How does brand love benefit a company?

Once built, that psychological connection with your consumers helps build a consumer/brand relationship and drive sales across the whole business. It often leads to:

• Price premium

Because of the relationship between the brand and consumer, 86% of US adults said they’d spend more on products and services from a brand they love

• Brand loyalty

Consumers are more likely to remain loyal to the brands they’ve built strong emotional connections with. 39.5% of consumers define brand loyalty as having love for a brand.

• Brand advocacy

Customers who love your brand are more likely to recommend it to other consumers, helping increase sales. Up to half of all sales are driven by word-of-mouth. 

As the world slowly recovers from the pandemic, it will be the most loved brands that rise the fastest. For example, the beauty industry is quickly recovering from a turbulent H1 2020, with a 24.6% increase QoQ. This was driven by improved sales from Asian countries.

11 TIPS TO GET YOUR BRAND LOVE

Brand love is all about knowing your audience. What drives them, moves them, angers them, excites them. For each audience, they can be different things. To find brand love, become more customer centric. Understand what matters to your consumers, and embody that in your marketing strategy. Here are some of the methods we used to identify brands building audience connections.

1. CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) 

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a way for brands to reconnect with their communities. 2020 highlighted several societal issues, and the zeal communities feel for them. Now, more than ever, you should be a purpose-led company, tackling the issues that are impacting your audience.

2. Nostalgia for the future

Nostalgia marketing relies on brands connecting with the good times of the past, to create positivity now. However, it was on the decline this year, with people less pessimistically looking back, but instead optimistically looking forward to a post COVID world. If you build conversations about escaping lockdown, look to the future, not the past.

3. Sponsorship 

Fans often have emotional ties to their hobbies, whether that’s sports, gaming, music, etc. Sponsorships tie a brand to those emotions, helping them build connections with new audiences. Look for hobbies your audience loves, and find a way to link to them.

4. Employee Advocacy

Employee advocacy, encouraging your employees to actively promote your brand, was also down this year. This was due to the additional pressures of working frontline, or at home, offering fewer opportunities to create these customer-employee relationships. As ‘normality’ returns, you should look to rebuild these connections.

5. Customer Experience 

Online customer service is now more pivotal than ever. The drop in face-to-face connections means that online interactions are the only way for consumers to connect with your brand. The demand may be difficult to manage, but prioritizing the customer experience online should be key to your strategy.

6. Influencer Marketing

The lockdown led to an increase in online infotainment. And that’s the realm of influencers. They’ve nurtured engaged communities, building fan bases that are perfect matches to connect with your brand. This growth means you have more influencer opportunities now than ever before. The trick is identifying the right ones

7. Trend Engagement

Consumers are very much in the now. They love the buzz of trends, and are always excited to engage with the latest story or meme. You should always have your finger on the pulse, knowing exactly what is happening in the world, and linking your company to the stories of the day.

8. Engaging Social Media Strategy 

Social media is now about conversations. Talking with, not to, consumers. The most successful brands of 2020 used creative social content, from posts to videos, to even more creative outlets, to keep the conversations alive. Talk to your audience less like consumers, and more like friends.

9. Positive PR 

The use of PR increased in 2020. With fewer online organic brand conversations, brands took it upon themselves to boost stories. Through creative storytelling, unique content ideas, and original research, these mentions lifted the online presence of these brands. Take opportunities where you can to create newsworthy stories

10. Engaging fandoms 

Fandoms became more important last year, offering comfort and distractions for people caught in lockdown. You can tap into these fandoms through partnerships or clever conversion shaping, to gain an uplift in brand love. Building genuine connections between your brand and huge potential audiences.

11. Aspirational

Aspiration is another emotional driver. It’s not just the brands a consumer loves, but the lifestyle that they offer. The forward thinking looked towards these brands in their desire to escape the lockdown, which boosted mentions and engagement. Don’t think of your brand as a product, but an opportunity.

Source: LOVE BRAND TALKWALKER