We’ve been researching the meaning of ‘loyalty to a brand’ from a consumers’ point of view for the past 6 years in the For Love or Money™ research study.
The same 11 dimensions of loyalty have been used and tracked to understand the consumers’ view of loyalty to a brand (broadly).
The reason for this ongoing research to define ‘loyalty to a brand’ is to gain clarity amongst all the different views on what loyalty is.
“When you know what loyalty means to your brand, you will have the power to motivate those loyalty outcomes to your brand”.
Loyalty is not a program. Loyalty is an outcome.
Based on the findings in the For Love or Money™ 2022 research study, Loyalty from a consumers’ point of view is defined by three outcomes.
Behaviour Loyalty: This is a transactional interaction formed by customers who spend more and more often over the longer term. (Longer term is critical...think lifetime value).
Belief Loyalty: This is an emotional connection formed by customers who love, trust, and recommend the brand to their community.
Belonging Loyalty: This is a deeper emotional connection where customers identify with a brand’s purpose and passionately connect with the brand’s community (Think H.O.G.TM - one example of many).
The Loyalty Peak is achieved at the intersection of three loyalty outcomes.
How to achieve The Loyalty Peak
The Loyalty Peak is achieved when your customers spend more and more often over the longer term. They love, trust, and recommend your brand to their connections. They identify with and believe in your brand’s purpose. They are a passionate and connected member of your community.
The journey AND the destination.
Climbing a mountain, traversing a valley, and scaling cliffs are as difficult as the terrain and conditions they exist in.
Breaking up the sum of the parts of The Loyalty Peak and tackling them with relevant strategies seems obvious, however when you have clarity on each, then in time, The Loyalty Peak will be achieved.
1. What are you doing to motivate your customers to spend more and more often over the longer term?
2. What are you doing to build emotional connections where customers love your brand, trust your brand, and ultimately recommend and refer it to their community and connections?
3. What are you doing to build a deeper emotional connection with customers through clarity on your brand’s purpose and nurturing a passionate and connected community?
Start at base camp and consider a guide.
We have been guiding brands to formulate and clarify their unique definition of loyalty.
It starts with aligning internally on what loyalty means to the brand (we have the 11 dimensions to help).
Once the internal team are aligned on what they believe loyalty means to their brand, we ask the brand’s customers (using the same 11 dimensions) what they think loyalty means to that brand.
When you compare the internal teams’ view and the customers’ view, it's an "...aaha moment... " and the journey begins.
The results will provide clarity on how aligned or not the brand vs customers are and provides the areas of focus to start the journey towards achieving The Loyalty Peak.
Loyalty is not a program. What is loyalty?
If loyalty is important (vital) to your brand’s ongoing success (mountains of money, valleys of love and cliffs of connection) and you are interested to find out how to define The Loyalty Peak for your brand (and then work out strategies to achieve it), drop me an email and I will give you more detail.
Have a happy loyalty day!
