People are loyal to those they love, but what about being loyal to a brand?
The same is true. Customers are attracted to a brand that never lets them down. A company that champions the same values they hold near and dear.
The marketing law of attraction assures that people are drawn to brands that they identify with, and that give them a consistent, excellent experience.
Creating that experience can be challenging as there is a great need for customers to feel unique.
Brands must provide that by tailoring messaging to customers’ deepest desires.
Customer-centric selling is paramount. Customers, specifically Gen-Z audiences, crave a deep, personalized experience now more than ever.
They don’t want to be told what they need. They want businesses to establish a conversational relationship with them.
This isn’t something that can be solved through a marketing presentation.
This is harder.
You must get people to like you in a way that isn’t artificial. It’s not enough to just meet customer expectations, you must exceed them.
In a new 2022 HubSpot survey, 61 percent of marketers say lead generation is their biggest challenge. That’s because consumers want something new and unique to them rather than the same old tactics they’ve already seen.
Personalization and customer-first conversations are the avenues to creating an experience for your customers that drives conversions.
But how do you do that in an age that is adamant about privacy?
Four tips can help guide your efforts.
Twitter Polls and Instagram Question Boxes are just a few examples of quick and easy ways to get information from your customers through interactive advertising.
These can be answered more quickly than through an email-marketing survey and may show consumers that you want a better understanding of the market you’re selling to. Interactive ads using creative marketing design provide a way for customers and prospects to engage with your content. They provide instant feedback you can use to tailor your messages to your target audiences.
Plus, interactive ads generate more engagement and data than static ads.
Once you’ve collected your data via Instagram polls or interactive surveys, share it. Revealing the results of the poll to your followers lets them know their voice has been heard.
Most importantly, interactive marketing tactics turn customers into collaborators, and make their connection with your brand stickier. Brands are living, breathing organisms that your customers become part of through your marketing activities.
Connectivity increases attraction, which when fully grown leads to advocacy.
By engaging your customers, you are turning prospects into advocates for your brand, and increasing both share of voice and share of market in your space.
You’ve heard the old saying “like attracts like,” and that still rings true today.
Consumers are attracted to influencers that either match who they are or who they want to become.
By creating consistent, authentic relationships with influencers, you can turn content creators into brand ambassadors who personalize your products and put a human face to your brand identity.
Word of mouth marketing has always been an effective tactic for lead generation. Influencer marketing is word of mouth marketing in the digital age.
As in ages past, people look to trusted sources to tell them what’s good and what’s not. What’s in and what’s out. What’s real and what’s fake.
Influencers are trusted sources. By working with influencers whose audiences, values and messaging align with your own, you transfer the trust their followers place in them, to your brand.
Ultimately, paid partnerships are a win-win deal for both brands and influencers.
Most influencers rely on paid partnerships to pay their bills and expand their audiences, while companies rely on influencers to be positive brand ambassadors who transfer trust to their audiences.
It also helps that audiences want to see their favorite influencers thrive.
According to a Twitch survey, 76% of Twitch users appreciate when brands help their favorite streamers achieve success.
Younger consumers especially look to brands to lead the way in advancing social causes.
Identifying influencers who share your same beliefs and creating an advocacy program through their shared content is a positive way to attract more prospects to your brand.
A great example is Proctor and Gamble’s #OurNamesBelong campaign.
This campaign partnered with Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) influencers for AAPI Heritage month to create awareness of given names and the importance of proper pronunciation and identification.
This campaign generated an outpouring of support for the AAPI community and created positive brand sentiment towards Proctor and Gamble.
If your brand strategy does not have an employee engagement component, it’s incomplete. Your employees are your biggest brand ambassadors.
Last year, 4 million people per month quit their jobs.
Some in search of better benefits, and some in search of a greater purpose.
If your employees don’t believe in your products and services, how can you expect customers to buy them?
You must be attractive to your employees as well. Clearly communicate company values and hold true to them.
Ask your employees what they want, and if it’s within your power to do so, give it to them.
In this way you begin to do more than tell your team what you value; you live out your values corporately.
At OBI, one way we do this is by recognizing employees each quarter who epitomize our values of tenacity, innovation, responsibility, collaboration and curiosity.
We provide benefits our employees value like flexible work schedules, volunteer time off, continuing education and professional development opportunities, and wellness benefits that help us find balance between our personal and professional passions.
Employee advocacy programs are another effective way to amplify your brand voice in the marketplace.
Encourage employees to share their work and what they love about working with you. Be that an Instagram story or a LinkedIn post, sharing what they love about their work creates positive sentiment for your brand with their networks.
Don’t be afraid to dig into the data your customers and employees give you. The information is out there, we just need to know what to do with it.
Want more tips on how to put your customers first and personalize your brand experience? Talk with me about strategic marketing today!