As marketers, we know that branding can make or break a business. What makes a Nike shoe different from a cheap shoe with an inverted swoosh is the immeasurable value that comes with the original. Great brands have lasting impacts on their customers—sometimes the love and loyalty spans generations—like McDonald’s. But what makes us fall and stay in love with a brand? We invited Christina Garnett, community and advocacy expert at Hubspot, to talk about brand loyalty. Here is a summary of our conversation.
Invited: Christina Garnett
Subject: Building brand affinity on social media
Format: Eight questions to the guests. All are welcome to share.
Q1: What is brand affinity?
Brand affinity is when someone consistently chooses a specific brand over another. When a brand becomes a person’s favorite, then that brand has achieved affinity. There are many reasons for someone to prefer a particular brand – consistent product quality, customer service, proximity, shared values, etc.
A1: Brand affinity is a strong preference and connection between consumers and a brand. It could be because of customer service, shared values, superior product or something else.
When consumers need something, that brand is their favorite. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/OZlhmrRuUq
— Christina Garnett (@ThatChristinaG) July 28, 2022
Ron Put nicely: brand affinity is a combination of different emotions. When your customers like you, can relate to you and your offering, and have a personal connection to your brand, then you have brand affinity.
A1
Brand affinity is a mixture of likability, connection, and relatability#Twittersmarter— Ron Oltmanns (@ronoltmanns) July 28, 2022
Question 2: Why should brands invest in affinity building?
It’s important because brand affinity is organic. That’s why, if and when you hit a rough patch, your loyal fans will have your back. They will promote you through positive reviews and word of mouth, support you and help you get back on your feet. You can’t buy that kind of loyalty—which is why brands need to invest time and resources into building that affinity.
A2: Brand affinity/love cannot be bought and can get you through tough times.
Fans of your brand will be your positive word of mouth, amplify your messages and help you instill trust with others.
Your biggest fans grease the steering wheel. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/HaroEU3aLL
— Christina Garnett (@ThatChristinaG) July 28, 2022
like Kristine pointed out, when you have brand affinity, your customers will actively refer you to their friends and family. They will be your cheerleaders through the good times and the bad. This will only happen when you have fans who care about you, know you, like you and trust you.
A2.
“All things, people being equal, will do business and refer to them, those people they know, like and trust.”
– @bobburg
This also applies to BRANDS. And it’s a superpower.
❤️ #TwitterSmarter— Christine Gritmon ❤️ (@cgritmon) July 28, 2022
Question 3: What should brands do to develop customer loyalty and brand affinity?
Prioritize the customer experience. This includes happy customers. Often, we talk about acknowledging customers who leave negative reviews or feedback, but we don’t talk enough about those who praise. As a brand, you need to cater to both types of customers. It only takes a simple acknowledgment and ‘thank you’ to show a loyal customer that you appreciate their business.
A3: Focus on CX and how you treat customers when they are happy or mad. Many brands only focus on angry customers and ignore happy ones.
Put out the fires but also water the flowers. Show them you see and appreciate them.
It takes seconds to make someone’s day. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/XayOWlweEH
— Christina Garnett (@ThatChristinaG) July 28, 2022
Elysium shared some great tips for developing customer loyalty. Be who you are and always be available to engage with your customers and audience on social media. Focus on real conversations and building relationships with the people who engage with you. The more people-oriented you are, the more loyal those people will be to you.
A3.
🚀Be there for them
🚀Create a connection with them
🚀Give them value for their time and money
🚀One thing you should never ignore is having that honest conversation with them. Go ahead and engage them.
🚀Be who you say you are and represent. #TwitterSmarter— Janet Machuka (@janetmachuka_) July 28, 2022
Q4: What are some ways brands can build relationships with customers on Twitter?
Show up to support and help them – not to push a sales pitch. Be honest in your conversations and people will notice. Show empathy when talking to an angry customer and gratitude when receiving compliments from a satisfied customer.
A4: Do social listening to understand consumers. What are their pain points/needs? Join conversations from a place of help, not sales.
When someone is angry, handle it with empathy.
When someone is happy, direct them with gratitude.People can tell when you care. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/XqYOXlwBIs
— Christina Garnett (@ThatChristinaG) July 28, 2022
A great way to be there for your audience is to actually be there, like Madalyn said. Participate in Twitter chats and Spaces chats. Listen to what your audience has to say and share your knowledge. This engagement helps you understand them, and also gives them an opportunity to learn about you.
A4: If you want to build relationships with your customers on Twitter, participate in Twitter conversations and/or Twitter Spaces. Both are great ways to strike up conversations so you can get to know them and just as importantly, they can get to know you. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/hb1e6XGpEz
— Madalyn Sklar Digital Marketing Since 1996 (@MadalynSklar) July 28, 2022
Q5: How can you turn a disinterested audience into an engaged community?
Focus on providing value and building links. Build a brand voice that can post announcement-style (one-to-many) but also have one-on-one conversations with people (one-to-one). This is an important characteristic for a brand because it makes you sociable and personable while also establishing your authority.
A5: Focus on value and connection. Build a voice that can speak 1:1 and 1:many and share content that encourages your audience to add their voice.
Be a bridge to help connect other people and give them the invitation to engage like with my pinned tweet. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/A7yLzLTSlM
— Christina Garnett (@ThatChristinaG) July 28, 2022
Like our friends from GiveWP repeat, actively engage with your audience. Even if you can’t respond to each person who engages with you, like and retweet their posts to show that you’re listening and that you care about your communication with them. It won’t happen overnight, but over time, your audience will become your community.
A5) Do not post and ghost! Interact with responses, RTs and QTs, create meaningful / impactful / resourceful knowledge. Interact on your TL. Use social listening. #TwitterSmarter
— GiveWP 🌻 (@GiveWP) July 28, 2022
Q6: How can you regain brand affinity after reputational damage?
Although what you do to mitigate the impacts will depend on the extent of the damage, there are some things you can always do. First, communicate with your audience transparently. Acknowledge what went wrong and explain to them, in plain language, what you are doing to prevent the incident from happening again. Listen to how your audience feels about the incident and find ways to correct the problem.
A6: You must actively listen and address why the harm happened in the first place. Rebrands are not enough.
Be transparent, admit what happened, and show how you are actively working to rebuild that trust. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/A2r7lYlKI4
— Christina Garnett (@ThatChristinaG) July 28, 2022
Like our friends from The pulse of social media added, after a damaging incident, don’t assume you know what your audience wants. Their perspective on your brand would have changed – talk to them and ask for feedback. Ask what you can do to regain their trust.
A6.
This is another reason it’s smart to develop brand affinity: you’ll be given a lot more grace to begin with!
Be honest and open. Communicate. And find out what your audience needs from you in order to trust you again – don’t assume you know.
🚀#TwitterSmarter— Social Media Pulse (@SMP_Community) July 28, 2022
Question 7: Should a brand change its values to appeal to all types of audiences?
It depends. If your values are outdated and condescending—though considered acceptable in a different time and space—then it’s entirely worth reframing your value statement. It is even worth rethinking what the brand stands for and who it serves. That said, as our guest pointed out, if you intend to change your values for short-term gains like poaching a competitor’s customers or preventing declining revenue, doing so is not ideal for growing your brand.
A7: It depends (I know hahaha) on why you are changing. Are you changing to keep up with the competition, to save revenue, or because it’s outdated and rooted in discrimination?
Good core values should not be changed, but reformulated.#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/Ux68RjVay2
— Christina Garnett (@ThatChristinaG) July 28, 2022
like Jim In short, if you try to please everyone, you will please no one.
A7. No, a brand must stay true to its core or in trying to please everyone, it will please no one.#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/GDVkO5R2sa
— Jim Fuhs #DealcastersLive #AgencySummit (@FuhsionMktg) July 28, 2022
Q8: Name some brands that have successfully built brand affinity.
Our guest voted for Chewy, Apple and HubSpot for their long-term brand affinity.
A8: Chewy, Apple, HubSpot 🧡#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/dGEktu5XYV
— Christina Garnett (@ThatChristinaG) July 28, 2022
Other favorites shared by our community members include, Lush, Elf, Coca-Cola, Amazon, Gary Vaynerchuk, The Chicago Dogs, The Lincoln Project and many more. Go ahead and check them out!
Well folks, that’s all from me this week. Thanks for reading, and for more great insights from our chat with Christina, check it out this moment on Twitter that Joana put together for us. If you like this review, you’ll love the real-time chat. Join us next Thursday at 1pm ET for #TwitterSmarter. We also have a post-chat on Twitter Spaces at 5pm ET. See you there!
About me, Narmadhaa:
I write all the stuff – marketing stuff to pay the bills; haiku and short stories so I feel healthy. A social media enthusiast, I hang out with the #TwitterSmarter chat crew and am always happy to take writing gigs.
Say hello: Copywriter Opinionated | LinkedIn | I tweet
