What do Lego, Benefit Cosmetics, Etihad Airways, Tiger Beer and Urban Decay have in common?  Each one was named to Talkwalker’s Brand Love Story 2020, which measures brands around the world that elicit the most love from consumers. 

Talkwalker, a social listening and analytics company,  used a quarter billion conversations around 781 brands in 28 different industries to create its Brand Love Story 2020 report, identifying the 50 most loved brands from around the world, through the power of social listening and highlighting brands’ actions. 

Among the top 50 are several beauty businesses: Benefit Cosmetics (No. 11), M.A.C. (No. 24), Huda Beauty (No. 27), Revlon (No. 30), Ulta Beauty, Inc. (No. 34) Pierre Fabre (No. 36) and Urban Decay (No. 37). Other beauty players fared well in specific regions. For example, Weleda was the most loved brand in Switzerland, while Nivea came in at No. 2 in Germany behind Mercedes-Benz.

Brand love is known to improve consumer loyalty and advocacy. 

So, is your brand feeling the love? If not, here are five ways to build brand love, according to Talkwalker.
 
• Social media buzz: Stop thinking of your social channels as a place to sell to customers; rather it is a place to connect with your audience. With social listening, identify the topics trending in their conversations, and join in. Switch your mindset for your content strategy. Next time you post, put yourself in your consumer shoes and think, “what would I want to see here?” 
 
• Engage the good old times: During a recession, nostalgia booms. People long for the pre-crisis days, thinking of them as reassuring and comforting. Is there a way to tap into that for your audience? Rekindle past branding or much-loved campaigns. Or engage in topics that promote that emotion—classic video gaming and baking both resonate with nostalgic feelings. 
 
• Influence the right people: Influencers are still busy within their communities. With content creation across all channels up (there were 118 million videos published in Q1 2020, compared to 99 million in Q4 2019). With hyper-engaged audiences, you can tap into a market ready to engage with your brand. Just don’t choose your influencers based on size of audience, but the quality of audience engagement. 
 
• Share the love: Audiences are in desperate need of good news. The need for escapism during the Great Depression led to the Golden Age of cinema. People need distractions to escape the worries in the world, and that will again be critical in the coming months. Positive news stories will feed those needs, helping consumers associate your brand with better times. 
 
• Get your employees onboard: Brand love is built from the inside out. From the heart. Your workforce will be vital to spread that love further— but they’ll need to feel the love first. Employee rewards and reassurance are both essential during a crisis—to alleviate any job security concerns they may have. And once your employees are happy, they’ll share that love with customers and prospects alike.