Step Seven : Brand Devotion
Here we are at the apex of the 7 Steps to Brand Engagement Pyramid. In this series we have discovered how to define our brand for both customers and employees. We have learned how to attract and create an emotional connection with them. How to turn that connection into selection and action, and then how to turn the customer or employee into a loyal follower of your brand.
In the last article we looked at taking that loyalty one step further and creating insistence. And now we’re at the point where your customers and employees become devoted to your brand, and where they advocate on its behalf.
For an overview of our process click here .
STEP SEVEN : BRAND DEVOTION
Humans trust humans more than they trust marketing or advertising. They trust humans they know and like even more. In fact, if someone we admire or relate to recommends a product or service we are 92% more likely to try it.
Think of your own world and take Netflix as an example. How often have you written down a recommendation from a friend on which series to binge next? Or when another friend says “OMG you must try X Brand Shiraz” aren’t you more likely to pick it up next time you’re at the shop (to drink while you’re bingeing that series on Netflix).
Word-of-mouth or brand advocacy is one of the most powerful forms of brand communication there is. The rise of social media has accelerated this - we won’t deal with actual paid influencers in this article as they form part of the marketing activities associated with Steps 2, 3 and 4 (Recognition, Engagement and Selection). We are talking here about your devoted customers and employees sharing their feelings and experiences about your brand.
Prior to the rise of social media, most of this customer advocacy was word-of-mouth. A 2006 study by Gfk Roper found that the average consumer was likely to recommend fewer than four brands to people they know. Cut to this year and a rise to recommending nine brands (with 16% of respondents recommending 15 or more!)
Even in an employee context, Devotion can result in that employee proudly sharing about their work environment on socials, or actively promoting your company as a great place to work. Any HR department loves attraction recruiting by existing loyal employees as it’s an almost built-in cultural filter.
According to LinkedIn when an employee shares just 6 pieces of content on the platform, it influences 6 job views, 3 company page views, 1 company page follower, 6 profile views, and 2 new connections.
CASE STUDY: Who Gives a Crap
Toilet paper. Seemingly one of the least glamorous products out there and not one that you would imagine people shouting out about on the socials.
And yet the success of this now 10 year old brand has largely been built of their devoted customers sharing their love for the recycled toilet paper with a social conscience.
It all started with a toilet. The three Co-Founders of the business started with a mission - to build toilets for the 40% of the world’s people who don’t have access to one. They were going to do this by selling toilet paper, and donating 50% of profits to the cause. They decided on a crowd-funding approach to raise the $50k they needed to start the business.
They clearly had a very crisp idea of their brand from the start - irreverent, humourous and colourful ✓ Step 1. From the get-go they were on-brand, with Co-Founder & Head Honcho Simon Griffiths (official title) pledging to sit on a toilet (live streamed) in their warehouse until the money was raised. Some 50 hours later the mission was accomplished.
Eight months on they completed their first run, and started sending orders out to their campaign supporters - who unbeknownst to them were already devotees.
“We started sending the orders out to our campaign supporters and without doing any marketing we started to see our daily sales rate double day-on-day and after 5 days sold out of stock in the warehouse we had built in the last 3 months.
At that point we realised that without doing any marketing, the traffic was all coming from social media. Customers were sharing photos of the product on social media, giving rolls to anyone they knew, friends, family and work. So the word of mouth groundswell meant the company took off from day zero.” (Retailbiz)
Today, devotees of Who Gives A Crap continue to help grow the brand through active sharing and word-of-mouth.
How to achieve devotion amongst your loyal customers and employees:
Consistently deliver to the brand promise they bought into
Actively communicate with them. Remind them why they love you. This is the reason many luxury car brands advertise - not to get new customers but to ensure their existing customers stay loyal.
Surprise and delight them - as with human relationships it’s easy to become complacent. Bring them flowers and take them out to dinner once in a while (metaphorically speaking)
Acknowledge and reward them for their loyalty.
We hope you have enjoyed our article series on the 7 Steps to Brand Engagement and taken away some learnings and inspiration you can use with respect to your own brand or company.