How to Build Brand Loyalty: What Diet Coke Taught Me About Keeping Clients

So On Brand, Episode 9

TL;DR

• Real loyalty is when your client stops shopping around and just comes back to you.
• Diet Coke launched in 1982 talking about taste, so talk about what your client gets from working with you.
• McDonald’s put real thought into a straw. Every little detail of working with you counts as your brand.
• Three ways to build loyalty: be the same every time, give your offer a name, and ask people back.
• Your homework: send a note to one past client you loved working with.

There’s one offer that can turn my entire day around: “Can I get you a Diet Coke?” And if I order a Diet Coke at a restaurant and they ask if Diet Pepsi is okay, the answer is no. It’s not okay, and it’s never been okay. So this week I dedicated an episode to the brand that is Diet Coke, and what it can teach us about how to build brand loyalty in our own businesses. We talk about what loyalty actually is, how it gets built, and three things you can start doing this week so past clients keep coming back to you.

In this episode

• 0:07 The one offer that turns my day around (and why Diet Pepsi gets a no)
• 2:00 My two Coca-Cola connections: Terre Haute and Atlanta
• 3:55 What brand loyalty looks like from the customer’s side
• 6:05 The 1982 Diet Coke launch and “Just for the Taste of It”
• 8:25 McDonald’s Diet Coke and the straw
• 10:20 Dirty soda shops and loyalty through customization
• 11:55 How loyalty shows up in my own business
• 14:50 Three ways to build brand loyalty
• 18:20 Good Company: Twisters Soda Bar
• 20:00 Listener question and your homework

The Diet Coke loyalty I grew up with

I grew up a Diet Coke fan. My mom is a big Diet Coke drinker, and it was kind of the only soda we had in our house growing up, so it was always an option.

Pepsi’s fine. Pepsi hasn’t done anything wrong to me. I’d just rather have a glass of water than a Diet Pepsi, and that goes way past a preference. Coca-Cola took decades to build that kind of following, and I think any business can learn from it.

Two fun Coca-Cola connections: Terre Haute and Atlanta

I actually have two connections to the Coca-Cola Company. First, the Coca-Cola bottle was designed in my hometown of Terre Haute, Indiana, which is super fun.

I did a little bit of a deep dive. According to Coca-Cola, back in 1915 the Coca-Cola Bottling Association set aside up to $500 and sent a challenge to eight to ten glass companies. They wanted “a bottle so distinct that you would recognize it by feel in the dark or lying broken on the ground.”

At the Root Glass Company in Terre Haute, Earl Dean and a coworker, Clyde Edwards, went to the public library to look for ideas. (I love a good public library, so shout out to them!) They came back with an illustration of a cocoa bean, long with ribs running down it, and Dean sketched the bottle from that. It looks nothing like anything that’s actually in the drink. The patent went through on November 16, 1915, under Alexander Samuelson’s name.

I also love that they went so far as to say you’d recognize it lying broken on the ground. That’s someone thinking of all the details, you know?

My second connection is that I lived in Atlanta for about ten years, which is where Coca-Cola is headquartered. They have a museum there, World of Coca-Cola, where you can taste soft drinks from around the world, and some are much better than others. So my hometown designed the bottle, I spent a decade in the city where the company lives, and I feel like that just means Diet Coke is the brand for me.

What brand loyalty looks like from the customer’s side

Here’s what I notice about myself as a customer. I don’t compare things that often. I’m not out there reading about diet sodas or looking for a better one. When I walk into a gas station, I’m not even making a decision. I’m just reaching for the Diet Coke.

That’s the thing to think about in your own business. Loyalty is when someone feels like they’ve stopped having to choose. They’ve decided you’re their photographer, or their stylist, or the salon they go to, and they don’t even think about trying someone new. They just know they’re coming back to you.

Takeaway: loyal clients talk about you when they talk about themselves

When a client stops having to choose, a few things happen. Price gets a little less interesting to her. She’s not noticing competitors as often. And this is when she starts telling people about you: “Oh, I know this great photographer,” or “I found this adorable little plant shop,” or when someone compliments her style, “This is the stylist I work with.”

It gets so specific that it barely sounds like a recommendation anymore. She’s talking about herself, and your business is part of it. When I say I’m a Diet Coke person, I’m telling you something about me. Somehow Coca-Cola got itself written into how a lot of people describe their personality, and I think that’s so interesting.

Diet Coke’s 1982 launch: lead with what they get

Okay, so I went down a rabbit hole on the 1982 launch of Diet Coke. (Of course it was born in the ’80s, as all good things were.) I’ll spare you most of the details, but one decision really stuck with me. The tagline was “Just for the Taste of It.”

A lot of diet products back then sold you on what you were giving up, and Coca-Cola went the other way and talked about what you were getting: great taste. Yes, you and I both know it has zero calories too, but they made it a drink for people who like how it tastes, and I love how inclusive that is. I don’t even think about the calories that much. It’s just the soda I like the flavor of.

They made the launch a big deal, too. The first TV commercial was filmed at Radio City Music Hall with the Rockettes. And Coca-Cola already had a diet soda, TaB, which was the No. 1 diet soft drink at the time. If you’re as old as I am, you might remember it.

Takeaway: lead with what they get

So here’s what I want you to take away. Lead with what someone gets from your product or service. As photographers, we talk a lot about hours of coverage or a number of edited images, and that kind of reads like a receipt. People want to know about the experience they’re going to have, so start there.

The McDonald’s Diet Coke straw: your brand is the experience

Here’s another detail I had no idea was thought through on purpose. If you’re a Diet Coke fan, you know the Diet Coke at McDonald’s just tastes better. And come to find out, it’s not in your head! McDonald’s explains it on their website. They filter the water, they pre-chill the water and the syrup, and their straw is a little wider than a typical straw “so all that Coke taste can hit your taste buds.”

I knew that straw was wider. I’ve thought more than once that I should bring a bunch of them home.

McDonald’s doesn’t own Coca-Cola, and they sell it for next to nothing, but somebody there decided getting the size of a straw right was worth it. That’s what I want to underline in this episode. Your brand is the experience of everything involved in working with you: you, your product and your service. The companies that really understand that are the ones out there arguing about the width of a straw.

Dirty soda shops: loyalty through customization

Then there’s a second kind of loyalty, and it works differently. Dirty soda shops have shown up here in Indianapolis and in lots of other places. You pick your base, then add creams, syrups, purees, popping boba pearls, gummy bears, whatever you can come up with. I think it’s fun to get a Diet Coke and mix stuff into it, and I like that a lot of these shops carry both Coke and Pepsi.

Diet Coke earns loyalty by being exactly the same every time (unless you’re at McDonald’s, and then it’s better). A soda shop kind of earns it the opposite way, by letting you take something familiar and make it your own. You might have your set order and stick with it for years because it’s yours. Both work, so it’s worth looking at your business and thinking about which kind of loyalty fits you.

How brand loyalty shows up in my business

I can only do about three to four shoots a month, depending on what we have going on as a family. So when I think about growing my business, I think about the people I already serve coming back, referring me and deciding I’m their photographer year after year. That is so valuable to me, and it’s not lost on me at all how lucky I am. I work really hard to serve all of my clients well.

It also changes how I look at my marketing. I want my past clients to still have me on their team between sessions, through email, the podcast, the blog and social media, with ideas they can keep using. Those are some of your warmest clients. And even if you run a one-time-event business like weddings, think about how many couples refer you to the next couple getting married.

Three ways to build brand loyalty

Here are three things you can do, and the third one might be one you’re not doing.

1. Be the same (as yourself)

By the same, I mean consistent with yourself every time, instead of copying everyone else in your industry. A client should know what she’s walking into because she’s done it before, or because a friend told her about your process. Same intake process, same client experience, same turnaround times.

That can feel so boring to some of us, especially if you’re a neurodivergent business owner like me. I so deeply need routine, and it can also be really boring for my brain. But consistency is such a foundation of trust in building a good business and a good brand.

2. Build something that belongs to your client, and give it a name

Give your client something she can name and come back to. For me as a brand photographer, that might be a content day or a yearly brand photo refresh. Once it has a name, she can ask for it again and again, year after year, without starting over. It becomes part of her routine, kind of like my dirty soda order.

3. Ask for it

Nobody at Coke has to invite me back. They’re in every single cooler you walk past in a gas station in America. Most of us don’t have that. We have to send the emails, say it out loud on social, and tell people they can come back, when they can come back and what it might look like.

And I’m guilty of not doing this sometimes. I’ll put content out there and get caught up in the fun side of making it, and the direct ask doesn’t come super naturally to me. “Hire me for your brand photos.” “Let me come to your event and create content.” “Here are my results from a content session.” You have to ask in order to build up those returning clients over time.

Good Company: Twisters Soda Bar

This week’s Good Company is Twisters Soda Bar, and they’re a big reason I’ve been thinking about the build-your-own side of loyalty. Two women, Jaclyn Chadburn and Kelly Klein, started Twisters in 2022 with a booth at the Pendleton Farmers Market. Today they have four stores, in Pendleton, Yorktown, Noblesville and Muncie, and we stop by the Noblesville one every so often.

They do custom sodas with fruit purees, marshmallow fluff, popping pearls and edible glitter, which my girls really like. Their drink names are unmistakably Midwestern. The one I used to get was called Yeah No For Sure, and they mix it up seasonally, so go check those out.

Indianapolis Monthly described their drinks as landing somewhere between a Diet Coke chugged in the car and a mocktail at the bar, and I think that’s such a smart read on their customers. I don’t drink alcohol, so I love having a fun drink to mix things up. And four stores growing out of a farmers market booth comes from regulars, people who come back again and again and go tell all their friends.

How to build brand loyalty, starting this week

Building brand loyalty starts with the clients you already have. Find one past client you really enjoyed working with and send her a note. It doesn’t have to be a pitch. Just say, “Hey, I’m thinking of you. I hope things are going well for you.” Or ask her a question about her product or service, and that’s it. Leave the door open, lead with kindness, and see where it takes you. Then let me know you did it!

I also want to hear this one. What’s the one brand you will not substitute? The one where, if they offer you something else, you’d rather have nothing? Mine is very clearly Diet Coke. Tell me on Instagram at @kelliwhitecreative.

Next week, I’m sharing a framework I’ve been building for making a business easy to trust and hard to forget. See you then!

FAQ

Can a small business build brand loyalty without a big marketing budget?
Yes! Most of it comes from how you take care of the clients you already have: a process they can count on, a reason to come back, and actually asking them to. That takes more time and attention than money.

How do I name my signature offer?
Keep it simple enough that a client could say it to a friend, like “my content day” or “my yearly refresh.” Then use that same name everywhere: your website, your emails and your invoices.

How often should I check in with past clients?
Pick a rhythm you can actually keep up with. A quick note around the time of year you last worked together is an easy place to start.

Where is Twisters Soda Bar in Noblesville?
The Noblesville store is at 1007 S. 10th St. Twisters also has locations in Pendleton, Yorktown and Muncie (near Ball State).

Places and resources mentioned

• Twisters Soda Bar: Noblesville (1007 S. 10th St.), Pendleton, Yorktown and Muncie
• Indianapolis Monthly on Twisters Soda Bar
• The history of the Coca-Cola contour bottle (Coca-Cola)
• Diet Coke’s 1982 global premiere (Coca-Cola)
• World of Coca-Cola, Atlanta

Listen and subscribe

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• Instagram: @kelliwhitecreative
• More episodes at SoonBrand.com

Want help building a content plan that keeps past clients coming back? Let’s plan your content.

Kelli White is a brand photographer, videographer and strategic content partner serving women business owners in Carmel, Fishers, Westfield, Noblesville, Zionsville and across the Indianapolis northside.