The 3 Stages of Emotional Loyalty

Emotional loyalty is made up of three components: affinity, attachment, and trust. Sure, you can like a product without being fully loyal. Or you can be attached to a brand simply by receiving their emails. But it’s only when affinity, attachment, and trust are all present that emotional loyalty is achieved.

Affinity: I like you…but I don’t love you

Customers have affinity for a brand when they enjoy what the company offers: high-quality goods, branding that appeals to their style, or products at a great value. But liking a brand doesn’t mean being loyal to it.?

When a different option comes along or a more competitive price is found, customers who merely like a brand may be swayed to spend their dollars elsewhere. In this case, the brand may not be doing its best to build a relationship with the customer.?

Key indicators: Steady sales, positive reviews, and social media commentary

Pitfalls to avoid: Refrain from letting high sales or brand popularity do the talking for you. After all, affinity without attachment or trust is just a watered-down version of loyalty. Sometimes, all a customer needs to move to the next level of the relationship is to be asked.

Strategies:

? Ingrain customers deeper into your brand by reminding them about additional functionality or features they could be using with your products.

? Make customers aware of how your company gives back to showcase sustainability and/or social responsibility.

? Invite customers to explore products that are similar to what you already know they love.

? Appeal to customers’ initial emotional reactions by sending personalized communications that invite them to join your rewards program, engage with your communities, or provide feedback.

Attachment: You know me well

Attachment is less about liking a brand and more about making a connection. Customers will be able to tell if they are valued and appreciated by the relevance of the company’s communications and efforts to engage.

When a brand makes the effort to connect in meaningful and personalized ways, customers feel valued, appreciated, and confident in the company’s ability to meet their expectations.

Key indicators: Healthy open and click-through rates, two-way interaction

Pitfalls to avoid: Talking at your customers instead of engaging with them.?

Strategies:

• Build relevant campaigns and messaging that showcases a unified voice of your brand across multiple channels. Foster two-way communication by providing channels for them to respond and engage.
• Keep customers close by rewarding their loyalty with special treatment. Create tiered programs that acknowledge and treat your most frequent customers with benefits that keep them coming back

Trust: Let’s be friends

Trust is the linchpin of emotional loyalty — the must-have ingredient to retaining a loyal customer. When a customer feels respected, their willingness to trust increases. Respect can be shown to customers in many ways, but one of the most meaningful is in communication.

Key indicators: Customers are eager to make referrals and give frequent feedback

Pitfalls to avoid: As humans, customers are guarded and reluctant to trust right away. Remember that trust is earned and can easily be taken away.?

Strategies:

• Maintain a healthy balance with your communications. Engage at the right times instead of all the time.?
• Prioritize customer privacy and data security by overtly telling them how data they share will be used. (e.g., “If you share your preferences for your favorite style of pants, we’ll use this information to send you more relevant offers!”)?
• Build brand authenticity by integrating communications and presenting a single brand persona across all channels from social media to support. Customers will base their trust and loyalty on the last interaction they had, so every touchpoint should feel cohesive.

Now that you’ve got Emotional Loyalty figured out, have you thought about how to put it in action? We cover everything you need to know about omnichannel loyalty (that sweet spot where loyalty and technology meet) in our Buyer’s Guide to Omnichannel Loyalty.?