Do They Get You? Connecting the Customer Touchpoints
With 80% of customers willing to switch brands, how do you build loyalty? When we look around and see the choices we have, we often realize there are only a handful of companies we really feel strongly about — companies that we know, we get and have a clear experience of — such as Trader Joes, Gap, Facebook and, of course, Apple.
Brands can offer us experiences that add value and bring us back even though they are not the least expensive in the market. How can you build loyalty with so many options out there? How can you cultivate trust and be remembered by customers? Companies that focus on clarity in their message and real value to customers will stay on message, keep their promise (and clean it up when they don't) and build strong customer loyalty.
The key is to build that focus into the all the touchpoints that connect your brand to the customer. The message or "brand story" builds the differentiation that gives customer a reason to know the brand and a reason to care about buying from the brand.
Connecting with Customer Touchpoints
 Know your values.
When Howard Shultz came back into Starbucks, he saw that the company was losing its focus — its mission to customers. He had the entire company stop working and revaluate what they were about. Pet Food Express, a locally owned Bay Area regional pet products store, obsessively focuses on animal rescue, supporting shelters, and helping with pet adoption. This is at their core as a company. You must know your values and emphasize the top ones to build an authentic message to customers.
 Define your customers.
Not every customer is yours (unless you want to be Walmart). Knowing why your customers come to you, what matters to them, tells you more about what your brand is about and how to reach your customers than anything else. Defining customer personas by age, ethnicity, sex, motivations, income can help you craft distinct messages and powerful creative that reaches your audience.
 Know your touchpoints.
We don't all have million-dollar ad budgets, but you still have distinct ways of connecting to and reaching your customers. From a store experience or seeing an ad to ordering online or sitting in a café - these are all touchpoints with opportunities to deliver a customer experience of your brand. Your approach to advertising should be specific to the world your customers live in. Through social media, Facebook, Twitter and your own website you have channels that connect ongoingly to the customer, helping them buy, shop, find what they need. Gosh, you can even connect to Wells Fargo on Twitter!
 Be consistent and powerful with creative and messaging.
Create a distinct look with the right messaging and tagline to say it all to customers. Even if you are a technology company, what you promise and how your represent your brand builds value to customers. Keep it simple, repeatable and useable in all forms and customers' will never forget you. By the time you're annoyed and bored with your look customers are just beginning to get who you are. Remember, consumers are being bombarded by thousands of messages all day, every day. Your message will get through if you're consistent and persistent.
 Connect on a regular basis.
Build your connection points to customers based on their world and connect regularly: Email marketing, Twitter and other social media, along with simple ads and messages in the physical environment. Understanding the mind of your consumer is critical. How they know you, buy from you, ask about you is defined by you and the experience you craft of your brand.
Deliver value, don't sell your stuff.
The secret to keeping loyalty with consumers and customers is not selling but delivering on value. Whether it's the case of wine bought at Costco or the hand-made beaded necklace at Maria's Beads & Things, the customer is buying the value of that experience and all touchpoints build that value over time.
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Something interesting that ING has realized is that, although customers love their online experience with ING, their service and their rates, the real, physical coffee café experience increases customer loyalty. These banking coffee houses draw customers in and leave them with a pleasant feeling about the bank. 
