By Fernando Berrocal

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As a brand-new startup, you will learn that many long-term benefits available to your business arrive through incorporating a high level of consumer interaction into your brand's core concept. You will also notice that there is no better moment than when you are in the business formation phase to consider how you want to position your organization for fruitful brand-customer connections. 

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However, before we explore these assets and the various routes to achieving them, you must have a solid understanding of the main concepts behind brand loyalty–and the acquisition of the Customers Lifetime Value. With this–alongside a basic economics lesson–you will be in power to obtain both concepts for the benefit of your business. Therefore, before getting into how to increase brand participation, let’s review the following foundational principles:

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• Creating awareness to market your business brand: Usually, that starts with a specific budget set aside for various communication channels. This budget needs to be well revised–depending on what it will cover. A concerted effort is needed to bring in more customers, thus the continuing cost will appear on the balance sheet.

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• Next, employ some math:  If you can, develop a mechanism that enables your followers to refer friends and family members. With that, there is no reason to keep paying for awareness (marketing).

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• However, sometimes investing in marketing is necessary: There will be a very expensive beast that needs to be fed every time you wish to interact in this case. Investing time, energy, and money resources are very necessary to construct the respective brand loyalty for your upcoming clients.

Some enterprises conduct several yearly investigations to ascertain the reasons behind consumer brand adoption.  There are various reasons why the millennial generation is in the spotlight and these are the following ones: 

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• They are early adopters of different technological trends.
• Many of these millennials are tech-savvy professionals.
• They will have a lot of purchasing power in the upcoming future.

Every year, they are questioned about their preferred brands (through various kinds of surveys). In these surveys, they are asked how and where they interact with those business brands. According to that research, the millennial customer base is 2.5 times more likely to adopt a brand based on recommendations from friends and family rather than from TV and social media advertisements. We refer to this as the "sharing effect" and conclude that people actively prefer to engage with brands rather than consume ads.

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The more we interacted with the fans, the more we noticed hardcore fans of a business. Then, some people go above and beyond engagement to create communities around their preferred brands. After that, there is several new research to find out how these loyal customers interact with brand communities. Look closely at communities and how they emerge to acquire a better understanding.

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In the end, that research will likely demonstrate that, as a business owner, you might need to join your consumers before they join you. According to that research, providing attention is more beneficial than receiving it. Customers frequently embrace the lifestyle that best suits them, and if your brand is a good fit, it may become a part of that lifestyle. Finally, after examining the data gathered from various studies, you may draw the conclusion that creating a brand community involves three basic steps.  Here is an in-depth explanation:

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• Lighting the fire: Business brands that successfully engage customers through great storytelling have a lasting presence. Initiate the first steps of forming a startup, work on it, and as you do, you'll get confidence and start to take off. Once the brand becomes successful, donate a portion of the earnings to a series of charitable causes. Visitors to your website will be able to discover where you share this particular story. This style of storytelling is incredibly engaging and builds a bond with potential customers.

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• Stoke the fire: You have the chance to establish relationships with personified concepts–as if you were speaking a shared language between your brand and your market.  In this way, you will start to cultivate connections through storytelling. Customers will pick up your nicknames, slang, and shortcuts.  Remember: consumers want to be a part of something they believe in.

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Allow them to assist you by offering "in the know" references that they are happy to share or use. Customers appreciate the slang and feel like a part of something when they buy it, even though it is available on the website.

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• Pass the light on: Offering your consumers a chance to spread the word about you can take many different shapes.  It can manifest as using consumers as ambassadors, to casting them in your content! The key: they integrate into and engage in the communication that powers your business.

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• Engender business loyalty: Last–but certainly not least–as a brand and a business, you aim to own your fans. When you have developed a robust following, you have a steady stream of feedback and a platform for an audience that can support itself. In your business plan, you don't just want people to buy your brand; you also want them to become involved members of it.

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Ready to bring your startup to the next level? Apply to MassLight’s next batch. MassLight supplies capital and a dedicated tech team. We take equity in return. Have questions? Refer to our FAQ page.