Is receiving model love like celebrating Valentine’s Day in major faculty? Stick with me right here. On Valentine’s Day, my classmates and I’d craft varied pink and pink heart-shaped notes for our friends. One-by-one, we’d drop off the Valentines, gently putting them into shoe packing containers adorned with glitter, stickers and feathers. On the finish of the afternoon, it was a thrill to take inventory. What did your greatest good friend write? What did your crush write? What number of did you obtain? Did you get any sweet?
For entrepreneurs, model love results in the identical delighted emotions, however on an excellent deeper degree. It alerts the depth of connection they’ve reached with their viewers. The affirmation they want that their technique truly succeeded at constructing loyalty and evangelizing their mission.
Nicholas Charlier, Head of World Group and Schooling at Vivobarefoot, explains: “We’re a footwear firm, however we’re actually making an attempt to drive consciousness, engagement and reference to pure well being. The rationale we wish folks to like our model is as a result of we wish them to like themselves, their well being and the atmosphere round them.”
In case you’re nonetheless asking your self, “What’s model love (on social) received to do with it?”, the reply is all the things. Manufacturers who’re capable of construct lasting, significant relationships with their audiences are those who will succeed on this new period of enterprise.
What’s model love?
Model love describes the optimistic sentiment customers really feel towards your model that conjures up them to have interaction together with your content material, purchase your services or products, choose you over a competitor and unfold the phrase about your organization. It extends throughout channels and touchpoints—which suggests every stage within the buyer journey ought to be thought-about a possibility to forge model love.
Model love has change into more and more essential in gentle of heightened competitors throughout industries and platform oversaturation. Charlier expanded, “There’s a lot data on the web. There are various manufacturers competing for consideration. Customers need to know if manufacturers and merchandise truly do what they are saying they’ll, and if they will belief the folks behind the merchandise and advertising and marketing. It isn’t about short-term wins like viral campaigns, it’s about incomes and conserving model belief, transparency and goodwill for the lengthy haul.”
The weather that drive model love
Identical to in loving relationships between folks, manufacturers should deal with love like a verb. As Charlier put it, “Constructing model love is like cultivating love in any relationship. It takes honesty, open mindedness, and a willingness to be taught and alter. It’s your merchandise doing what you say they’ll, and listening to suggestions after they don’t. It’s creating alternatives for connection, each on-line and in actual life.”
Findings from The 2025 Sprout Social Index™ again up his evaluation. The report discovered that customers are most certainly to favor manufacturers on social which have a top quality services or products. Which is a putting reminder for manufacturers that social can’t overcompensate for bigger enterprise points—and offering a top-tier buyer expertise ought to be a important precedence.
The report additionally explains what customers say are an important traits of brand name content material: authenticity and relatability. Folks don’t actually care how lo- or hi-fi content material is, or should you speak about your product. They care that you just present up for them as an alternative of speaking at them.
In reality, customers say firms ought to make customized customer support their first social media precedence in 2025, based on a This fall 2024 Sprout Pulse Survey. Charlier underscores how paying shut consideration to group suggestions helps create a thriving model. “We’re fortunate that our clients inform us after we screw up. As a result of that provides us an opportunity to take accountability and repair the state of affairs. Listening to your group is what instills model love. Transparency in all the things you do is what creates connection.”
Methods to measure model love on social media and past
Measuring model love isn’t as intangible as it would sound. In some circumstances, it’s so simple as repurposing current metrics. In others, it’s about establishing new measurement parameters that profit groups throughout advertising and marketing, gross sales and customer support.
Charlier defined how Vivobarefoot measures model love, and shared insights into why every metric issues that may encourage your technique.
Consciousness
Whether or not or not consciousness is a conceit metric is debated within the social media panorama. It doesn’t seize intent or instantly tie to income. However that doesn’t imply it’s out of date, particularly when you want to seize general consciousness in comparison with opponents. Or, in Vivobarefoot’s case, if you want to educate beforehand problem-unaware customers.
“Earlier than studying about Vivobarefoot, many individuals consider that your toes must be in overly cushioned sneakers that limit motion, and cut back foot power and mobility. This has detrimental impacts on posture, ache and efficiency, but additionally how we work together with the bottom typically,” says Charlier.
Vivobarefoot educates their group by social content material, well being professionals-turned-creators, occasions and extra to platform the scientific proof behind the minimalist footwear motion. That consciousness turns into evangelism when folks truly attempt the merchandise for themselves (extra on that beneath).
Charlier sums it up like this: “We now have a tremendous group who’re very enthusiastic about our mission. That model love has helped drive the expansion of our enterprise by consciousness efforts.”
Engagement
The Index discovered that general engagement is the highest method advertising and marketing leaders will measure social success in 2025. Engagement metrics like feedback, shares and reactions inform a compelling story about your content material’s resonance, and might help you perceive how your viewers engages together with your merchandise offline, too.
Charlier defined how essential it’s for Vivobarefoot to know how their footwear impacts their clients’ each day lives. “We need to measure how individuals are partaking with our product, and their general satisfaction with it. Are they aligned with our mission? Are they working towards that wholesome mission themselves? We will reply these questions by seeing how a lot our group is partaking with on-line content material—by social or our on-line programs—regularly.”
Sentiment
But, engagement alone doesn’t illustrate the total scope of group buy-in to your narrative. That’s the place sentiment is available in—the tone folks use after they speak about your product. In accordance with Sprout Listening knowledge from December 28, 2024 to January 27, 2025, Vivobarefoot has a formidable 91% optimistic sentiment rating on X. That’s largely to do with how effectively their model storytelling resonates with audiences, and the way their clients really feel after they truly attempt on their sneakers.
“We need to encourage folks and empower them to be their healthiest—for them to attach with our message and embody it themselves. Our model sentiment conveys how folks really feel about their very own well being journeys, and the function Vivobarefoot performs in them.”
Evangelism and buyer loyalty
These outdated advertising and marketing adages, “The most effective promoting is word-of-mouth” and “It’s simpler to maintain a buyer than purchase a brand new one,” ring true when measuring model love. It’s easy (and considerably cliché) however each model’s purpose is to earn clients for all times, and to encourage comfortable clients to share about their expertise.
For Vivobarefoot, that begins when clients attempt on their sneakers. “When folks begin carrying our merchandise, they immediately really feel the bottom. It’s most likely the primary time in a very long time. Except we’re on the seashore, most of us are by no means barefoot as adults. It’s an eye-opening and revolutionary expertise. The merchandise do what they are saying they’ll and create a high quality expertise that leaves a memorable impression. This second (and all of the moments after) create an emotional connection to our merchandise, which results in model evangelism,” Charlier expounds.
When you’ll be able to translate an emotional connection into model advocacy, that’s a telling signal that your model love technique is working. “Are clients going past shopping for your merchandise and doing extra? Are they sharing your content material? Are they attending occasions? Are they shopping for a number of merchandise? Are they leaving evaluations?” asks Charlier.
Consumer-generated content material
Whereas viewers engagement is welcome and appreciated, user-generated content material (UGC) is next-level model love. When followers create their very own content material about your model, it helps you acquire publicity to new audiences and engenders their belief. Measuring the quantity of UGC that comes pouring in, plus how typically that content material is engaged with, is a useful barometer of brand name affinity.
“As a footwear firm, we make merchandise for lots of various events—coaching within the gymnasium, mountain climbing mountains, strolling the canine and exploring the town. We even have children’ sneakers. UGC helps showcase how our designs work for each event in a method that feels genuine to every particular consumer and their life-style. Then, we will take a better have a look at how many individuals are creating content material on our behalf, what their engagement price is and the way the dialog about our model is taking form,” says Charlier.
(Model) love is definitely throughout
Identical to the enjoyment of exchanging Valentines, constructing model love is about creating moments that make your viewers really feel seen, valued and related. Whether or not it’s by genuine content material, considerate engagement or merchandise that ship on guarantees, these acts of care and consistency spark lasting connections.
When your viewers begins to share their love to your model—by likes, feedback, evaluations or UGC—it’s like opening a field overflowing with glitter-covered affirmations. The extra love you give to your viewers, the extra your model’s relationships (and enterprise) will flourish in return.
Charlier sums it up like this: “There are two sides to constructing model love. There’s the rational aspect targeted on high quality and worth. Then there’s the emotional aspect. The a part of the expertise that’s influenced by the emotions folks affiliate together with your model and mission. That’s the candy spot.”
On the lookout for extra on what it takes to create a memorable model expertise? Learn The 2025 Sprout Social Index.™
