What is Brand Loyalty and What Does it Do?
In life, loyalty is a virtue and something that you must earn. Once you gain the loyalty and trust of the people you care about the most, they will always be there to support you.
The same goes for businesses. Once customers turn into loyal supporters, they will come to trust and endorse you in whatever comes next. In marketing terms, this is called brand loyalty, and is something that every business should understand and start building.
What is Brand Loyalty?
Brand loyalty is when customers buy from your business repeatedly because your brand has consistently met their expectations. You can say that brand loyalty is more like an emotional connection. They trust your brand, so are willing to choose you over your competition despite any difference in price or other factors.
However, loyalty is not something you can build in an instant; it’s earned. And once you do forge that relationship, you can expect repeat purchases, higher revenue, and customer referrals along the way.
Factors That Establish Brand Loyalty
There are many factors on why customers become loyal to a business: the reason can be different for every person. However, there are common reasons you can consider and leverage to your marketing efforts.
Trust
Customers trust brands that they can rely on. If your services and products work for them and you have authority over your industry, most likely, they’ll stick around and even recommend you to other people they know.
Belief and Personality
Your brand’s attitude and personality can also convince potential customers to purchase from you. People buy from brands that they love and relate to: it makes them feel that they’re buying from a brand with a purpose, and letting them participate in that cause.
Camaraderie
Customers feel a sense of belonging when buying from brands with a community, whether related to the brand, services or lifestyle. It gives them the impression that they are a part of something big or a greater cause.
Types of Brand Loyalty
There are different types of brand loyalty: each customer varies on how they perceive your business. The brand loyalty pyramid, developed by the father of modern branding David A. Aaker, perfectly explains the differences. Understanding each tier will help you tailor-fit a marketing strategy to a specific target audience.
1. Committed Buyers
As the top part of the pyramid, committed buyers are proud they’re buying from you. They deeply associate themselves with the brand because they can intrinsically relate to its values and personality.
2. Brand Likers
The true brand enthusiasts: they purely buy from the brand because of their emotional connection with it. There are no explanations needed. All they know is that they love this brand, and that’s enough of a reason to support it.
3. Satisfied Buyers with Switching Costs
These customers stay because switching brands has too many factors that they need to consider, such as the effort, monetary costs, time and more. Unfortunately, they can switch loyalties once they’re able to overcome the mentioned factors.
4. Satisfied or Habitual Buyers
Satisfied or habitual buyers have a brand in mind when buying, but they only do so because of habit. They are comfortable in getting the same items and services from you. The downside, however, of this is that they can easily buy from a different brand once they encounter issues.
5. Switchers
These customers are not loyal to any brand specifically, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t sporadically loyal to yours. It’s more that these customers tend to buy the first thing they see. They have no qualms about switching brands if they ultimately get what they’re looking for.
Why is Brand Loyalty Important?
Having loyal customers is ultimately a huge advantage over your competitors within the same industry.
Brand loyalty is a huge contributor to long-term, sustainable business success. As long as you take care of your customers, you know that they will support you and even help spread brand awareness.
Businesses that have established trust with customers will see repeat purchases despite any changes in price or circumstances. But, how will you be able to develop brand loyalty if you haven’t established a brand identity and reached a broader audience to promote your name? Aside from undertaking brand management, you can rely on an organisation, such as Access, that is determined to connect you with your target audience.
Access is equipped with a holistic approach to brand development, marketing and distribution, helping your brand stand out from the crowd. We believe in the power of influence, and how it can positively impact your efforts in building relationships and an identity. Through this, we created a new ecosystem that can open new avenues for your business and get a global reach.
Learn more about how our brand management strategies can bring your brand to a global community of consumers and make their everyday lives better. Get in touch with our offices in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, Auckland, New Zealand and Hangzhou, China to start the journey.
