase to the emotionally involved, loyal stage.

Tirivashe Mundondo is an author and brand strategist. He is passionate about innovative marketing techniques and creative solutions. Email: [email protected]