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Keeping customers loyal 101
Keeping customers loyal 101
How emotional branding is changing the marketplace.

Customers expect brands to know them as individuals, rather than in a group. For this reason, brands are moving away from traditional marketing where they focus on the functional features of a product or service and are focusing more so on the overall customer experience. Emotional branding is how many retailers are targeting individuals and personalising an experience to change the way customers feel towards brands.

Did you know? Connections are made through experiences and emotions. In fact, almost fifty percent of every buying decision is driven by emotion. An emotional connection to branded content is important for all brands to keep in mind when making important brand decisions. When a brand is able to make an authentic connection with a consumer something really great happens.

While customers often claim they make rationale purchases, studies have shown that factors influencing purchases are 80% emotional and 20% intellectual – the initial motivation is almost always emotional. Emotional marketing initiates a connection and results in sales.

Emotions are inseparable from and a necessary part of cognition. Everything we do, everything we think is tinged with emotion, much of it subconscious. In turn, our emotions change the way we think, and serve as constant guides to appropriate behaviour, steering us away from the bad, guiding us toward the good.” – Donal A. Morgan

There are numerous “emotional motivators” which drive consumer behaviour, which is why brands should not only be looking to make a sale in the moment. For brands to be successful in the current emotional economy, they need to create and build loyalty with customers – connecting with them on a more emotional level.

Creating an emotional connection with a customer means tapping into an underlying emotional need that may have not been obvious at first. By creating and maintaining a stronger emotional connection, brands become a trusted household name.

Keep these 5 crucial elements in mind when factoring in what creates an emotional connection between products and people:

  1. Research
  2. Personality
  3. Location
  4. Look & Lighting
  5. Colour

The brands that successfully find the right balance, become platforms that shape how people live, guiding the choices that they make for future. An emotional connection is what is required to maintain a relationship, even after a purchase is made. The secret? Know your customer.

At Smollan, we know that our customers are our business. We are experts at inspiring shopper brand choice; converting brand curiosity into commitment and shoppers into buyers. We pride ourselves in creating an exceptional shopper experiences – every time. We seamlessly and effectively execute targeted shopper-facing activation to create top-of-the-mind awareness, brand visibility, and drive brand education. Ultimately, keeping customers loyal to great brands is what we do.

What element do you think is most important when creating an emotional connection between products and people?