Every brand is hungry to create brand loyalty among its customers. Not surprisingly, this is easier said than done. Just think about how many brands, businesses, and products you interact with every day. There’s probably only a handful that came to mind when narrowing down your favorites. With so much competition in just about every industry, how can brands stand out and cut through the noise? Let’s explore why brand loyalty matters and how you can earn it.
Brand Loyalty: Why It Matters
Many businesses fail to realize the importance of creating valuable customer experiences until its too late. Leaders at large companies struggle to manage their time between all of the different areas of their business, from HR to finance to product development. However, companies can’t exist without customers. The only way to create brand loyalty is by pouring into your customers and making their feedback a top priority.
Examples of Incredible Brand Loyalty
When we talk about brand loyalty, a few companies come to mind that pioneered not only the world of branding but customer experience as a whole. How did they create such a cult following within their brands?
Trader Joe’s
In the United States, we’re lucky enough to have a plethora of grocery options available in most of the country. No grocery store chain has been more iconic than Trader Joe’s when it comes to branding and customer service. A dedication to customer service and their focus on creating their own Trader Joe’s-branded products helps them stand out from the crowd. Not to mention an impressive Instagram following and the coveted Hawaiin t-shirts employees wear.
Goop
While Goop, the lifestyle brand brainchild of Gwyneth Paltrow, has been a controversial brand from the start, there’s no doubt that they’ve reached the gold standard of brand loyalty. By covering taboo topics and going deep into the growing world of self-care, Goop has garnered a loyal following over its lifetime. By introducing its own product line in addition to compelling content, rest assured that Goop and its fans aren’t going anywhere soon.
Zappos
Zappos has literally built its brand on providing outstanding customer service. CEO Tony Hsieh has made customer service his mission, once saying that “Zappos is a customer service company that just happens to sell shoes.” It’s that customer-centric mentality that has made Zappos a favorite for shoe lovers and a company to admire for startups looking to break into a competitive industry.
How to Earn Brand Loyalty
So how can up and coming brands earn brand loyalty? The list is endless – but here are the top 3 things you can do.
Have a UVP
Brands are fighting for attention in a world filled with media noise. If you want to have staying power in whatever market you’re in, you need to be different. Establish what makes you unique and be clear in your marketing and publicity about what your unique value proposition is.
Be Creative
Once you’ve established your UVP, you have to be creative in getting your products and services to the public. No brand ever made it far by doing what everybody else is doing. Invest in your team and hire creative employees to iterate on different ways of making your brand visible to the world.
Listen to Your Customers
And finally, the most important thing you can do to garner brand loyalty among your customers is to listen to them. It doesn’t matter how creative or unique your product, service, or branding is if it isn’t appealing to your target audience. Everything from product development to your social media posts should be in direct correlation with your ideal customer. Knowing how to solve their problems – and better yet, being able to solve them before they’ve given up on your brand – is key to attracting and retaining customers.
No matter what industry you’re in, Mentor is here to help you create amazing customer experiences. Reach out to us today and see how Mentor can help you establish strong brand loyalty by listening to your customers’ needs.