👋, I’m Kimberly. I’ve been creating obsession-worthy brands for the past fifteen years. And now, I’m giving away my secrets every week in this newsletter.
Many moons ago, I sat at the table of a busy cafe surrounded by five girlfriends, two pitchers of mimosas, and a line of people side-eyeing our seats from outside.
The time? 11 AM.
The scene? Sunday brunch.
The topic? Men.
Specifically, the men my friends were thinking about dating, currently dating, or hoping to one day be dating.
Suddenly, my friend Carla leaned toward the middle of the table—bright orange mimosa in hand—and asked, “Do you all know your Love Languages?”
The other four mimosas froze in mid-air as we all contemplated her question.
Carla was regarded as The Wise One in matters of the heart, because she was a professional matchmaker.
“Um, what’s a Love Language, and how do I get fluent in this immediately,” our friend Jen said, tipping back her glass, then reaching forward for a refill.
With that, we gathered close around the cauldron of bubbles…
And The Wise One proceeded to reveal the five love languages to us.
The Five Love Languages is a Book About Relationships
First published in 1992, the book is legit.
It’s sold over 11 million copies in English and has been translated into 49 other languages.
It consistently ranks in the top 5 books on the New York Times bestsellers list, claiming the #1 spot at times.
It has 4.8 stars on Amazon based on 58,222 reviews.
In the text, marriage counselor Dr. Gary Chapman breaks down the five different ways people give and feel love (aka the 5 Love Languages).
And the idea is that by understanding the Love Languages that most appeal to us—and those that most appeal to our partners—we can create stronger lifelong relationships.
Branding is About Relationships, Too
Whether you’re mapping out your customer journey or creating an in-depth demographic and physiographic profile of your target consumer, a lot of what you do as a brand builder goes back to creating a relationship with your consumer.
You want that relationship to be strong.
The pull needs to be great enough that the consumer wants to interact with you rather than your competitors.
And you want that relationship to be lifelong—because lifetime loyalty equates to more lifetime value.
So, I thought it only fitting that we take a look at these 5 Love Languages in terms of how they relate to the brand-customer relationship—and see what you can learn about better connecting with your people.
The First Love Language
Words of Affirmation
According to the Greek philosopher Xenophon, praise is the sweetest of all sounds.
And it’s true—we like hearing good things, particularly good things about ourselves.
If your target customer’s language is Words of Affirmation, you should:
Give them meaningful compliments and praise their abilities
Use words that are encouraging, kind, and humble
Tell them how much you appreciate them
The Second Love Language
Quality Time
In marketing, we often talk about the fact that you have three seconds to capture a customer’s attention. We speak in terms of speed and impact. But the quality of interactions is just as important.
If your target customer’s language is Quality Time, you should:
Give them your undivided attention whenever they interact with you
Make it clear that you’re focusing on them and their needs
Provide high-quality content and put on high-quality events
The Third Love Language
Receiving Gifts
Gift-giving plays a central role in relationships across many cultures, from gifts to signify interest in a person to gifts to celebrate a marriage.
If your target customer’s language is Receiving Gifts, you should:
Find out what types of gifts your customer likes to receive. It is more about the gifts being thoughtful and personal than the monetary value.
Time the gifts—gifts at both expected and unexpected moments are appreciated
Think about how you’re presenting the gifts to them. A bit of ceremony and excitement adds to the mix.
The Fourth Love Language
Acts of Service
When your significant other does something you dislike doing (for me, this is the dishes after I’ve been cooking!)—that counts as an act of service.
If your target customer’s language is Acts of Service, you should:
Intentionally do helpful things for your customer
Handle the things that you know your customer would appreciate you handling (aka the stuff they don’t get joy from doing)
Regularly ask your customers how you can better assist them, in ways that may or may not directly relate to their experiences with your product or service
The Fifth Love Language
Physical Touch
This one may seem like the trickiest to implement in terms of marketing.
Unless you run a massage company, you’re not that likely to reach out and gently caress your customer anytime soon. And if you do, you might get in trouble for it.
If your target customer’s language is Physical Touch, you should:
Find ways to make the physical experience of your product more inviting
Encourage your customers to share their feelings and embrace what they say
Ask your customers what gives them pleasure about your product, and put that forward in your marketing
Pinpoint Your Customer’s Primary Love Language
As with many marketing techniques, testing and learning apples to the Love Languages.
Try out a few—and see which ones your customers gravitate towards the most.
Then once you’ve found The One… lean into it as much as you can.
Make it a part of your brand book so every employee knows to focus on it
See if you can bring it to life in a remarkable way that none of your competitors could come close to replicating
Include it in some small dose in every brand interaction
And We Lived Bubbly Ever After
After our mimosa brunch with The Wise One, we all came away with a deeper understanding of who we were in relationships—and who our partners were.
Now go and see what clinks for you and your brand.
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About Me
I help early stage founders create the kind of brands that get customers so obsessed, they’ll do your advertising for you.
Based on my experience founding my own consumer brand, I developed The Branding Sprint—a uniquely collaborative, streamlined, and agile approach to brand creation.
Click here to learn more about The Branding Sprint, or schedule a call with me.