Brand loyalty is crucial for businesses to make their desired impact on consumers.
Loyal customers are far more likely to make repeat purchases, spread positive word-of-mouth reviews, and pay a premium for a brand they love.
We’ve found that building brand loyalty isn’t just about having a great product. At its core, brand loyalty is about creating memorable experiences that resonate with customers' values and needs.
Brand loyalty could be the difference between seeing your company succeed or not…which is why it’s so important to keep an eye on. Many factors affect brand loyalty, which we’ll cover in this article.
Defining Brand Loyalty
Brand loyalty refers to customers who continue to buy from the same business repeatedly, even in spite of rival brands existing in the marketplace.
In our experience, loyal customers are like gold for businesses. They not only return, but they also often spread the word about the brands they love.
This kind of loyalty leads to consistent sales, growth of a company, and a strong brand image.
In fact, most consumers will spend more on brands in which they are loyal to.
In simplest terms, trust plays a huge role in brand loyalty. Customers will continue to choose their favorite brand, even if other companies offer similar products at a better price. It's about an emotional connection.
We’ve found that brand loyalty involves several key elements:
- Consistency: Brands that deliver the same quality every time.
- Trust: Customers must trust that their favorite brand will meet their expectations.
- Emotional Connection: Brands that connect on a personal level often see higher loyalty.
Building brand loyalty isn’t just about establishing an effective marketing strategy; it’s about creating a product or service that people believe in and want to support.
Why Is Brand Loyalty So Important?
Higher customer retention
Brand loyalty is crucial because it builds a strong connection between the customer and the business.
Loyal customers are more likely to make repeat purchases, which increases sales and revenue.
Need some proof? Research has shown that 59% of U.S. consumers state that once they're loyal to a brand, they’re loyal to it for life.
Spend less money acquiring business
Loyal customers also spend more money than new customers by having a higher lifetime value (LTV). For context, LTV is a key customer experience metric that refers to the amount of money a shopper will generate for a brand from their first purchase to their last.
Additionally, holding onto existing customers is often cheaper than acquiring new ones. That’s because loyal customers typically require less marketing effort and are easier to retain.
This can help keep your cost per acquisition (CPA) low and make it easier to attract new clients/customers to your business.
Gain a competitive advantage
In competitive markets, brand loyalty can also give a business a competitive edge.
When customers prefer a brand, they are less likely to switch to competitors. It can sometimes be the difference between a successful product/service or not.
Companies with strong brand loyalty also tend to yield better customer feedback.
This helps with market research and other things like marketing and sales. They often receive valuable insights that help improve their products and services. It also helps improve their overall strategy since they are getting the highest quality feedback on the market.
Tips On Creating Brand Loyalty
Creating a successful brand loyalty strategy requires a multifaceted approach.
Key components of this include understanding your customers, listening to their needs, maintaining consistency, fantastic customer service, and offering rewards. When brands combine these elements, they’re likely to see a significant increase in customer loyalty.
Know Your Customers
Understanding your customers is essential for creating loyalty from scratch.
It’s useful to segment customers into different groups based on their behavior or preferences, as this allows brands to tailor their marketing efforts more effectively. This is especially true if your audiences have a lot of variation between one another.
At Drive Research, we collect data on customer preferences, behaviors, and needs with various market research methods. This allows us to create better insights for companies, helping them make personalized experiences that resonate with their customer base.
The beloved Stanley cup is a great example of this, as this brand has varying customer bases.
Originally, these cups were made for and marketed to blue-collar workers. However, in recent years, they’ve seen success by catering to and marketing to vastly different audiences.
Listen to Customers
Trust us, customers take note when a brand actively listens to their feedback.
Regularly gathering feedback through customer surveys and measuring social media interactions are both reliable ways brands can listen to customers.
In our experience, we’ve seen customers appreciate when their voices are heard firsthand. We make sure to always encourage companies to act on the suggestions of their customers. This effort builds trust and shows that companies care.
When companies act on this feedback, they automatically strengthen their relationship with customers.
We should note that this does not mean blindly following everything that customers ask for. Rather, it’s a way for brands to consider their requests and implement changes when necessary.
Maintain a Consistent Voice
Maintaining a consistent brand voice across all platforms reinforces trust. If brands constantly are changing their messaging, it can throw customers off.
From social media posts to customer service emails, a brand’s voice should be there and remain relatively the same. This consistency helps customers know what to expect and strengthens their connection with their favorite brands.
For example, let’s say a brand is known for being friendly and approachable. This tone should be reflected in every piece of communication, from marketing strategies to product descriptions and bundles.
Offer Great Customer Service
Providing great customer service is essential. With 73% of consumers reporting a good experience influences their brand loyalty, this aspect of the shopping experience should never be overlooked!
Excellent customer service often turns one-time buyers into loyal customers who feel supported.
We’ve noticed that quick, helpful, and friendly responses to customer inquiries can significantly boost loyalty. This can also improve your market research efforts, as customers may be more willing to answer questions for you (since you have done the same for them).
Investing in customer service platforms, training, and infrastructure is a great way to ensure that every customer interaction is positive and memorable.
Reward Customer Loyalty
Rewarding customer loyalty encourages repeat purchasers and fosters loyal customers. Offering loyalty programs where customers earn points for purchases can be especially beneficial.
In our practices, we’ve done research with brands for them to decide on what sort of offers to make for loyalty programs. Offerings like exclusive discounts, early access to new products, or special events for loyal customers are all fantastic ways to reward shoppers.
Not only does this incentivize repeat purchases, but these programs also make customers feel appreciated.
Examples of Great Brand Loyalty
Below, we’ve highlighted a few major organizations that prioritize brand loyalty.
While each of these brands differs greatly from the other, they all spend a significant amount of time cultivating a seamless customer experience, resulting in high loyalty rates.
Amazon
Amazon prides itself on customer-centric values and has one of the largest customer bases with 310 million regular users.
Their hugely successful Prime membership program has become a key driver of loyalty. Additionally, the way Amazon bases its business strategy around customer needs is primarily what helps the brand create such loyal shoppers.
It’s no surprise that the convenience Amazon creates keeps customers returning. In fact, Amazon Prime users are expected to reach 171 million this year.
Amazon's easy return policies, quick customer service, and comprehensive product reviews also contribute to its high customer retention. By making online shopping hassle-free, they foster trust and loyalty among their users.
Starbucks
Starbucks has perfected the art of creating a personalized experience and rewarding loyal customers.
Their Rewards Program encourages repeat visits by offering free drinks, birthday treats, and member-exclusive deals. That’s not something just any coffee brand is offering.
Customers earn things for every purchase, which they can then exchange for rewards.
The coffee giant also regularly updates its menu with tasty seasonal drinks, keeping customers intrigued and engaged.
Starbucks also offers free Wi-Fi in all of their storefronts, which are free to use (generally with a purchase). Creating so many incentives for customers is likely another reason why they’ve built such great brand loyalty over the years.
Apple
Apple boasts an extremely loyal customer base.
Their connected ecosystem of products like iPhones, iPads, Macs, and services like iCloud and Apple Music creates a cohesive user experience.
While Apple may not have a comprehensive loyalty program, customers in their ecosystem experience a lot of great convenience that is unmatched by other brands.
In fact, Apple achieved an all-time brand loyalty score of 92%, which is impressive in a competitive market.
Their annual product launches build anticipation and excitement, ensuring that customers stay hooked on the brand for the latest technology advancements. This dedication is likely one of the reasons people continue to choose Apple over other brands.
Additional Factors to Consider When Building Brand Loyalty
Brand loyalty is never a one-and-done deal. It’s always an ongoing metric to track, improve, and double down on. From that, we regularly help brands measure brand loyalty.
Tracking repeat purchases and churn also plays a key role in creating brand loyalty.
If churn rates are high, you’ll want to know where in the customer experience it’s occurring to correct it.
The main ways to measure brand loyalty include Net Promoter Score (NPS), along with tools like the Customer Loyalty Index. These can be used alongside customer satisfaction (CSAT) surveys as well.
Brand Loyalty vs. Customer Loyalty
Brand loyalty and customer loyalty are both key for businesses, but they’re not exactly the same. Marketers and business owners benefit most from understanding these differences, as they help them effectively tailor marketing strategies.
Brand Loyalty
In our experience, we've noticed that brand loyalty is all about emotional connection. Customers stay with a brand because they believe in its values or trust its quality. It has more to do with the experience with a brand.
A good example of brand loyalty is Apple fans continuing to buy from this brand simply because they trust Apple.
Customer Loyalty
On the other hand, measuring customer loyalty often depends on tangible factors like price and convenience. Customers are loyal because of discounts, good deals, or things like getting great products at a lower price.
An example of this is when shoppers choose a store because it offers the best prices, such as discount clubs.
Brand loyalty is often a better aspect to focus on, as brand-loyal customers are less likely to switch brands even if a competitor offers a better price. They place significant importance on the relationship they have with the brand.
Measure Brand Loyalty With Drive Research
Drive Research is a market research company dedicated to providing brands with valuable customer feedback. Partnering with clients across industries, our team is experienced in gathering the information you need to create an outstanding brand experience.
To learn more about our market research services, get in touch with us using any of the options below.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
Austin Parker
Austin has an extensive background in SEO as he's been blogging since 16 years old back when the internet was in its infancy. As fitting, he holds a Bachelor's degree in English with a concentration in creative writing.
Learn more about Austin, here.
