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When business leaders consider brand building, they often think of traditional promotion, like print and digital advertising, or maybe a well-placed radio commercial to attract their target audience. They spend massive amounts of ad dollars to build brand awareness. But for most private businesses, brand building isn’t about throwing more money at advertising. It’s about creating an organization that engages, delivers on promise, and perhaps most of all, provides exceptional customer experience.
According to a recent PwC Future of Customer Experience Survey, 65% of customers say a positive experience with a brand is more influential to them than great advertising. This is not to say there isn’t a place for advertising. But an engaging customer experience can be profoundly more impactful.
Brands that crushed it with little advertising
There are notably some massively successful brands that simply don’t advertise. In the B2B sector, have you ever seen an ad for McKinsey Consulting? Or consider Trader Joe’s, a grocery store chain with more than 600 locations and an incredibly loyal customer base. They don’t spend a dime on traditional advertising. Or think back to TGI Fridays in its heyday. Customers flocked to the casual dining hotspots, attracted by charming décor, a crowd-pleasing menu and its signature flair bartending that almost defined the era. While revenue was in the billions, TGI Friday’s focused on experience, not ad dollars, to create loyalty and buzz around the brand.
Zappos is another excellent example of a brand that was built mostly on customer experience rather than big ad budgets. While the online shoe seller does advertise, the company is most recognized for delivering high-impact customer service.
Former Zappos CEO, the late Tony Hsieh, was a trailblazer in the customer loyalty space and famously said, “Customer service shouldn’t just be a department, it should be the entire company.” Under Hsieh, Zappos implemented legendary practices like its 365-day return policy, unscripted customer service reps with no call time limits and surprise free overnight shipping upgrades. Imagine expecting the delivery of your new boots in a week, only for them to be waiting on your doorstep the very next day.
Hsieh also wisely once said, “People may not remember exactly what you did or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.”
Are you more likely to trust an ad in a magazine or the company that just delivered your package a week early?
Related: How to Earn Customer Trust and Boost Sales Without Big Ad Budgets
Misalignment can kill a brand
What happens when a brand underwhelms, angers or alienates the very customers it intended to serve? Misalignment between brand messaging and customer experience turns once-loyal customers into disillusioned doubters who eventually turn to the competition to better suit their needs.
Branding misalignment can take many forms. A hotel that advertises luxury accommodations has stained carpets and low water pressure in the shower. A software company that promises seamless integration has customers waiting hours for help desk support.
A restaurant that advertises itself as a culinary delight serves up wilted salads by moody waiters. A supplier delivers low-grade stainless-steel parts that were promised to be titanium.
When your marketing and advertising make promises that your operations are unable to satisfy, the business loses credibility, customers and ultimately money.
The power of word-of-mouth marketing
Most of us don’t make buying decisions in a vacuum. We search the internet, scour reviews and compare competing goods, services and suppliers. But the most significant green flags for purchasers are recommendations from people we know and respect. According to a 2012 Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Report, 92% of consumers find more value in recommendations from people they know than any form of advertising. When a brand delivers an experience worth talking about, happy customers become their word-of-mouth marketing and are more persuasive than a two-dimensional ad could ever be.
When was the last time you recommended a business or brand to a friend or colleague? While your endorsement may have been partly due to price, chances are there was something more to the experience that made the brand worth sharing. Your advocacy wasn’t due to a shiny ad, but rather how your customer experience made you feel respected, cared for and valued.
Now those are impressions worth sharing.
Related: Harness the Power of the 5 Senses to Make Your Brand Better
Happy customers are your most powerful marketers
By giving your customer a positively memorable experience, you transform that person into a brand ambassador willing to shout their support from the rooftops, and without ever dipping into your advertising budget. Word-of-mouth marketing scales organically when you consistently exceed customer expectations. So, give them something to talk about and see how that brand ambassadorship multiplies by dozens, hundreds or even thousands of raving fans eager to champion your business.
Keep in mind that negative experiences are just as likely, if not more so, to spread like wildfire and scorch the brand you worked so hard to build. You have surely witnessed devastating brand damage from a single viral video posted to social media by an unhappy patron. Even more reason to ensure your customer experience goes above and beyond. Always.
When business leaders consider brand building, they often think of traditional promotion, like print and digital advertising, or maybe a well-placed radio commercial to attract their target audience. They spend massive amounts of ad dollars to build brand awareness. But for most private businesses, brand building isn’t about throwing more money at advertising. It’s about creating an organization that engages, delivers on promise, and perhaps most of all, provides exceptional customer experience.
According to a recent PwC Future of Customer Experience Survey, 65% of customers say a positive experience with a brand is more influential to them than great advertising. This is not to say there isn’t a place for advertising. But an engaging customer experience can be profoundly more impactful.
Brands that crushed it with little advertising
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