Customer Loyalty Is Declining. Here Are 4 Ways Founders Can Win It Back
To gain die-hard customers, activate marketing channels that encourage emotional connections with your brand.
By Shama Hyder
When asked about brand loyalty by eMarketer in 2025, almost two-thirds of survey participants said customer loyalty was on the decline. However, there’s an antidote to this phenomenon: building emotional connections with your buyers.
A shopper who has multiple positive experiences with your people, products, or services is more likely to come back. Plus, there’s a higher chance they’ll gush about your brand online, which can influence future purchases.
Apple is an example of the power and profitability of an emotional customer-brand bond. People stand in hours–long lines to get their hands on the latest Apple products, regardless of how much they cost (people even used to camp out overnight, but that’s no longer in vogue). For these customers, having a relationship with the company and its releases transcends price, even the value of their time.
That kind of dedication is fascinating, especially when research shows that 82 percent of shoppers dislike shopping lines so much that they’ll avoid a location with a line. But Apple’s fans actively create lines because they feel emotionally invested in the brand’s experience.
Of course, Apple has grown its brand reputation and fan base over decades. If your organization is just starting out, here are four tips you can use to connect with your customers on a deeper level.
1. Host live events
Many brands offer real-time experiences like conferences, conventions, and entertainment-based events such as concerts or competitions to create controllable emotional touchpoints between themselves and their customers.
As a frequent conference attendee, I’ve seen firsthand how much event technology shapes the overall experience. If you’re considering holding an event, tap into the expertise of a partner with experience in the event tech space. Attendees expect to interact with technical elements like digital signage, VR headsets, and self-check kiosks. Adding attractions like drone shows can also help your event stand out.
Working with event tech partners can help make certain you deliver a memorable, immersive experience that provides a sophisticated technological aspect to your event without putting any expectations on your team to make it happen.
To build an emotional connection with attendees, a conference needs to truly engage them. When a brand uses technology to make an attendee’s life easier or their experience more exciting, it shifts the relationship from a transaction to a meaningful connection. This allows the attendee to move past the logistics and fully immerse themselves in the brand’s story, transforming a professional seminar into a memorable, high-energy experience that they feel proud to be a part of.
2. Encourage user-generated content
The most effective marketing doesn’t necessarily come from inside your organization. In fact, user-generated content (UGC) can drive far more sales than your carefully written advertising pieces and slogans.
One strategy that helps encourage people to post brand-specific UGC that tells an emotional story about your company’s offerings is to establish special hashtags. For instance, Coca-Cola experienced a huge surge in UGC with its 2011 #ShareACoke campaign. Consumers did much of the work after launch, and the company saw an immediate lift from the fun initiative. The campaign worked so well that Coca-Cola brought it back in 2025.
3. Provide outstanding customer service
You’ll always have unhappy customers who call your service and support lines. Instead of seeing them as problems, see them as opportunities. If you can satisfy a customer through unexpectedly good service, you may just win a buyer for life.
I ran across a story from a SeatGeek customer service representative that illustrates the impact of a good customer experience. The representative shared a story from their childhood about a Disney park employee who rifled through garbage to help them find a lost retainer. That representative never forgot the moment and uses it as inspiration as a member of SeatGeek to this day, showing just how pivotal it can be when a business goes the extra mile to make things right for its customers.
4. Tell your buyers’ most riveting stories
As part of your content marketing development, look for ways to tell stories that connect your products or services to real customers. For example, you may want to highlight how your brand has played an important role in a family’s life for many years, or how your brand showed up for someone when they needed you most.
This technique brings your buyers into your story and makes them part of the fabric of your ecosystem. As a result, you’ll shift their experience from being merely transactional to their having an emotional link with your brand. You may want to consider using social media influencers as part of this strategy, since influencer marketing can bump up engagement quickly and reliably.
It doesn’t matter if you’re in a narrow field or a competitive market: You need a cohort of brand cheerleaders to gain momentum.
This year, I encourage you to focus your attention on driving up your fans by looking for opportunities to connect emotionally with customers. When you do, you’ll have a better chance of building a base of supporters who won’t be tempted to take other brands for a spin.