BRAND AFFINITY: WHAT IS IT AND HOW DO YOU IMPROVE IT

Branding

Aug 12

Written By brandmerry

Brand Affinity: What Is It and How Do You Improve It?

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

Have you ever wondered why some brands resonate with you so much better than others?

Or, why you find yourself coming back to a brand over and over again because of the connection you feel?

Me too, that was until I learned about Brand Affinity.

Turns out I had been focused on building Brand Affinity for years, just didn’t have a name for it, but this secret sauce is something every online brand should work towards (more on why in a minute).

The beautiful thing about Brand Affinity is that it doesn’t have to take years to build trust. We often think that building trust with our audience takes a lot of time, and for some it does depending on where they are in the buying process, but it can happen within in minutes.

The tips I’m sharing with you in this blog will give you tools to start building Brand Affinity today, so you can get started on your way in building a deeper relationship with your audience.

Let’s start at the beginning.

WHAT IS BRAND AFFINITY?

Brand Affinity is when a consumer believes a particular brand shares the same values as them.

It’s deeper than a knowledge of the brand, brand awareness, and begins to build the connection between consumer and brand on a more personal and emotional level.

This connection is what allows you, as the brand, to not only stand out online but keep your audience coming back time and time again.

Remember purchase decisions come down to trust.

“If someone likes you they’ll listen to you, if they trust you they’ll do business with you!” - Zig Ziglar

Building this trust is necessary when building an online brand in 2020 and beyond because consumers are looking for brands that they can trust.

As more generations become part of movements and make changes in their personal lives they’re looking for brands that share those values and go even further to provide support for those values as well.

When you build brand affinity with your audience you increase the likelihood that they will purchase your service or product, you create a consumer base that sticks around for the long haul (hello community) and your audience is more likely to refer others to your brand.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a sweet deal.

BRAND AFFINITY IN MARKETING

In a few minutes, I’m going to share with you five ways to increase your brand affinity, but there is one strategy that is essential when it comes to marketing your business and that’s the power of storytelling.

The reality is you can’t just post your values every single day on social media, but you want people to understand them.

You can’t share your mission point-blank in every email, but you want your audience to understand it.

This is where storytelling becomes your secret weapon in marketing.

Through strong storytelling, you can showcase your values and mission daily through your brand messaging. Yes, that’s right storytelling should be incorporated into every aspect of your marketing.

Want to learn all the ins and outs of storytelling in business? My Tell Better Stories Mini-Course has your name written all over it. Learn more at brandmerry.com/stories

Storytelling gives you the ability to not only share relevant stories that showcase your values and mission (hello, Brand Affinity) but give you the tools to begin building deeper relationships with your audience.

These deeper relationships and connection are why our audiences trust us, buy from us and keep coming back.

It’s not enough to just have strong Brand Awareness, someone’s knowledge of your brand, you have to go deeper. The truth is, there are a lot of people offering something similar to you, multiple ways for a consumer to solve their problem, but storytelling and specifically Brand Affinity makes your brand...their brand.

5 WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR BRAND AFFINITY

I know you’re wondering, “Michelle, aside from storytelling how can I increase Brand Affinity with my community?”

Well, I’m so glad you asked!

I know storytelling can feel complex, I’ve included some resources below to support you with this, but I want you to be able to start TODAY. So, below you’ll find five simple ways to improve your Brand Affinity almost immediately.

1 | SHARE YOUR BRAND VALUES

Seems simple enough right? Well, not enough brands are identifying the values of their brand and therefore aren’t sharing them. How do you expect someone to experience Brand Affinity, shared values, if you yourself don’t know your brand values.

So, if you haven’t already identified yours now is the time to start.

I suggest thinking of the values you personally hold and how those connect to your brand.

What values do you want to share between you and your consumer, it will be a lot easier to build a business you love if you attract the right people.

For instance, some of my brand values are:

+ Authenticity
+ Transparency
+ Care and Attention to Detail
+ Reduce the overwhelm
+ The desire for our living a Freedom lifestyle

I showcase these through my marketing, every email, photo, etc is focused on attracting people who share the same values.

TAKE ACTION: Identify your core values and then share them.

The simplest thing to do is post them on your website, this can be done on your About Me page, but as we talked about earlier you’ll also want to showcase these through storytelling.

2| SHARE THE MISSION BEHIND YOUR BRAND

I started my career in non-profit work so forgive me as a gush over the power of a Brand Mission. As business owners we forget this, not enough business owners are taking the time to identify the mission or purpose behind their brand and this is a mistake.

63% of consumers state they want to buy from purpose-driven businesses.

And although money is amazing, I love it myself, it’s not the purpose. Your purpose and mission need to be deeper than that.

For instance, the mission behind my brand is…
“To empower women to uncover and own their story and share it with the world through their personal brand.”

This mission not only drives every decision in my business, but is also one of the main connectors for my audience.

TAKE ACTION: Identify your mission.
What is the purpose behind your business?
What legacy do you want to leave begin with your work?

Then share it! I love encouraging my clients to share their mission statement on their Home Page, but you can also include it on your About Me page.

3 | SHOW BRAND AFFINITY THROUGH PHOTOS

This is my favorite thing to do as a personal brand and it’s so important. We often don’t think about the effect of Instagram on building trust or the use of seeing multiple photos on a website as a way to build Brand Affinity, but it’s actually a very powerful practice.

Here’s why it’s so powerful. When you showcase multiple photos of yourself, different outfits, different locations, different expressions your audience feels as if they are seeing at different moments in time. It’s as if you’ve met and know each other for longer than you actually have.

Photography overall is one of my favorite investments as a brand. It’s not about spending a bunch of money or posing for all your photos, but it is about elevating your brand by showing different sides of your personality and if you’re not a photographer then hiring one can be one of the best investments in your business.

TAKE ACTION: Hire a photographer if you can and make sure you clearly articulate your brand values, ideal customer and the emotional connection you want to portray. More on prepping for a Brand Photoshoot here

But, even if you can’t invest in a photographer right now, you can use a tripod or a friend to take photos of you. Make sure you’re sharing different moments in time to achieve the Brand Affinity. Then share your photos on your website and of course on social media.

Take a look at my Instagram to get a feel for this!

4 | BUILD A COMMUNITY

There are a lot of different ways to build community outside of a private Facebook Group, even though everyone is telling you that you need one. The truth is you can build community on social media and through your email lists just as effectively.

When we think of community we think of a central location for everyone to hang out, but what you’re wanting to do is just declare your brand as the community.

For example, inside of my first email when you sign up for my email list I welcome new subscribers to the Brandmerry Community.

I’m always referring to the Brandmerry Community on my live streams, blogs and on social media. There isn’t a specific jacket we all wear, but we know. The women inside the community know I’m speaking to them and about them and that builds connection.

You could even go as far as declaring a name for your community.

This sense of unity makes someone feel as if they are part of something bigger. It’s not just about buying your product and peacing out it’s about belonging, which we as humans want.

TAKE ACTION: How can you use the tools at your fingertips to build a community? Will you give your audience a name? Determine some of the fun ways you can create a community that allows your audience to be part of something.

5 | EXCELLENT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

It’s no secret that as consumers we want to be cared for. We don’t want to work extra hard to get the products and services we desire and once we make the decision, i.e. commitment, we want it to be easy.

This is where your customer service comes to the next level.

We often think the customer service is the sale, and while that is important, what comes next is what builds further Brand Affinity.

For instance, when someone purchases one of my services or courses they receive instant confirmation that their purchase has been received. Then, they receive an email with all the information they need, including login, how to access the materials, the next steps and where to start.

I take the guesswork out of getting started and right away my audience feels taken care of and trust is increased.

TAKE ACTION: How can you improve your customer service? If you have any holes in your process, post-sale, fill those now!

CONCLUSION

I hope you can see the importance of Brand Affinity and why every single brand, no matter what you sell, should be focused on building this deeper connection and trust with their audience.

As I mentioned before I know sometimes this whole branding and storytelling thing can feel like a lot. If you’re wanting to build more of a foundation with your brand, understand how all the pieces like storytelling fit together and what you want to avoid when building your brand then I’d love to invite you to watch my free class.

In this free class, I’ll share the Build a Better Brand Method. Sign up for the next available time at brandmerry.com/brandmasterclass.

And if you’re looking for those resources on storytelling, sorry to keep you hanging, you can find those below.

Where and When to Share Your Brand Story can be found here

The Art of Storytelling in Business can be found here

5 Examples of Brand Storytelling to Incorporate into Your Marketing can be found here

How to Attract Your Dream Clients Through Emotional Branding can be found here

I hope these resources will support you in understanding storytelling in marketing on a deeper, it really changes everything!

Branding and Business Coach | Michelle Knight of Brandmerry

P.S. If you made it this far, good for you! Let’s take it a step further and dive into your branding. If you haven’t already be sure to watch my free class on The Build a Better Brand Method.

It’s a free 60-minute class for female entrepreneurs looking to build a strong personal brand that supports them in standing out online, creating a stream of high-value content and build a community of fans that leads to a revenue-generating business.