What is brand loyalty?
One of the most important factors in why brand matters is Brand Loyalty. If you have been following our “Why Brand Matters” article series you are already familiar with how brand impacts people’s decisions making. Building brand loyalty is a sure fire way to secure your space in the hearts and minds of your audience.
Brand Loyalty is when your audience and customers become loyal to you over other brands. You have successfully iced out the competition by being your customers “go to”. They are no longer taking time to make decisions when it comes to purchasing, they are opting for your brand over the competition simply because they like and trust you.
I have referenced the Honest brand before and I will use them again here as an example. I am loyal to the Honest brand. I have kids and since my oldest was born I found I liked their baby wipes, I read up on the company and I aligned with their values. They strive to make the most honest and ethical decision whenever possible and try to use the least harmful ingredients in their products. I am sure I could find greener or healthier products on the market but honestly, as a busy working mom, I don’t have time to do the research. I am going to stay loyal to Honest and I trust in their products. If I need to buy bubble bath or detangler for the kids and on the shelf there is a Suave brand for $4.99 and Honest for $11.99… I am going for the honest one even though it’s more expensive. I am trusting that they are charging higher prices for a reason… Maybe the ingredients in their product cost more or the method in how it’s made is more time consuming but better for the planet. I am speculating on that but, that is brand loyalty.
How do you establish brand loyalty?
Brand loyalty cannot be bought. No matter how much money you want to throw into your brand, brand loyalty is established when you consistently show up for your audience in the way you promised. Everything in your business is in alignment and makes sense. Your mission, purpose, and vision are clearly stated and your visual identity matches. You then repeat, repeat, repeat… It’s very important not to waiver in your beliefs when building brand loyalty. If Honest all of a sudden started using really loud and vibrant packaging, I would start to question the integrity of the brand because that would be “off brand” for the calm and clean visual I am used to seeing from the brand. That inturn could break my brand loyalty. Once a customer’s loyalty is questioned when it comes to your brand, it can be hard to win that customer back.
You know that saying, it’s cheaper to keep an existing customer than it is to get a new one? It’s true. If you are trying to tap into new markets, do this with caution. You don’t want to break your brand loyalty with your existing audience.
Why is brand loyalty necessary for any business success?
Brand loyalty is necessary for the success of every business. Brand loyalty builds stability. Yes, new customers are always great, but knowing you have X amount of people who are willingly buying your product over the competition is a very good place to be. In our world today full of SO many options, you want to be the go-to in your space!
