How can you leverage the principle of liking to turn customers into brand advocates?

1 What is the principle of liking?

The principle of liking is based on the idea that people prefer to say yes to those who they like and share something in common with. This can be influenced by factors such as appearance, personality, background, values, opinions, or interests. According to social psychologist Robert Cialdini, author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, liking is one of the six universal principles of persuasion that can help you win over others and achieve your goals. When you apply the principle of liking to your customers, you can create a positive emotional connection that fosters trust, loyalty, and advocacy.

3 How to make your customers like each other

The second step to leverage the principle of liking is to make your customers like each other and feel part of a community. This can be achieved by creating opportunities for your customers to interact, such as a user-generated content platform where they can post reviews, ratings, photos, videos, or stories. Additionally, you could create a referral program or social media group for them to invite their friends or join discussions about your product or industry. Furthermore, a loyalty program could be implemented to reward customers for their engagement, purchases, or referrals. Lastly, consider hosting a user conference or meetup where customers can network and have fun with other users of your product.

4 How to make your customers like your product

The third step to leverage the principle of liking is to make your customers like your product and see it as an extension of themselves. To achieve this, you must deliver a high-quality product that solves their problems, meets their expectations, and delights them. Utilize user feedback and data to improve your product features, design, and performance, and keep your customers updated on your progress and roadmap. Incorporate gamification and nudges to motivate customers to use your product more often and explore its benefits. Additionally, personalization and customization allow customers to adapt your product to their preferences, needs, and styles. Show social proof and scarcity to demonstrate that your product is popular, valuable, and in demand. Finally, offer free trials and demos so customers can try before they buy.

5 How to measure the impact of liking

The final step to leverage the principle of liking is to measure the impact of your efforts on your customer loyalty, referrals, and social proof. You should track and analyze key metrics that indicate how much your customers like you, each other, and your product. These metrics include customer satisfaction (CSAT) and net promoter score (NPS) to measure happiness with your product and service, as well as the likelihood to recommend it. Additionally, customer retention and churn rate can be used to measure how many customers stay with you over time. Furthermore, customer lifetime value (CLV) and customer acquisition cost (CAC) can be used to measure the worth of customers and the cost of acquisition. Finally, customer advocacy and referral rate can be used to measure active promotion of your product, while customer engagement and social media mentions can be used to measure interaction with your product and content.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?