The Brandchelor: Will you accept this brand?

We see brand love around us every day in the clothing we wear, the technology we use, and the food we eat. In a world full of beautiful brands with incredible qualities, how does a consumer commit to one and find brand love? Do consumers commit by “following their heart?” Do they take some brands out for dates? As a brand, how can we earn consumer love, engagement, and loyalty? Here are a few tips and tricks to increase brand engagement and loyalty

1. Offer tutorials, free trials, and sample testing

Our friends over at Costco have done an excellent job tackling this tactic by offering samples to consumers passing by. We ourselves have been caught with a shopping cart full of obscure yet delicious treats after benefitting from this business strategy. Often, consumers do not want to commit to a product until they have tried it out for themselves. Focus on making a trial experience easy, quick, and valuable. If we are unsure about our target market, taking a lot of consumers out for “dates” by trial can even help to narrow down a target. For a customer to truly accept our “rose,” we need to spend some quality time together.

2. Reward loyalty

We like to make sure our current customers feel valued. Simple, innovative initiatives and rewards can go a long way. If applicable to our product/service, we encourage creating a loyalty program. Chick-fil-a has created an incredible foundation of loyalty. We find ourselves eating there one too many times with all those loyalty points adding up! When we give our customers some love, it can be reciprocated through continued loyalty, great reviews, and referrals.  

3. Strive for integrity, honesty, and trustworthiness

Learn from the frustrations of consumers over at Airbnb. When calculating the total cost of a stay, cleaning fees and processing fees appear out of thin air! Clearly state benefits of the product, services, and pricing. It is always better to under-promise and over-deliver. We avoid hidden fees, unclear contract terms, and ambiguity. Just like in dating, honesty is the best policy when it comes to our consumers.

When we focus on brand love it is important to remember that we cannot satisfy everyone. We will essentially have to “send some consumers home.” As we extend offerings, reward loyalty, and maintain our integrity, we build the foundation of a healthy consumer-brand relationship. By doing so, we can ensure that we know our consumer’s answer when we ask them, “will you accept this brand?”