Plans for generating brand loyalty include discount cards, reward points and point-of-sale coupons people can trade in for savings on travel, dining or consumer goods.  This may have been effective in the past for building brand loyalty, but today’s consumers expect a more personalized incentive.  There is more to be gained by a customer who is an advocate of your brand.  Building brand advocacy is accomplished with personalized interactions.  Emotional loyalty is about the brand connecting with the consumer and making the customer feel good about their purchase. 

Emotional Loyalty Nurtures Brand Advocacy

There are a couple of cornerstones for nurturing brand advocacy with your clients: social media engagement and customer service.  Something as simple as a hotel service manager asking a guest why he is visiting can start the process of an emotional loyalty program.  The question engages the customer’s interests and the response provide opportunities for the brand to connect again. 

In this example, the guest may respond that he visits the area to for business, but wants to return for a golfing vacation. The service manager takes note and suggests the guest follow them on Facebook (News - Alert) for updates on golfing packages throughout the year.  If Facebook isn’t an option then perhaps the guest would be open to email notifications or tweets.  Of course, they can always say “no thanks,” but those who provide a positive response also experienced an emotionally positive connection with the brand.

The hotel marketing manager now has new insight to what “clicks” with this customer and probably with others who have similar interests.  Partnering with local golf courses can be a win-win opportunity for both entities.  The golf course can provide special rates for travelers staying at the hotel.  When the golf course sponsors a tournament the hotel can respond with special rates for out-of-town players.

Connections Through Conversation

This is about the brand connecting with customers at the emotional level through conversation.  Whether face-to-face or via social media channels, customers develop into advocates of the brand.  Businesses still counting on brand loyalty cards, coupons, and reward points will find themselves losing position as a preferred brand to others who combine reward-type programs with emotional loyalty building strategies.

Loyalty Programs

Loyalty cards have produced a tremendous amount of data about what customers purchase at the grocery store or department store.  Now the challenge is to translate buckets of data into triggers for fostering consumer loyalty and building an audience of brand advocates. 

In this digital and social marketplace, consumers' relationships with loyalty cards have changed.  Today, people want rewards for products they use and not just products the brand wants to push.  It’s not enough to offer promises of cash back because competitors offer the same deal.  There has to be an emotional trigger to get shoppers to walk through your doors and not the competition’s.

The U.S. credit card giant, AMEX, provides a relevant lesson in combining loyalty rewards with social media to create a strong emotional bond.   They rewarded customers with real dollar savings added to their accounts whenever a loyal customer followed them on Twitter (News - Alert) and tweeted a special hashtag for savings from AMEX partners (such as #amexWholeFoods). 

Since loyalty cards are widely distributed and provide a rich source of data regarding consumer buying behavior, the idea is not to stop using this type of program, but to augment it instead with the emotional connection point delivered by social media communications.

Marketing research company Forrester (News - Alert) reported findings by surveying 50 loyalty program marketers in various industries in, The State of Loyalty Programs 2013.   The findings indicated that while data collection is an important outcome for growing these programs, customer engagement was the primary objective.  Just because they signed up for loyalty programs didn’t necessarily mean they benefited from the rewards programs. 

In fact, only about 16 percent of the total customer base actually redeems reward points.  Finding ways to connect with customers so they use these reward systems will be another mechanism to create an emotional connection. Brands will win “trust points” with loyal consumers whenever they actually demonstrate that the intent is for customers to benefit from these rewards and not just be a resource for purchasing data analysis.

Agile (News - Alert) is the way to go

Marketing to customers has never been so challenging. With the constantly changing likes, dislikes, preferences, plans and choices, it is an absolute must for brands to be on their toes and keep up with customer demands by growing emotional loyalty—rewarded with insights to new opportunities. By being proactive and marketing in the moment, they will be able to meet customer’s expectations ahead of the competitive brands which are clinging to traditional loyalty programs. For example, the above mentioned service manager needs to keep tabs of the guest who visited earlier to ensure he is still interested before an invitation to the next golf tournament is sent. If the guest has been talking more about spas and relaxing getaways on the social platforms, the service manager should quickly send him a package that he cannot resist.

Loyalty works best when you’re catering to human needs and connecting emotionally with customers, making them feel they are more important than the bottom line is what will strike the right emotional chord.

About the Author—Aneesh Reddy is a visionary who believes that advances in technology can lead to significant advances in business value and ROI. He is a frequently featured expert at global retail, marketing and technology forums worldwide and premier educational institutes such Wharton and ISB. He is also a featured contributor in leading publications such as Forbes, Harvard Business Review and The Economic Times. Before founding Capillary, he worked at ITC Limited where he was responsible for establishing a new factory. Aneesh holds a bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur.