Shownotes
What do you think is the key difference between customers who "like" a brand versus those who "love" a brand?
Creating a brand that people genuinely adore isn’t just about flashy logos or clever ads—it’s about forging real, lasting connections. On this episode of Market It Like It's Hot, Yasmine Robles and Izzy Dadoski discuss what separates “like” from “love” in branding (with plenty of dad jokes and a little chaos thrown in for good measure).
Here are 3 big takeaways for anyone looking to turn customers into true fans:
Authenticity wins every time.
People can spot a phony from a mile away. Brands that show their real personalities (the fun, quirky, even slightly awkward sides) are the ones that stand out. Take a page from Duolingo’s playbook—they lean into who they are, and it works.
Go for love, not just likes.
Having a huge audience of passive followers can look good on paper, but a smaller, engaged tribe that really loves what you do will have your back every time. Focus on building that die-hard community—it’s more valuable than empty numbers.
Meet your audience where they are—emotionally.
Understand how your ideal customers feel and what they’re experiencing. Respond with empathy and genuine care, not just sales pitches and “look at me” content.
When people feel that you get them, the loyalty follows.
Curious how to map your customer journey, identify your brand’s emotional core, or avoid influencer marketing mistakes?
Quick Win
Pick one thing this week to show more of your brand’s personality—post a behind-the-scenes video, write a “real talk” caption, or just thank your loyal fans.
Key Moments
05:39 "Social Media: Balancing Branding and Personality"
09:42 "Value of Micro-Influencers Overreach"
11:52 Influencer Marketing Misalignment
13:55 Defining Brand's Tone of Voice
18:09 Balancing Emotions in Branding
21:41 Duolingo's Engaging Social Media Strategy
25:23 Authentic Social Media Engagement Tips
Stay in touch and get the latest updates by following us on:
- Instagram: @myrebelmarketing
- YouTube
- Rebel Marketing
Join us for a live, no-fluff strategy session where you can ask real questions, get real answers, and finally fix what’s not working with your marketing. Whether you’re stuck on content, confused by SEO, or spiraling over your site, this is your space to vent, troubleshoot, and walk away with the next steps you can actually use.
Submit your question ahead of time or grab the mic live. It’s bold, it’s unscripted, and it’s built for small businesses ready to grow.
Copyright 2025 Rebel Marketing
Transcripts
Welcome to another episode of Market Like It's Hot, where behind the scenes, I give Izzy really bad dad jokes that you can probably catch at the end of this episode depending on where we we, stick them in there if if we do. And, but our real goal for Market Like It's Hot is to bring you insights, knowledge, I guess that means the same thing, know how, all the thesaurus words for helping you know how to market your business. My name is Yasmine Robles. I am the founder of Rebel Marketing here in Columbus, Ohio. And with me, as always, because I pay her and because I force her, is Izzy Dadoski. Izzy, what is your title? What do you do in my
Izzy Dadoski [:Chaos goblin.
Yasmine Robles [:Chaos goblin. That's I like that. Yeah. That's nice. You bring chaos to the world of marketing.
Izzy Dadoski [:Mhmm. Yeah. That's me. But I'm actually the manager of digital marketing and analytics, so I do all the techy stuff.
Yasmine Robles [:Yeah. I I had to give her that title so that, you know, it wouldn't scare people away when she says chaos goblin.
Izzy Dadoski [:We all know my true intentions.
Yasmine Robles [:Alright. So in today's episode, we're gonna be talking about building a brand that people love, not just like, and especially with a focus on brand loyalty and that sometimes elusive emotional connection. Would you say that's elusive, Izzy? I mean, not in our personal lives. For me, yeah. But, like, I mean, with marketing. Having a person having an emotional connection. What?
Izzy Dadoski [:Did you say is marketing elusive?
Yasmine Robles [:No. Having an emotional connection with your audience. Is that elusive?
Izzy Dadoski [:And sometimes, but not really. Extreme example, apple cider vinegar. Have you seen that show?
Yasmine Robles [:No. What?
Izzy Dadoski [:It's on Netflix.
Yasmine Robles [:Apple cider what? Why?
Izzy Dadoski [:Apple apple cider vinegar. Anyway, she's, like, the only influencer and, like, the only thing she can think of is, like, how much people love her and stuff and, like, she's crazy about it and so don't be that. But it's nice to know that people like your brand.
Yasmine Robles [:Yes. Mhmm. I was gonna go with more with, like, an like, Duolingo kind of example. But okay. Yeah. Sure.
Izzy Dadoski [:Well, I was just showing the bads and the goods. So, like, Duolingo is totally the good, but, like, don't be like the girl from apple cider vinegar, you know?
Yasmine Robles [:Oh, okay. Alright. Cool. Cool. I I could take this so many ways. There's so many brands that I could name. We will get there though. Yeah.
Yasmine Robles [:So let's let's set the emotional stage. Maybe this should be like a bachelor kind of thing. Alright. So what is the difference between like and love? Oh my god. This sounds like a relationship advice. So alright, Izzy. What is the difference? Yeah. In in brands.
Yasmine Robles [:In brands.
Izzy Dadoski [:Yeah. Well, yeah, I was about to, like, go on a tangent. So I was like, in brands. Okay. The ones that you love or the ones that you track, I probably have, like, their notifications on because you wanna see what they're posting, versus a brand that you like. It's like, oh, if it comes across your feed, you're just like, oh, yeah. Let me like that, Instead of, like, being up to date and, like, wanting to see what they're posting. That's the way I take it.
Yasmine Robles [:Yeah. It's the ones the ones that you love are the ones that you're more likely, I think, to comment on versus just scroll on Instagram or wherever and like it, but you're not gonna you're not gonna comment. You're not gonna share it, really.
Izzy Dadoski [:Yeah.
Yasmine Robles [:Yeah. So what is your note says why like is fleeting and love is enduring. I really feel like this is a relationship episode. But
Izzy Dadoski [:So I feel like nowadays, especially with, like, my generation, they want to be as involved as they can with a brand, and that's just the way it is. So when they find that brand that they actually do like and, like, then it turns into that love, it's like then they're going to make sure that they're accommodating. They're gonna make sure, like, that they wanna be, like, recognized by the brand in different ways. Sometimes that even involves, like, the brand sending them PR and different stuff like that. So it's just, like, it's a different dynamic than what brands used to be. And that's why the like of it is fleeting, and that's why you want people to love your brand instead. So
Yasmine Robles [:Yeah. So I guess what what can businesses do, I guess, depending on the size of the business? Let's say it's a small micro business. What can those businesses do to create that brand love or to take the people that like them into loving them?
Izzy Dadoski [:Yeah. So being genuine, one, a lot of people will call it fakes nowadays. They know it if you're not if you're not being genuine. Two, I think videos nowadays too help a lot because it kinda gets, like, a sense of what you're like. But, yeah, it's it's like the difference between, like, an influencer and a brand, really. So I think that's why, like, people have been trying to copy Duolingo for so long, because it's like they have their own little influencer, but it's their mascot. Mhmm. But nobody else can replicate that like they have with that because they created that plan.
Izzy Dadoski [:So it's all just a little bit difficult to navigate, I think. It's just more about people wanting to know what you're actually about, and I think that's what people need to focus on.
Yasmine Robles [:Yeah. I think so an example of that, I think, for for marketing agencies is on social media as a marketing agency, we can always showcase, like, the websites that we've completed. We can always showcase maybe some graphic about why SEO is important and the difference between local SEO and we can educate on keywords. But when we post things like that video that showed people how short I was compared to Izzy, That people love that. People because it shows a little bit of personality. It starts showing people behind the scenes, and it's that cliche that people do business with people they like. I don't know. It's just it's there's a difference between what we what you think you should post and what will really get people to become raving fans.
Izzy Dadoski [:Yeah.
Yasmine Robles [:So there's an importance in that emotional connection in today's market. We touched upon it a little bit. So authentic and meaningful experiences, the impact of emotional branding on purchase decisions. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Izzy Dadoski [:I'm trying to think of an example that would best describe that.
Yasmine Robles [:I would say well, I guess it depends on if we take ecommerce, it depends on what you're selling. But emotional branding, it almost makes it like you're part you're buying something because you feel like you're part of a community. You you really love whatever it is. Let's I don't know. Nike. I don't buy Nike. I'm sorry, people. But Nike
Izzy Dadoski [:Taylor Swift.
Yasmine Robles [:Okay. Yeah. Let's let's dissect Taylor Swift.
Izzy Dadoski [:Yeah. I don't get it. But the people who get it get it, and they will throw their money at anything. She could come out with a chainsaw with her face on it, and they would buy it. Because they are I don't buy it.
Yasmine Robles [:Cutting down trees with Taylor Swift.
Izzy Dadoski [:That's Yeah. Okay. Like, that if you're gonna do that Taylor Swift, at least give me a percentage. But anyway, I just do you know what I'm saying? It's Yeah. That love that they have, they don't care what it is. They just need to have one.
Yasmine Robles [:Yeah.
Izzy Dadoski [:And it's insane. And the people who don't get it don't get it, but that's not going to, like, really deter the people who are actually, like, in love with that away from it. So Mhmm. Yeah.
Yasmine Robles [:I yeah. I agree. And I think a lot of brands strive to be the Taylor Swift of whatever it is that they are promoting, whether that's, like, seasoning, bras, whatever it is that they want people to buy. It's that it's it's like a cult. It's like you wanna create that cult following and that so that no matter what you're selling, people will purchase. And I'm I'm hoping that you still have a mission. Right? You're not just selling chainsaws with Taylor Swift's face on it. But although I really would want one now.
Yasmine Robles [:Hopefully, there's a mission behind whatever it is that you're doing. But, yeah, it's it's that cult following.
Izzy Dadoski [:Mhmm.
Yasmine Robles [:Alright. And why does that give us I I why does that give a competitive advantage, that emotional connection?
Izzy Dadoski [:It's better to have less people that love you than more people who like you. It's like that it's like that saying, like, a friend to all is a friend to none.
Yasmine Robles [:I think this episode really is turning into a relationship advice show. But I agree when it come yeah. Because let's take email marketing as an example. People will come over to us and say we've got, you know, 4,000, 10 thousand people on our email list, and none of them are opening the emails. You're just literally paying depending on your platform, you could be paying for all of these emails that you're sending out, and they're not nobody's opening them. They might mark you as spam. So, yeah, I agree. Yeah.
Yasmine Robles [:You want less people that love you because they're die hard fans. Whatever you sell them, they're gonna purchase it.
Izzy Dadoski [:And I think that's also the mistake that I see a lot right now with brands trying to pay influencers. They'll pay influencers who have, like, millions of followers, but their engagement, especially for that product, probably isn't the best because and then the brand is probably paying the influencer way more because of them having millions and millions, but it's probably not going to convert in the same amount of sales if they went for a more, like, micro niche influencer who has maybe 200,000 versus 20,000,000 because that's, like, why people follow that micro influencer. So do do you see what I'm saying?
Yasmine Robles [:Yeah. Yeah. Just because they have those followers doesn't mean that all of the followers will become will buy whatever product it is that you wanna push out.
Izzy Dadoski [:Like, I follow Kim Kardashian, I think, on Instagram. Do I ever look up when she's posting? Absolutely not. It's and I do that with a lot of brands too. The only ones I have, like, notifications on are for typically local Columbus things that I wanna make sure that I'm, like, in the know for. But and my smaller little influencers that I like whenever they post. But I'm trying to think of, like, another example, but, typically, they should be looking towards those people who have that love relationship with their
Yasmine Robles [:Mhmm.
Izzy Dadoski [:People instead of just being like, oh, yeah. Like, I know her. I like her. You know?
Yasmine Robles [:Yeah. I think let's try to figure out an example. So, like, if it was seasonings, right, we wouldn't just go to a mommy blogger or whatever. If those still do those still exist? Or maybe they've shifted to TikTok, but a mommy content creator. And you wouldn't just go to them and and just because they have a ton of followers, because it might not fit your seasoning brand. Mhmm. You probably and depending on the type of brand you have, maybe it's a smaller influencer that has a cooking channel on TikTok. Maybe it's I don't know.
Yasmine Robles [:It's it doesn't those numbers don't matter. What matters is that they have your hardcore audience that's following them.
Izzy Dadoski [:I'm gonna use a chainsaw as an example again. So if we gave Katy Perry a chainsaw, and we were like, k. Post this on Instagram and promote our brand. Okay? I can't think of a big chainsaw brand at the moment, but we're gonna go AKA big chainsaw company. So big chainsaw company is like, hey, Katy Perry. We're going to pay you $5,000,000 to take a picture and put and post this on Instagram of you holding our chainsaw. Right? Nobody who is a Katy Perry fan is going to buy this chainsaw. Now if they went to, like have you ever seen that guy who, like, mows yards on TikTok for free?
Yasmine Robles [:Yeah.
Izzy Dadoski [:Yeah. Now if they gave the chainsaw to him Mhmm. And to people who like watching that, like, cleaning up type of stuff, they probably do that in their own yards too
Yasmine Robles [:Yep.
Izzy Dadoski [:Typically. So it would make more sense to pay him a hundred k to promote the chainsaw than Katy Perry five million. Do you see what I'm saying?
Yasmine Robles [:Yeah. Although Katy Perry, if you're listening and you wanna promote our marketing agency, I'm still open to that. Yep. So but okay. That's a good example too. Like, our we're a marketing agency. If Katy Perry was like, yas, Rebel Marketing is the I don't think she would talk like that. But in my mind, she everyone talks like that.
Yasmine Robles [:She'd be like, yas, Rebel Marketing is amazing. Go to them.
Izzy Dadoski [:Mhmm.
Yasmine Robles [:I don't know if we would get clients.
Izzy Dadoski [:I really wouldn't get that much from it. Yeah. And that's what these brands aren't thinking about.
Yasmine Robles [:Although, again, Katy Perry, if you wanna,
Izzy Dadoski [:hit them. Shout us out, that would be cool. But, like, at least at least get some leads from it. You know?
Yasmine Robles [:Yeah. Alright. So understanding that emotional landscape, how can we identify our brand's emotional core?
Izzy Dadoski [:What are your values? What are your personalities that you're trying to give off? What is the tone of your brand? I think that all just makes it what you are and what your brand is and how you are going to connect with people.
Yasmine Robles [:Yeah. One of the exercises that we do, depending on the client package, all that, is identifying that tone of voice. Like, who is, one of our friends one of our marketing friends, she asked the question, like, what's your genre of music? You know, what? If you were a movie, which movie would you be? For us, I selected Guardians of the Galaxy because they might get lost, they might fumble, but they get that that stuff that stuff done. They might fight with each other, you know, all all the things. And they they might be a little awkward, but, but that is who we are. So we do that exercise with clients so that we can understand and they can understand what their brand really is because it goes beyond that logo. It goes beyond the colors of your visuals. It's really how you're going to be perceived by people.
Yasmine Robles [:Are you funny? Are you quirky? Are you super uptight? Or no, maybe not uptight. That's not a good that's not a good word. Professional. Are you professional? We go through though through those exercises to figure out how you're going to be perceived by your target market, your audience. And we also stock your target market. And I say we, but it all of this is really Izzy.
Izzy Dadoski [:Professional stalker.
Yasmine Robles [:Yes. Actually, yes. Izzy kinda scares me. But, the only reason I have not gotten into trouble is because I'm worried that Izzy might find out. So I think she might have alerts on me. So mapping the customer journey. What if I were a five year old, how would you explain what a customer journey is, and how do we map that thing?
Izzy Dadoski [:So just like the customer journey is just, like, basically their whole entire process. And I guess for social media, it would just be if they're going to follow you or engage or, like, sign up for your services. But it's just really knowing what certain key points are that, are getting them to follow you, why would they wanna follow you, what caused them to follow you? Like, what type of content was it? And if they're if they're your target audience, what can you do to replicate that so that happens more? And what triggered them to make that move to follow you? You know? Yeah.
Yasmine Robles [:Yeah. A visual that I use to explain this depending on the workshop, is we outline you brainstorm every single step of that a client or a potential customer might take to get to you Yeah. To become a a paying client or customer. And then you highlight the different emotional decisions or decisions that they might make. Where where exactly did they make the choice to for example, if they were on Instagram and they clicked over to your profile, how what made them wanna click over your profile? From there, they went to your website. So figuring out that journey. And let's say it is just to get to your website. The goal is getting the customer to end up the journey to end up at the website.
Yasmine Robles [:Is it that you're also blogging? And if so, what did they type into search to find that blog article? What keywords were being used? And so it ends up being this visual almost like, all roads lead to the website, if that is the goal. So the customer journey, they can start at different points, but you want it to ultimately end at having been a lead or a paying client.
Izzy Dadoski [:Mhmm.
Yasmine Robles [:Psych the psychology of brand love. Izzy.
Izzy Dadoski [:I feel like I already touched on it a little bit.
Yasmine Robles [:Yeah. Yeah.
Izzy Dadoski [:I feel so. Yeah. Just why are they so obsessed with you?
Yasmine Robles [:Because we're awesome.
Izzy Dadoski [:Exactly. Yeah. Short and simple.
Yasmine Robles [:Alright. So where do you wanna jump to next, Izzy?
Izzy Dadoski [:How about how can brands demonstrate empathy and social responsibility?
Yasmine Robles [:I don't know if I'm the best person to ask that to because sometimes I feel like I'm a robot, and then sometimes I feel like I'm just a pile of emotions. For a brand for a brand though, I would it really it depends on your business. If you I I you know, this isn't I might maybe I'll do another different podcast on different topics. But for example, immigration right now is is, like, it's not hot. It's, it's a it's an issue. And so if you are an immigration attorney or firm or whatever, displaying yes. You're probably trying to get information out through content channels, but displaying empathy and it just coming from a place of understanding how people feel. So whether that means a, a video about just how to do self care.
Yasmine Robles [:I don't know. Something like that. Just something that connects to that emotional what what is your audience feeling? So for example, I follow under the desk on TikTok, under the desk news. And there was one video that because she they give they give a bunch of information. And there was one where it wasn't the nightly information. It was just like, I know how you're I know how you might be feeling. And if you basically, it was if you need help, let's let's get help, take care of you. And it was it it's like I don't know.
Yasmine Robles [:I I I felt really emotional about it because I was like, yeah. We're I am kind of feeling burnt out. I am kind of feeling like I've been doomscrolling. I do kind of feel like everything is just a big pile of poo. Yes. And so that's one way. And, again, it depends on your brand. With marketing agencies, I mean, it depends on how we would wanna touch on things that are happening.
Yasmine Robles [:Right? But for other companies, just kind of meeting people where they're at, knowing your audience, what are they experiencing? Is there something that you can post that showcases that you understand where they're coming from, what they're going through, and and what they might be feeling at the moment instead of just like, if you're usually just posting funny videos, do you continue to do that, or do you want to put something out that is a little bit different from your typical posts and but still touches on a something that your audience might wanna listen to. Does that make sense? Hopefully, I answered your question.
Izzy Dadoski [:So how do these brands, cultivate a long term relationship after?
Yasmine Robles [:After making you cry or, like, after?
Izzy Dadoski [:After just, like when did you fall in love with Duolingo, and then you were like, oh, I'm gonna keep following them?
Yasmine Robles [:When did I fall in love with Duolingo? Well, it was a day when I was very bored, probably. So I I don't remember how I even got the app on like, I I feel like it mysteriously appeared
Izzy Dadoski [:Mhmm.
Yasmine Robles [:On my phone because I don't remember exactly the time the day it was when we got the app. But I for their social media, I started I think I started following them on LinkedIn. Somehow, the algorithm started showing me their content, and then I started following them on TikTok.
Izzy Dadoski [:Mhmm.
Yasmine Robles [:And the connection so the con they connected with with me in both ways on the different platforms. On LinkedIn, they like to showcase, like, the the hiring process. They've showcased new hires, you know, be it's not behind the scenes, but more of that business side of Duolingo, but in that same tone of voice that they use when they're posting on TikTok, which is great for consistency. So I love their posts on LinkedIn for business. And then on TikTok, they're just hilarious. And they're they post things that sometimes are very realistic or that you feel like, yeah, I've been there before duo. Like, yeah, I I I might might or might not be sitting somewhere in the middle, like, postponing whatever I have to do because I have to make sure I get my streak. And then the death of Duolingo and and all the and they're on top of not trends, but, like, the whole NFL thing.
Yasmine Robles [:Right? They were on top of that. They also respond to comments and to people who tag them, or they will just find other people posting content about whether it's language or travel, and they will comment on them. So it feels like it's a real person even though I know it's and, you know, probably a couple people in their marketing team who are doing an amazing job and totally would take you out for lunch, guys, because it feels like there's a genuine connection there.
Izzy Dadoski [:Mhmm.
Yasmine Robles [:I don't know if that answers. But when did you fall in love with Duolingo?
Izzy Dadoski [:High school. I had to do Duolingo in high school for part of one of my classes. And, then I just started following the accounts, and that's when they, like, just redid what Duo looked like because Duo didn't look like that for a long time. And then I was like, oh, the little bird's cute, and then you would, like, get an answer right, and he'd go and then jump up in the air and stuff. And I'm like, okay. Sick. And then I just been following them since then. And then the chaos unwinded for them, and then I was like, yeah.
Izzy Dadoski [:I like chaos, so I kept following. Yeah. So that's my advice.
Yasmine Robles [:So I guess what are some takeaways that just to summarize this episode that has gone on to man, I feel like there were so many tangents, so many relation so much relationship advice. If you just remove brand, maybe it could be a relationship episode. What's some takeaways?
Izzy Dadoski [:Know your audience. Don't overpay for influencers that aren't going to have conversions for you. Think about the brands that you love and why you love them and see if that's something that you would be able to not replicate exactly, but take influence for your own brand.
Yasmine Robles [:Yeah. I would say at its core, just I think two things. Be authentic and connect with your audience that you have. So being authentic, for me, what that looks like is posting things that feel right to you, not just because your competitors are also posting it. So for a long time, I think our social media looked like almost like kind of every other agency's social media. Right? And then Izzy came along and told me I was wrong. But, but now our social media feels more aligned with our brand, and so it feels more authentic. And I think people can see that.
Yasmine Robles [:We're having a lot more fun with it. And then just connecting with people, that could mean commenting back on those who comment on your post. It could mean if somebody asks a question, whether you use Reddit or you use, if it's just a general question on social media, you can always answer it in an authentic way to you or just congratulate people. If there's other small businesses that have, you know, celebrated four years anniversary, just I always I try to congratulate them on in the comments. So I think just those two, be authentic and try to connect with them. Yeah. So, Izzy, if are we gonna open up a matchmaking thing for people, for their brands and their, Maybe. I guess that's called the marketing agency.
Izzy Dadoski [:Yeah. I think we already knew that.
Yasmine Robles [:Okay. So if you need a more if you need if you guys need a matchmaker for between your brand and your audience, Izzy, where can they find us?
Izzy Dadoski [:LinkedIn, myrebelmarketing.com, Yasmin's LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, you know, all the good stuff.
Yasmine Robles [:And if you're wondering, why not x or Twitter? You should listen back to a previous episode
Izzy Dadoski [:Mhmm.
Yasmine Robles [:Where we talked about that. But, yeah, I look forward to helping matchmake your brand with your most loyal fans. Mhmm. Yep. Alright. We'll catch you in the next episode.
Izzy Dadoski [:Let me think.
Yasmine Robles [:Do I need to be older than five?
Izzy Dadoski [:To do what?
Yasmine Robles [:For to be explained what a customer journey is. It's okay. Go go ahead with your with your explanation. I don't know what a five year old I don't know what a five year old knows. I've only had two kids.
Izzy Dadoski [:Yeah. Yeah. I I parked somewhere downtown the other day, and there was a phone on top of my car.
Yasmine Robles [:What?
Izzy Dadoski [:Yeah. And I was like, oh, great. I'm getting human trafficked. So I grabbed the phone, I chucked it across the street, and I ran. So hopefully, if somebody, like, just put their phone on my car, sorry. It's dead now.
Yasmine Robles [:Oh, no. Somebody, like, bent down and tied their shoe or something forgot their phone, and you threw it across the street.
Izzy Dadoski [:Yeah. It's dead.
Yasmine Robles [:Or they were gonna traffic you. I don't know.
Izzy Dadoski [:Exactly. I'd rather be safe than sorry. Okay? I assume the worst out of people. Okay? For safety reasons. Yeah.
Yasmine Robles [:I was just traumatized as a child. That's why I assume the worst. Story time for later. Alright.
