We have all heard the term brand loyalty before, but what exactly does brand loyalty mean and how can it help your business? Well, by definition brand loyalty is the tendency of some consumers to continue buying the same brand of goods rather than competing brands. That sounds like a sure way to keep your business making sales! Now, understanding brand loyalty and building brand loyalty are two different things. To build brand loyalty you need to make a connection between your brand and the consumer. That connection includes building trust, delivering quality products, and giving consumers a reason to keep coming back to your brand. Now that we understand what brand loyalty is, let’s take a dive into how we can build brand loyalty with some of the most loyal people in the world, sports fans.

Most sports fans look at their teams as a piece of their identity. They wear their colors, constantly talk about their team, and most importantly instantly connect with people who also support their team. That is how merging your brand with local sports teams can aid you to build brand loyalty amongst your consumers.

Let’s take a look at how using a sports team might grab your audience’s attention. We will use Fred as our character and Sam’s Subs as our business in this example. Fred is a die-hard Atlanta Falcons fan. He has season tickets, follows all the Atlanta Falcons social media pages, and will support anyone who supports the Falcons. Fred is browsing social media and is flying by all the Ads that are bland and make no personal connection to him. Then, Fred sees an ad that is sporting his team’s colors and makes a mention of the Falcons game coming up this weekend, so he stops scrolling. The Ad reads, “Come in wearing Atlanta Falcons gear and receive 10% off any sub sandwich! We are located at….. just 3 blocks from Atlanta Falcon’s stadium!” Fred is always looking for somewhere to eat after games and wants to support a business that also supports his Falcons. Fred tells all his friends about the deal and after the game, they stop in for a bite to eat.

By making this personal connection with Fred, Sam’s Subs just took the first step to build brand loyalty with a new customer. Now, there are a variety of ways to use your local sports teams to elevate your brand. You can pay for an official sponsorship with the team, make social media posts about upcoming games, offer discounts to fans, etc. This is where you can get creative and see what works and what doesn’t for your business. This strategy is especially effective with digital marketing strategies as you can directly target sports fans for specific teams. Use all the team’s usual hashtags, post deals in fan groups, and rock team gear in your store! This can elevate your brand awareness and make sure your sports-themed content is right in front of the audience you want to reach. Consider giving this a try and watch the results come in!