Bury St Edmunds social media and marketing expert Kim Morrison has some advice on building brand loyalty
Consistency is a key element in a business’ success. Of course, there are other important factors but consistency is what will create name recognition. Consistency is what will build your loyal followers so you can develop a trusting relationship. Consistency is what will showcase your expertise to new followers.
For example: You go out to dinner at your favourite restaurant and you absolutely love your main course. A few weeks later you take a friend to the same restaurant, order the same meal, but it tastes completely different! If you’re feeling brave you send it back to the kitchen. If you’re not feeling that brave you’ll do the British thing and suffer in silence!
However, their lack of consistency in how your meal was prepared will now leave a doubt in your mind about that particular dish and possibly the whole restaurant. You’ll certainly be more hesitant in recommending either the dish or the restaurant.
Doubt in a customer’s mind generally means you have to rebuild that trust again to show they should continue doing business with you. It’s not impossible to earn their trust again but you’re basically starting from square one. Working your business consistently and focusing on superb content and excellent customer service will help to keep your clients happy and trusting in you.
Have you ever opted-in to an email list that you thought had great potential? You receive a few weekly emails and then nothing. Then a month or two later you receive an email from that person again, making an offer for you to purchase their product. How does that lack of consistency make you feel? I’m guessing your first reaction would be, “Who is this person?”
Lack of consistency will cause you to forget who they are and why you signed up for their list in the first place. Lack of name recognition generally leads to, “I don’t know who you are so why would I give you my money?” Again, this business owner just made it a much harder task to win you over again.
Consistency with your brand image
Have you noticed how many self-proclaimed gurus there are, each proclaiming to have the answers to earning 6- or 7-figure incomes? If you tried implementing all of their different strategies, you’d be exhausted from keeping up with it all and your audience would be very confused about your overall message.
When it comes to branding, consistency and repetition will help develop name recognition. If you always wear clothes that match your website colours, people will make the connection. My brand colour has always been purple and I’d consistently wear purple, even if only a scarf, to networking events and meetings. One day I felt like a change and didn’t wear my trademark purple. I was surprised how many people came up to me and asked what had happened to the purple they’d come to identify with me! It’s important to be consistent with your brand image, colours and message, both online and offline so you’ll always be recognised.
Engage your audience
Engaged audiences are those who already trust you, like what you have to say, and are eager to have a conversation with you. These are the people who will sing your praises to others, thereby growing your business. Being consistent in how you present your business and what you say is a simple way to keep that audience engaged.
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