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Mashable.com presents some research suggesting that when a customer is in love with a brand, he or she will stand by it. The author examined a study that revealed the relationships people have with two brands that were clouded by past controversies, Facebook and Starbucks, and concluded that loyal fans were more likely to actively defend brands even after controversy. This begs the question – how do you become a brand that people are so in love with they would defend even during a controversy?
First, drive loyalty in your customers. They must progress from just “knowing” the brand to “liking” and then to “loving” the brand. When customers have a good experience with a brand, they continue to revisit the store and eventually repurchase. That is when they enter the “liking” phase. When a truly remarkable experience is achieved with a brand, the customers progressed into the phase of “loving” the brand. At that point you’ve converted a customer into an advocate.
Second, identify those brand advocates and encourage them to vouch for your brands. People in this phase are willing to share their positive stories about the brand. All that is needed is an easy to use and seamless channel for them to rave about your brand.
Third, multiply the personal referrals and recommendations from those that love your brands. It is important to make positive feedback easily accessible for their circle of friends such as embedding a real-time advocate feed of recommendations on your brand page, Facebook page or other brand assets to leverage advocates’ recommendations.
Do you know your brand advocates can help you grow your brand? Do you want to find those advocates that would willingly defend your brand in private and in public? Visit GoRecommend and find out how you can drive advocacy.
