What keeps customers coming back to you? If you said brand loyalty, you might be right. But what kind of loyalty do they have? Is it an emotional connection with your brand where they are going to keep coming back no matter what, or is it purely a functional loyalty where they would bolt if someone offered them something new or a lower price?

I remember working for a publisher years ago. It was one of my first jobs out of college. Every Friday, a sales representative from one of our vendors would show up. He commonly brought us donuts. He had supplied the company with printing supplies for years. He had a good relationship with us until we got a new general manager. The new guy decided he needed to see how hard the vendor would work to keep our business. He brought in several competitors and took the lowest bid. The donut man lost the contract. I remember he didn’t understand why he lost the business given that he had such a great relationship with the company. He made a mistake. He thought the loyalty was so deep that we would never shop his pricing against his competition. The new general manager felt no emotional connection, he just wanted the best price. This is the difference between emotional and functional loyalty.

That was 35 years ago. Fast forward to today and your customers can easily check your brand against your competition – it is simply a click away. It is expected that they will search for the best pricing, delivery times and quality before they ever contact you. So how do you build an emotional connection with your brand if all they want is a functional relationship? Here are some steps you can take with your marketing to steer the relationship into a long-term, emotional relationship.

Give them value

It is the job of marketing to promote the best your brand has to offer. It is easy to say, but if you want a connection with your customers, you have to show them your value as well. Brands that sell only on price typically are cheaply made. Your brand must stand out as a cut above. Your marketing not only has to say this, but it has to exhibit these finer qualities. The use of a video or a hands-on demonstration can be convincing. Give them a reason to reject the lowball price.

Give them a single source of contact that can solve their problems

One of the biggest consumer frustrations of our time is a lack of customer support after a sale. How many times have you tried to reach someone when you are having a problem with their product or service only to be given the runaround? Many people would not see this as a function of marketing, but I do. Great customer service is imperative to the customer’s positive experience and that is very marketable. A reputation for impeccable customer service is an easy way for your brand to stand out from the crowd. If you want to retain loyal customers, you need to give them a single source that can listen to them and help resolve their problems quickly.

Take care of the little things

Get to know your customers and give them what the competition will not. Often this comes down to the little things that you wouldn’t necessarily know unless you know them well.Brand loyalty happens when you can anticipate the customer’s needs and build it into your service to them.

Let them in on the process

Transparency has become a big deal in today’s economy. Not only do consumers want to know how much it will cost and when they can take delivery of your brand, but they also want to be informed of how you are making it, where it is being made, do you treat your employees fairly, etc. They also want to be informed along the way. If you are being delayed or if it will be delivered early, they expect to be informed. This means you need to communicate with them multiple times with a quick text or email at the least. It helps them feel like they have some control over the process. It also lets them have some options based on their needs. For instance, what if they need your product delivered overnight after they have placed an order? Would they be able to change their shipping instructions? What if they want to split a shipment or send it to another location? Giving the customer some control over the process builds loyalty in today’s economy.

Brand loyalty takes effort on your part. You have to be willing to engage consumers at several steps along the way to make them your customers. You have to continue to secure their loyalty after the sale. It all falls on marketing to help make those connections and communicate well with the customer.