Types of Bonds That Drive Brand Loyalty

Brand loyalty is crucial to success. Not to mention, it’s the best type of advertising through WOM. Brands that have a solid community through brand loyalty understand their customers on a deep level. They seek out this information in order to know what makes their audience tick. Loyalists can be either hard core, split, shifting, or switchers. You want hard core but that won’t always be the case.

1.     Hard core: just as it sounds. They only buy from your brand

2.     Split: people who use a few brands

3.     Shifting: people who move from one to another

4.     Switchers: people with no sense of loyalty to any brand

There are a few types of bonds that drive brand loyalty.

1.     Convenience: how convenient is your product or service for people to obtain?

2.     Promotional: your brand can outspend its competitors and drown out other brands to somewhat monopolize the industry.  

3.     Superiority: how much quality does your brand provide? Think to Apple and how those who love Apple will only buy Apple. They will never consider a PC as an option. They feel it is far superior to PC. Side Note: we are some of those people…

4.     Trail Blazers: is your brand the first to do something? If so, the relationships that your brand forms with its audience will be strong.

5.     Ethical: this is especially important in today’s society. People want to support brand that are transparent about their values and it builds trust.

 With brand loyalty repeat purchases drive business. Champions of brand loyalty will always succeed.

Is Brand Loyalty Immune From Economic Downturns?

The economic climate in the U.S. is changing. We all know it. Even though it hasn’t been dubbed an official recession yet, consumers already have. Let’s be honest, that’s all that matters because their perceptions determine how they purchase. 70% of the American population think that the recession is already here, according to an article in Media Post. However, according to a study done by Brand Keys, 38% of industry categories have reported decreases in loyalty whereas, 44% have seen it grow. Why is this? Does this indicate that brand loyalty may be “recession proof” depending on the field? While we don’t have the answer, it does indicate that consumers will have to adjust their spending, but it may not affect their loyalty to brands that they love. Industries that are tied to economics seem to take more of a hit than others when it comes to loyalty. This depends almost entirely on how the brand’s marketing deals with economic issues during downturns in economy. Loyalty can actually be strengthened during economic downturns since customers will concentrate spending with companies that they trust. Brands who focus on protecting and growing loyalties during these times of unrest can sustain loyalties and revenues. It can be difficult but it’s not impossible. You need to know your core audience and how they’re being affected. What changes will they have to make and how can you appeal to their needs during these tough times? Although, we cannot give you the answers to these questions because they will be very different for each industry and audience group, we can give you a couple of tips that may help your brand keep its loyal customers. That being said, according to Bain & Co., there are three distinct characteristics that can make a brand stand out as a loyalty leader during economic crisis. One, they don’t try to discount too aggressively. It can be hard to keep customers once the downturn is over when prices increase again. Two, they apply practical means to keep their most important audience before others. Keep that core group at the front of your mind when making marketing decisions. Lastly, they identify critical moments that positively impact their customers most. This can be done through a simple “rate your purchase or experience” questionnaire. In the end, we all know it’s easier and cheaper to keep customers than to gain new ones. Customer satisfaction will keep loyalties high while spending is low.