At the recent D2 Digital Dialogue conference, I had the pleasure of sitting down for a chat with Drew Boyd, Executive Director, Master of Science in Marketing Program at the University of Cincinnati. In addition to talking about his recently released book, “Inside the Box: A Proven System of Creativity for Breakthrough Results,” Boyd explained the three types of loyalty and how marketers should apply different social media techniques to each.
Boyd explained to me that loyalty plays out on social media in different ways for each of the three types of loyalty – Heart, Head, and Hand - and should be leveraged by marketers accordingly. Marketers must keep in mind that consumers will not necessarily be loyal to a social platform, but a platform can facilitate the type of loyalty that a marketer is trying to engender.
1 – Heart Loyalty
Heart Loyals are so emotionally connected to a brand that they wear it as a badge. “It’s embedded in their person,” Boyd said. “They are fiercely loyal to it, they defend it if something goes wrong. It’s an emotional attachment. It’s very difficult to switch Heart Loyals and it’s difficult to market to them. When you market too much to Heart Loyals, you annoy them and they will block you out.”
Boyd explained that there is only one way to switch Heart Loyals – by lurking. A marketer must “wait until something bad happens and then strike.” Timing is everything when it comes to switching a Heart Loyal.
Social media can be used to boost esteem and “reinforce emotion about the brand among Heart Loyals,” Boyd explained. “It’s about keeping Heart Loyals happy, so that the lurkers don’t get in.”
2 - Head Loyalty
Like Heart Loyalty, Head Loyalty is high involvement, but based on facts. Boyd said, “People compare products. Should I get this air conditioner or that air conditioner? They consider specs, features, and price. They do a lot of research and make a decision and they are loyal to the product based on facts.”
“The problem with Head Loyals,” he explains, “is that they’ll resist arguments until some point where they’ll switch if they hear a better argument.”
Boyd sees social media as a nice fit for marketing to Head Loyals. “I think social media can be used very well for creating Head Loyalty. Creating awareness and creating conversations. When people talk, that’s Head Loyalty in action. Consumers talking to each other will allow Head Loyals to get the information that they need to make better decisions. Marketers have to manage that.”
3 – Hand Loyalty
Hand Loyals buy a product habitually but don’t know why. They purchase the same products all of the time without even thinking about it. “It can be a good place for marketers to be, but you have to be very good at certain things. You have to be good at logistics and supply and with making sure your products are always available,” warned Boyd.
“The worst thing you can do is change something that causes the customer to get involved, like changing the color of your packaging, adding a new feature or changing features. Anything you can do to get the costumer involved gives them a chance to switch.”
He says that “for Hand Loyals, the thing that social media can do, especially mobile, is that it can make sure that a consumer stays in their routine.” A clever app that helps customers lock into a purchase routine and keep a competitor out will help retain a Hand Loyal customer. Mobile should be used to find a way to activate buyers at the right time, because it’s often a timing issue, where you can be in a moment when a commercial can’t.” For example, an app can be present in a grocery store aisle or when making a shopping list.