How to improve customer loyalty and build a genuine brand

We can say that it is the projection of values and human qualities in the image, actions and initiatives that are carried out on behalf of a business. 

In other words: the way the target audience of that perceive the psychology of a brand. In fact, it is likely that the segments that are out of the target have another totally different perception of our brand. 

Values are the first key to the brand personality. Brands can be understood as a simple nomenclature that a business receives, just a distinctive; alternatively, the mean that exemplifies what our project wants to do for the community.

Being cold and objective, both approaches are aimed to sell, but the difference may lie in the ways to do it. 

The second key is the tone. You need to find the best way to get to your audience. The same message in which you highlight an attribute, a value or a benefit has to be adapted to the psychology of the receiver in order to work. 

A third key concept is the humanization of the brand. We must be able to provide it with human qualities and attributes. In this way, we can establish an organic relationship with customers. This will help us to understand ourselves globally. Thus, before taking a strategic decision, we may wonder: how would our brand behave? 

There are different frameworks, such as that of David Aaker (one of the gurus of modern branding), which can help you perform a task that, at first, is a little abstract. 

Aaker suggests you separating the personality of the brand in 5 different factors: 

To reach this model you have to start from a good list of attributes. And, in this case, the best is to use an essential marketing tool that you can buy at a stationery store for 1 euro: post-its. 

Outline the deepest list of features and attributes possible that you would associate to the personality of the brand. Write each one on a post-it and stick them under each of those 5 factors described by Aaker. 

As you can see, the procedure is very similar to creating a buyer persona, and it makes sense since it is based on similar principles.

Once attributes are categorized you will have a psychological profile of the brand. You will know if it is adventurous, sustainability concerned, mysterious, altruistic, young and reliable (for example). 

Now that we finally have a "living brand", we can ask questions that we can answer easily:

We are providing a social and even vital context. 

Thus, a completely different relationship between customer and the brand is established. It comes into play, for example, empathy, since the person feels he can be put himself in the place of the business that is aligned with its way of thinking and living. This builds a more complex and rewarding dialogue compared with the commercial one. 

The key will be in the content and tone of your communication. Here we include from the more modest tweet programmed by the community manager to an international campaign in media, going on, of course, to the website presence. You have to be very consistent, mark clear lines that must always be followed. 

Be always committed to emotions: what has to do with passion really establishes a connection with the audience, making it return. When a relationship is expressed in these terms we are much more sensitive, we find it hard to "betray" a genuine brand. 

A la gente le gusta ver los entresijos de la empresa, conocer a las personas que hay detrás. Por un simple proceso de asociación, si la gente que trabaja en la compañía te transmite algo, eso será lo que te transmita la empresa.

Use the personality of your brand to project it also in your products. They can be a perfect mean for telling the story behind. We have already talked at length about and long storytelling with many examples because it is a really great tool for improving loyalty from branding. 

Do not forget to be helpful: design content, guides and tutorials in this sense. In terms of human relations it is set a certain reciprocity. When someone helps you it makes you feel, somehow, in debt with that person. In commercial terms, that results to a higher direct and recurring conversion in time. 

Do not be afraid to show what is behind the brand. People like to see the hidden details of the company, know the people behind. By a simple process of association, if people who work in the company transmit you something, this will be what the company transmits as well.