By Lynn Manternach / Guest Column
How does your brand emotionally engage with customers?
Regardless of what industry or business category you’re in, research clearly shows emotional engagement matters. It’s a leading indicator of consumer behavior, loyalty, sales and profits.
But getting people emotionally engaged with your brand is not easy.
The results of the 21st annual Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index were recently released. Nearly 43,000 U.S. consumers between the ages of 18 and 65 were surveyed about their perceptions of how a wide range of brands met their expectations. The research shows an increasingly large gap between what consumers expect from brands and how well they feel brands are delivering on those expectations.
In the 2016 research results, the emotional expectations of consumers rose by an average of 18 percent across the 635 brands tested. However, perceptions of how well brands met expectations increased by only 7-8 percent, on average.
It’s clear that consumers want and expect more from their preferred brands. And for the most part, they are not getting what they’re looking for. According to the 2016 Brand Keys results, most brands are struggling to get consumers emotionally engaged. That’s evident in the number of new brands that show up as top-of-mind mentions by consumers in the most recent data.
There were 83 brands that were mentioned by consumers for the first time this year. An increase in the number of brands showing up in consumers’ consideration sets is a sure sign of category volatility.
Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys, points out that when consumers mention new brands at significant levels, it means current options are not meeting their expectations. When that happens, consumers seek out and explore new brands, hoping for a better experience. That means brands that are not engaging emotionally with consumers are going to face a whole new competitive set.
Consumers associate with brands they feel reflect who they are, and when a close emotional link to a brand is formed, emotions can run high. A brand’s deep emotional connection with a customer translates into engagement, and ultimately, consumer loyalty.
That emotional aspect makes consumers feel like the brand really understands who they are and what they need. And that’s where the true power of brand engagement and loyalty lies. The brand becomes intertwined with the consumer’s identity and values.
The Brand Keys category with the highest expectation for emotional values this year was the category of athletic footwear. Think about it – when was the last time you saw an athletic footwear commercial that was actually about the shoe? New Balance and Nike are at the top of this category.
The automotive category had the second-highest expectations for emotional values, with Hyundai and Ford ranked as the top brands.
And coming in third was the category of breakfast bars, topped by Kind and Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain. For the complete list of the brands that best emotionally engaged consumers, go to http://brandkeys.com/portfolio/customer-loyalty-engagement-index.
Consumer brand research is an important tool for developing an approach that connects with your targeted buyers on an emotional level. What’s most important? What are the hot buttons, pain points and connection opportunities?
You can’t just assume that you know which emotions matter most to your customers and potential customers. You need to ask. Use open-ended questions to provide the rich data that will help you identify the nuances in the ways people want to connect with your brand and the brand experience.
Combine that with rating and ranking questions to identify and prioritize opportunities to create the engagement and loyalty you’re looking for. Consider partnering with a firm that specializes in brand research – getting this focus right is well worth the investment.
Consumers have clearly told and shown us that if we can figure out how to connect with them in ways that matter and then exceed their expectations, they will engage, buy and remain loyal. And that’s the path to profitability.
Lynn Manternach is brand arsonist and president at MindFire Communications Inc. (MindFireComm.com) in Cedar Rapids and LeClaire. Contact Lynn at lmanternach@mindfirecomm.com.
