8 Steps to Get Customers to Fall in Love with Your Brand

The following is adapted from Fulfilled.

Your brand is more than a logo. It is what your customers or potential customers think about who you are as a company. It is your reputation.

With the understanding that your brand is your reputation, branding is less about selling and more about bonding. You want to woo your customers and make them fall in love with your brand. 

We’re going to explain how to get your customer to notice you, flirt with you, go on a first date, agree to wear your ring, and finally, toss their wedding bouquet in the air after smooching you at the altar—figuratively speaking, that is. It happens with an Eight-Stage Customer Value Journey.

The Eight-Stage Customer Value Journey model walks business leaders through the process of taking a stranger from an initial introduction to your company, to converting them into a raving-fan promoter that tells other people about you. We credit Ryan Deiss of DigitalMarketer (one of the world’s largest and most respected educators for marketers today) for coming up with this eight-step model. 

As we talk through these steps, we’re also going to build a romance between two fictional people—we’ll name them Kevin and Jane. Kevin and Jane will represent the progressing closeness you want to model as a company while pursuing a customer. In this case, Kevin (the business) is the one pursuing Jane (the potential customer).

Step #1: Aware 

The customer prospect becomes aware of you for the first time. Maybe they spot your ad or find you in a search. Maybe they hear your name through a friend’s referral. 

In our fictional romance, maybe Kevin spots Jane across a café and catches her eye when she glances up. He holds her gaze for a second and smiles: now she’s aware of him.

Step #2: Engage 

You engage the customer somehow. You might get them to respond to a post on your company’s social media page. Maybe they read your blog post or watch your video. You develop content that will interest them, appeal to them, and hopefully encourage them to engage with you. 

This is the point when Kevin walks up to Jane and says, “Hey! Did I spot a rock-climbing sticker on your laptop? Where do you like to climb?” Jane perks up and starts chatting back.

Step #3: Subscribe 

The next step involves getting your potential customer’s contact information and encouraging them to subscribe to your company’s content. They choose to opt in to receive gated content, like a subscribers-only training or a special giveaway. 

This is the moment when Kevin asks, “Can I have your number?” and Jane willingly gives him her information. When he calls or texts later, she responds.

Step #4: Convert 

Now, you get the opportunity to sell your potential customer a low-priced product or service so they can test it out. In other words, you convert them from a bystander into a customer. In a service-based company, you might offer a free trial or consultation. In a product-based company, you might offer a demo or a product sample.

This is when Kevin takes Jane out to coffee. It’s nothing big—just coffee—but it gives Jane a chance to think about whether or not she might want a longer date with him. Ideally, Kevin nails the coffee date with Jane and she goes home feeling giddy about how awesome this new guy is. If that’s the case, then Kevin can move on to Step 5, the Excite stage. 

But let’s say Kevin’s coffee date with Jane doesn’t go all that well. He asks her for a second date, and Jane gives him a line about wanting to “just be friends.” In that case, Kevin is going to have to go back to Step 2, Engage—and the same is true for you as a business leader.

If you can’t successfully convert someone from a potential customer into an actual customer in Step 4, go back to the Engage stage and continue to pursue that customer with clever marketing, engaging videos, and great social media outreach before moving to Step 5.

Step #5: Excite 

Once your customer has purchased your product, you want to capitalize on that moment and make sure they’re excited about the transaction. Maybe they made a small, tiny purchase: you offered them a sample size at 90 percent off, just to get them to try out your product. They took the deal in the Convert stage, tried your product—and loved it. They’re sold. Now they want the full-size version.

The moment between Steps 4 and 5 is key. You want your customers to have a positive, exciting experience that makes them feel assured they got a good value for whatever time or money they gave you. That’s how you’re building trust. When you keep your word and give the customer what they were looking for, they’re going to be willing to take the relationship a bit further: “I liked that. And I like you, so tell me about what your main product is.”

Step 5 for our blossoming romance means that Jane concludes Kevin has a lot to offer and decides she would like to have that dinner date after all. The two of them are building a rapport of trust and she’s willing to invest more of her time and energy into the relationship. Why? She’s excited about him!

Step #6: Ascend 

Step 6 is when the relationship unfolds, develops, and deepens. Your customer purchases your core offer; perhaps they even agree to an upsell. Over time, they come back to you and purchase more. Each time they do business with you and feel satisfied with the value they get, the trust shared between company and consumer grows. Soon, the customer is seeking you out for other products and services, confident that they’re going to have a good customer experience with whatever you offer.  

On the human level, this is the stage in Kevin and Jane’s relationship where they start getting serious about their commitment. They spend lots of time together and deepen their trust. Jane isn’t just on the receiving end of Kevin’s wooing anymore; she’s ready to invest in their relationship—often, and in increasing measures. They discover new things about one another that they like, and find excuses to spend time together.

When your customer starts to buy more, and buy more often, they start naturally moving into Step 7—which, for you, is a great thing.

Step #7: Advocate

In Step 7, your customer becomes an advocate—a happy customer. If asked, they will gladly provide a testimonial or complete a client survey, and if asked for their opinion about your business, they’ll say great things. However, they’re not quite at the point yet where they’re taking the initiative to proactively go out and promote your business to other people.

You want to do everything possible to ensure you’re creating these happy customers. Hold their hand during the buying experience and make sure they feel important. Tools like email marketing, communication loops, and social media can help you not only stay in contact with your customers, but also make sure that their experience with you is consistently positive.

Back to Kevin and Jane. When Kevin says, “I love you,” Jane happily says, “I love you too.” When other guys pursue Jane, she tells them she’s already committed to someone else—that’s her, advocating for Kevin. The two of them start planning their future together, and Jane decides there’s no better person out there for her.

The company that doesn’t prioritize Step 7 sells their product or service without any further effort to communicate with the customer or build a relationship; they simply thank the customer for their purchase and let them walk out the door. These companies are missing a huge opportunity to capitalize on their original investment. In contrast, companies that invest in Step 7 are about to enjoy an exponential burst in marketing as their customers transition to Step 8.

Step #8: Promote 

When customers reach Step 8, they do your marketing for you as promoters. They are so excited about your product or service that they feel compelled to rave about you to anyone who will listen. They post about you on their social media accounts. They recommend you to their family and friends. They post online reviews, raving about your business.

In this stage, Jane gushes to anyone who will listen about the person who’s made her fall head over heels. Cue the violins! (This is where the analogy breaks down. You obviously want more customers who will convince other potential customers to buy your product—but Jane does not want any other women to date or marry Kevin!)

More Bonding, More Trust, More Sales

Branding is about getting people connected to you. The more you bond with your customer, the more you build trust. The more shared trust between you and your customer, the more likely they are to choose to spend their money with you, in greater amounts and more frequently. That’s a good thing!

These eight steps provide a process for nurturing the bonding relationship with your customer, one step at a time. You have the framework now, so don’t blow it. Take the time to woo your customers. Stick to the plan and play the long game. In the end, you will have stronger customer relationships and thus greater company success.

For more advice on effective marketing, you can find Fulfilled on Amazon or at www.fulfilledthebook.com.

Kathryn and Michael K. Redman are sweethearts, best friends, and the husband-and-wife team behind Half a Bubble Out (HaBO), a marketing and business consulting firm. They’re also founders of HaBO Village, a membership website which helps leaders build Passion & Provision companies, full of profit, purpose, and legacy. For more than 17 years, they have helped business leaders across the world grow their companies through marketing, business coaching, and leadership development. Kathryn and Michael have both taught at the university level and are frequent guest speakers. They currently reside in their hometown of Chico, California, where they love going to work every day.