The importance of brand affinity

It’s important for brands to create long lasting relationships with their customers in order to stay relevant in a world that is full of new and exciting products and services. With so much competition, it’s simply not enough to be ‘known’ by your target audience, which is where brand affinity comes into play. 

As a key metric of brand tracking, brand affinity allows you to create a deeper bond with your customers that helps strengthen your brand.

What is brand affinity?

The definition of affinity is “a natural liking for and understanding of someone or something”.  

Brand affinity taps into the emotional side of a consumer to create long lasting connections between the brand and consumer. It is when your target audience feels their values are aligned with your brand.

It isn’t enough to just have brand awareness, you need to be thinking about the bond you create with your consumers, in order to create loyalty amongst your customer base. The more you’re able to build an affinity with your customer, the more likely they are to not only buy your products or service but become an advocate for your brand as well.

Ultimately, brand affinity is about creating trust, you want your consumer to believe in what you are doing and the values you present to the world. 

The benefits of brand affinity

So why do you need to be thinking about brand affinity? There are a number of benefits to brand affinity; one of which we’ve already touched upon - to create long-lasting customer loyalty and repeat revenue for your brand. 

Aside from keeping your existing customer engaged, you’ll also be able to increase the number of new customers. The aim of building brand affinity is to turn your loyal customers into brand advocates, introducing your brand to their friends, family and wider network. 

By having strong brand values and creating a brand affinity with your customers, you’ll be able to gain an advantage over your competitors, as you’ll always be front of mind when it comes to your product or services. 

Meaning, you’ll be able to increase your sales! The ultimate goal for most brands.

How to increase brand affinity

To increase your brand affinity, you’ll need to ensure that you know your audience and understand their needs, as well as engaging with your customers and target audience regularly. There are a few simple things you can do to ensure you reach your brand affinity potential.

Understand your customer

As with any marketing or business strategy, understanding who your customers are and their likes/dislikes is important to increasing brand affinity. Knowing their behaviours and motivations will help you to understand why they choose you over your competitors.

Clearly convey what you stand for

Now you know your customers better, you’ll want your messaging to align with your shared values. Having clear and concise marketing messages will help you to engage on a more personal level with your customers.

Don’t forget about your internal messaging as well, make sure everyone in your team is on the same page and understands clearly what your values are as a business. 

Create a customer community

People like to feel like they belong to something, so make them feel important and an asset to your brand. By creating a community where your customers can receive exclusive discounts, insider tips, access to events or simply valuable content that engages with them past the buying stage. 

Remember, just because you have a customer, doesn’t mean you should stop engaging with them even after they’ve purchased from you. 

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