Brand storytelling: data-driven insights on engagement and loyalty
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Acquiring customers can be a huge cost and challenge for businesses, which is why it’s so important for businesses to connect and engage with their audience to create customer loyalty.
- The Business Wire reports that brands now lose $29 every time they acquire a new customer, with customer acquisition costs increasing nearly 60% in the last five years (source).
- It’s also reported that loyal customers spend up to 43% more with brands than non-loyal customers do (source).
So, it’s clear to see that businesses can save and make more money with loyal customers. However, customers don’t just become loyal after one purchase, which is why businesses invest in loyalty programs.
- In 2024, the usage of loyalty programs increased by 28% (source).
- 83% of consumers have used loyalty programs to make repeat purchases (source).
- 73% of consumers adjust their spending to get more benefits from loyalty programs (source).
But loyalty programs sometimes aren’t enough to keep customers, with there being many causes for customers to abandon brands. SAP Emarsys published a customer loyalty index in 2024 that found:
- 45% of customers have swapped brands due to poor customer service.
- 34% of customers stop being loyal to a brand due to sustainability practices.
- 57% of shoppers say high-quality products are a key driver of customer loyalty.
- 60% of consumers change brands due to costs.
- 18% of shoppers commit to subscriptions, helping to demonstrate loyalty.
So brands need to create loyalty, but how do they connect with customers in the first place? This is where brand storytelling comes in, and is about brands telling a cohesive and compelling narrative to connect with their audiences and engage customers.
- In this blog we’re going to take a deeper look at:
- Brand storytelling – what it is, what it involves and how brands can tell a good story
- Customer loyalty – how can brands create loyal customers, and what can impact it
- Real brand examples – who is doing it well and what you can learn from them
What is brand storytelling and why is it important?
To tell your brand story you need to showcase elements of what makes your brand unique and give a purpose and reason as to why consumers should become your customers. When telling your story you should focus on being authentic and honest, this will help you create empathy and a shared purpose with your audience.
The way in which you tell your brand story is through all of your touch points with your audience, and they all add up to give consumers the ‘full picture’ of who your brand is. Touchpoints can include (but nare ot limited to) websites, social media accounts, blogs, marketing campaigns, in-store experiences, events, products, packaging and email marketing. 75% of customers feel brands should use storytelling in their marketing.
Some key brand storytelling stats include:
- 68% of consumers say brand stories have influenced their purchases
- Compelling brand stories increase customer loyalty by 20%
- 92% of consumers want brands to advertise by telling a story
- 55% of consumers remember a brand story than just a list of facts
It is important to ensure that the story you are telling is consistent across all of these touch points so that it is clear and easy for your audience to understand. 28% of consumers say consistent branding is a key factor when deciding whether to be loyal to a brand. By not remaining consistent, then your story becomes messy, confusing and likely to disengage your audience. For example, if your business values and prioritise sustainability, but your packaging isn’t recyclable or you choose to work with brands or influences that don’t care about sustainability, then your message isn’t clear.
By combining a clear brand story with consistent guidelines and a detailed strategy, you can guarantee your business will be more successful than those without.
How your brand story can build loyalty
The story your brand tells is how you can connect with your audience, and by ensuring that you tell a good story that resonates with your audience is how you can gain and keep them. It’s been reported that companies that have a compelling brand story see a 20% increase in customer loyalty, than those without. There are a number of ways to build customer loyalty, let’s take a look at some of them.
Creating customer loyalty
There are many different ways to create customer loyalty and some may involve tasks which only need to be done once and then reviewed periodically, or some may require more investment in time and money over regular periods and you need to ensure that investment is generating return. For example, your brand values and creating your story might only be done at the start of creating your business and then not reviewed until a few years later. Whereas prioritising customer feedback should be an ongoing process that happens throughout your brand and customer relationship.
Having clear brand values
Telling your customers what your brand values and stands for is another way to gain customers and keep them, as they then understand what type of business they are buying from. For example, a lot of customers want to shop sustainably now and therefore look for sustainable brands that are focusing on reducing their environmental impact. An example brand is TOMS which originally offered a one-for-one program in which it gave a pair of shoes to a person in need for every pair purchased. This helped show customers that TOMS was a brand that cared for others and helped customers give back when shopping.
Quality products and services
One of the simplest ways to gain customer loyalty is by offering an excellent product or service that makes it hard for customers to then move away from. For example, Google’s search monopolises the market and continues to have customers return to use it, despite its main function being to send users away as they use the tool. The reason why people choose it as their search engine of choice is due to the quality of results it provides for users. The importance of quality products and services is also shown in 74% of consumers saying it is their biggest influence on staying loyal to a brand.
Providing exceptional customer service
Giving your customers exceptional service is more likely to keep your customers happy and therefore wanting to remain your customer. Happy customers are also more likely to refer your business to other potential customers, helping to grow your customer base whilst also ensuring you retain it. 83% of customers say they’re more loyal to brands that respond to and resolve issues, and those companies that offer ‘good’ customer service are 38 times more likely to be recommended by consumers (source).
Offering personalised experiences
In today’s competitive landscape, offering personalised experiences and marketing can help brands connect with their audience and make them feel cared about and special. Making a personal connection with a customer can then make it harder for a customer to want to move away from a business. A common example of this is when staying at a hotel, being presented with a welcome drink and perhaps a personalised message in the room makes customers feel welcomed and more than just a guest number.
Rewarding loyalty
Loyalty programs and discount codes for repeat purchases, give customers a reason to keep shopping with your brand and can be quite simple to implement. A great example of this is Tesco’s Clubcard which gives users discounted prices and vouchers for shopping with the supermarket. Since launching in 1995, the card has been a success with 82% of users using the loyalty card when shopping, helping grow profits to £2.3 billion.
Prioritising customer feedback
Engaging in conversation with customers and providing easy ways for them to offer feedback and enable them to be heard is another way to build customer loyalty. Customers are more likely to stay with a business if they feel they have some input in how it is managed or the decisions it makes. For example, if you ask your customers to help design or choose your next product, customers are much more likely to purchase the products from you.
As mentioned, these are just some ways your brand can build customer loyalty, and the different methods will require different levels of investment, from a time, effort and financial point of view. When it comes to choosing the correct methods for you and your brand, you need to ensure that it is something you can be authentic about and truly deliver. By not fully committing to a method or actually being able to deliver it to a high standard will just frustrate your customers and lead to them choosing another brand over yours.
Real-life examples
Now that we understand the importance of creating a brand story and using it to create customer loyalty, as well as ways in which to build customer loyalty. We thought we would share some real brands that have got a well-defined brand story and how they use it to attract and keep customers.
Tesco
Tesco is one of Britain’s leading grocery and general merchandise retailers. Since being founded in 1919, the company has grown to hold a market share of 28.5% and is in the top four of UK supermarkets. Their brand story is about caring for their customers, communities and planet, and paired with their tagline of ‘Every little helps’ they have become known for offering quality products at affordable prices. Through its story and loyalty offerings like its Clubcard, the supermarket keeps 22 million customers coming back to regularly shop with them, making them a prime example of what brands should do.
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LEGO
LEGO is another great example of clear brand storytelling which helps it monopolise the market. Since being founded in 1932, the business has built a brand around values such as imagination, creativity, and fun, and this is clear to see in all that the brand does. Their marketing is creative and focuses on taglines such as ‘building dreams, one brick at a time’ making it clear for customers to understand what the business offers and why they should shop there. Collaborations with other brands such as Disney, Formula 1 and Adidas, help to attract new customers with different interests and keep them coming back for the latest releases. It also offers its LEGO Insiders program which offers rewards and discounts to loyal customers.
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Patagonia
Patagonia is an outdoor clothing brand that was originally founded by a keen outdoor enthusiast and climber. Its values of quality, integrity and environmentalism, are meant to reflect the minimalist style it presents to its potential customers of climbers, surfers and outdoor enthusiasts that buy from them. By having a clear mission and values, and selling products which are created by their target audience they attract and keep customers. Staying true to their offering they also provide a Patagonia Pro Program which is a loyalty membership for qualified outdoor professionals to gain discounts and special access to launches.
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Conclusion
That should have explained how important brand storytelling is to gain and keep customers. We hope you’ve learnt from the data and the real-life examples and have some key takeaways to help you develop and grow your own brand. Remember, it’s much easier and cost-efficient to keep customers than it is to attract new ones. Just a 5% increase in customer loyalty can boost profits anywhere from 25-95% depending on the business.
If you’re still struggling to understand how to make the most of your brand storytelling and attract customers then perhaps you need support with your marketing strategy. This is where our team can help. We have a team of strategists who work with a wide range of businesses helping them to create multi-channel marketing campaigns to achieve their goals. Get in touch with our team today for help.
